From the Bowery: WrestleMania VII

Posted by Robert Leighty Jr. on 02.13.2009

The WWF wraps their marquee event in the American Flag, but nothing can steal the show from Warrior, Savage, Sherri, and Liz.

From the Bowery: WrestleMania VII
-Los Angeles, CA
-March 24, 1991

-This was just after the Gulf War and Vince decided to capitalize by pitting All American hero, Hulk Hogan against the WWF Champion and Iraqi sympathizer, Sgt. Slaughter. Sure, it was probably in poor taste, but it was an easy way to get a super patriotic, and jacked up crowd.

-Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan (except matches where he is the manager)

-Willie Nelson kicks things off with the America the Beautiful.

The Rockers vs. Haku & The Barbarian (w/ Heenan)

- Since Heenan is managing, Hacksaw Jim Duggan (dressed as Uncle Sam) joins Monsoon for announcing duties. The eventual Faces of Fear don’t even get a proper entrance, and get the jobber treatment of already being in the ring. That doesn’t seem to bode well for their chances. Shawn starts things with Haku, and he gets caught early. He gets the pace a little faster, but gets caught in a bearhug. He is able to quicken the pace again and drops Haku with a shoulder. They exchange arm wringers before the Rockers get a double hiptoss. They make the mistake of ignoring Barbarian and he clotheslines both men. The 360 sell from the Rockers is a thing of beauty as it made Barbarian look like a killer. Marty and Barbarian have a go, and it’s all Barbarian early. Lots of clubbering, but some timely double teaming regains the advantage for the Rockers. That ends quickly when Marty tries to stand toe to toe with Haku. The Rockers try to double team again, but the ref cuts off Shawn, and that gives the Barbarian the chance to drop Marty on the top rope throat first while he was on Haku’s shoulders. That was a nice little touch with the ref actually doing his job and it coming back to bite the faces in the ass. Marty is your face in peril, and gets the holy hell beat out of him in the corner. Marty hits a move here and there, but constantly gets cuts off when he tries to make the tag. Beautiful backbreaker and then another by Haku. In a weird moment Haku tags out and the Barbarian goes for the cover. That seemed kind of stupid. A clothesline again from the Barbarian and again Marty does a complete flip to oversell the move. The crowd starts rallying behind Marty as he is getting his shit squeezed with a bearhug. A massive Weasel chant, but that doesn’t really seem to help Marty. He tries a cross body from the middle rope, but gets caught with a powerslam. That actually gets a face pop from the males in the crowd. Very much like a Jeff Hardy or Cena match today. Barbarian misses the top rope headbutt and we get the hot tag to Shawn. He pounds away on Haku in the corner and dives onto the Barbarian. A neckbreaker on Haku gets a two count, but a thumb in the eye stops that. Shawn gets an assistant from Marty on a sunset flip and that gets a two count. The Rockers hit a double drop kick that sends the Barbarian to the floor. They each head to the top and Marty hits a dropkick to drop Haku and Shawn follows with a cross body to get the pin @ 10:33.

Winners: The Rockers via pin @ 10:33
-Decent match to get things started, and the Rockers were incredibly over with the crowd. This made use of the standard tag formula, and featured the little man vs. big man dynamic. It probably deserved more time, but again, it was a good way to kick off the show. **1/2

-Gene interviews our celebrities for the evening: Regis Philbun, Alex Trebek, and Marla Maples. Seeing Gene leech over Marla is pretty funny.

Dino Bravo (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich

-Bravo gets introduced in the ring, and we’ll see if that goes better for him than Haku/Barbarian in the last match. This is actually a pretty sad match when you consider what happened to both men. Bravo jump Kerry as he makes his way through the ropes and sends him over the top with a clothesline. They brawl on the floor, but once back in the ring Kerry hits an atomic-drop. He goes for the claw, but Bravo breaks and fires away some chops in the corner. A blind charge by Kerry eats boots, and they botch a spot. Bravo improvises by dropping some elbows to get a two count. Kerry gets caught with Bravo’s patented side suplex, but it only gets two. Bravo heads to the second rope, but gets caught in the claw on the way down. Kerry breaks to hit the discus punch and that gets the pin @ 3:11.

Winner: Kerry Von Erich by pin after discus punch @ 3:11
-Short, inoffensive, and just a way to get more people on the card *

-Warlord with Slick gives an interview backstage. Slick was awesome in this promo by the way.

-The British Bulldog gives his retort to the Warlord and Slick.

The Warlord (w/ Slick) vs. The British Bulldog (w/ Winston)

-The Warlord also gets the jobber treatment by getting announced in the ring with no music or fanfare. Can they go 0-3 to start the evening? Gorilla tells us this will be a power match. No kidding. Wonder if that is like JR’s way of saying a match like this has bowling shoe tendencies? Bulldog wins the early power test, and Warlord bails. Again, this is a tremendously hot crowd, and makes even the crappiest match seem important. I love crowds like this. Bulldog goes for a crucifix, but Warlord drops him with what is basically a Samoan drop. The power match staple: a bearhug is locked in by the Warlord, and the crowd explodes. Awesome! Bulldog breaks, but rushes and gets dropped with a stungun of all things. Nice! They exchange blows and Warlord hits a bad ass belly to belly suplex. Damn. This has been a pretty decent power match so far. Things hit a lull though when we hit the chinlock. Luckily, this crowd stays with them every step of the way and rally Davey Boy. He powers his way to his feet and breaks with some elbows. Nice standing dropkick backs Warlord into the corner and we get the 10 count on buckle. Smith gets a cross body for a 2 count, and tries piledriver, but Warlord backdrops out, so Bulldog reverses that to a sunset flip that Warlord drops down for a two count. The full nelson gets locked in by the Warlord, but the fingers aren’t locked, and that proves to be important. It gives Davey the chance to power out of the move much to the crowds delight. Warlord tries a powerslam, but Bulldog slips off and is able to get his own powerslam for the pin @ 8:15.

Winner: The British Bulldog via pin after powerslam @ 8:15
-Call me crazy, but that was a pretty good power match. Warlord looked awesome as he was hitting crisp power moves, and just tossing Bulldog all around the ring. I enjoyed this much more than I remember as a kid. **1/4

-The Nasty Boys and the Hart Foundation each give separate interviews to hype their Tag Title match.

The Hart Foundation © vs. The Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart)

-The Nasty Boys are the first heels to get an extended entrance with music. We’ll see how well that works out in the Foundation’s favor. The Nasty Boys are fresh off a run in WCW where they turned heads with a match again the Steiner Brothers. Vince immediately signed them and gave them a Tag Title match at the biggest show of the year. Bret and Saggs start things for their respective teams. They brawl into the corner and that benefits Saggs. Bret ducks a clothesline and hits a Thesz press before unloading with right hands. That's pretty stunning! He takes a shot at Knobbs and then slingshots Saggs back inside the ring. Knobbs tags in and calls for the Anvil. Bret tags out and Anvil pounds away in the corner. He sends Knobbs into the corner and catches him with a hiptoss. The Nasty Boys regroup on the floor with Jimmy. Back inside the ring, the Nasty Boys finally get Anvil in their corner. Saggs tries a backdrop, but Anvil counters and makes the tag to Bret. He climbs the second rope and delivers the 10 count punch in the corner. Bret hits two of the 5 Moves of Doom (side Russian leg sweep and middle rope elbow), but Knobbs breaks the routine. Bret gets caught from behind, and becomes the face in peril. Hart distracts the Anvil and that gives the Nastys a chance to do more damage to Bret. They work the back of Bret, and Saggs locks in a reverse double chinlock. Each time Bret tries to power out, Saggs simply jumps on the small of his back. Knobbs returns and he continues the work on the back, and gets his own reverse double chinlock. Back we go to Saggs, and he hits a sweet reverse neckbreaker that gets a 2 count. Bret took the move great and it looked all the more impressive. Bret finally breaks and starts crawling to the corner, but Knobbs nails Anvil to kill things. Knobbs goes right back to the reverse double chinlock, and in a rare display of power, Bret carries Knobbs on his back and drops him to break. The Nasty Boys stop the tag again, but Bret ducks a charge and finally gets the tag. The bad news is that the ref never saw it. They try to use the megaphone, but Saggs gets creamed instead and finally, we get the hot tag to Anvil. He destroys anything that moves, and gets a 2 count on Knobbs. A powerslam gets a 2 count as Saggs is able to break. All 4 men are in the ring, and we get the Hart Attack on Knobbs. The ref doesn’t count though as he ushers Bret out of the ring. That gives Saggs the opportunity to hit the Anvil with Jimmy’s motorcycle helmet and that gives them the upset and tag titles @ 12:06.

Winner and New WWF Tag Champions: The Nasty Boys via pin after a helmet shot @ 12:06
-This wasn’t nearly the classic that I remember as a kid. It was certainly a shocking moment and one the crowd didn’t see coming, but the match wasn’t really that great. It seemed kind of rushed, and way too one sided by the Nasty Boys. Still, it was the moment where the Nasty Boys became mad men and the rest is history. **1/2

-We get a recap of the Roberts/Model feud. On the Brother Love show, the Model sprayed Jake in the eyes with his cologne (Arrogance) and that caused temporary blindness. The solution for Jake to get even was to have a blindfold match. Sure, if a man nearly cost me my vision, I'd want to fight him in a match where neither of us could see. Much better than a Street fight, or a cage match.

Blindfold Match: Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. “The Model” Rick Martel

-Martel gets some entrance music, but is already in the ring when the cameras come back from an interview with Jake. I know this isn’t a big deal to the crowd in the arena, but those watching on TV it really makes the guys getting no entrance seem on a lower level by comparison. The illusion that both men can’t see is blown immediately as Jake puts his hand up through his hood and you can clearly see his hand through the mesh areas around the eyes. That doesn’t stop the crowd from being insanely into the match however. The match may have very little action, but it is extremely effective in gaining crowd participation. All Roberts has to do is point in a direction and the crowd screams yes or no. Jake gets a pin attempt when Martel trips. In a funny moment Martel grabs Jake and sends him into the ropes, but can’t hit a move because he can’t see. More comedy as Martel charges after they bump each other, but all he runs into is the ring ropes. Martel gets a slam when he grabs Jake, and makes the stupid mistake of trying to drop an elbow. That didn’t work so well. Heenan comes up with a brilliant idea as he suggests Martel should wear a shirt so that Jake is confused between the Model and the ref. That’s why he’s the Brain. Martel crawls to the corner and finds the snake, and that freaks him out. They finally lock-up and somehow the action spills out to the floor. Martel grabs a chair and starts poking away at the air, and takes a swing at the post. Roberts is already in the ring, and is able to find Martel and pull him back inside. Martel gets a backbreaker, and is able to lock in a Boston crab. Jake gets the DDT and after a few seconds is able to find Martel and get the cover for three @ 8:34.

Winner: Jake Roberts via pin after DDT @ 8:34
-Silly gimmick aside, they were able to work a match that kept the crowd entertained. It was short enough to keep from dragging on, and it had enough comedy moments to keep things entertaining. *

-The Nasty Boys celebrate in the locker room with Marla Maples, and Earthquake.

The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka

-This was early in Taker’s WWF career, and yet the gong still gets a good reaction. Snuka continues our jobber trend as he also gets introduced while already in the ring. The kids in the audience looked scared shitless at the site of Taker, but others are way into the character. This is kind of a passing of the torch as Snuka was called the Phenom for years, and Taker would take over that mantle. Snuka turns his back and Taker starts pounding away in the corner. He drops Snuka with the jumping clothesline, and continues the onslaught by choking away in the corner. Snuka charges, but gets booted to the floor. Taker brings him back in with a suplex, but an elbow drop misses. Snuka fires away with little success. He ducks a clothesline and tries a cross body, but Taker ducks and Snuka hits the top rope and falls to the floor. He tries to springboard back in, but Taker casually catches him and a tombstone finishes things @ 4:18.

Winner: The Undertaker via pin after tombstone @ 4:18
-Total and utter squash as Snuka got little offense. This was pretty shocking at the time to see a WWF staple get utterly destroyed by a relative new character. And much like High Morrus is the answer to where Goldberg’s streak started, Snuka is the answer to who started Taker’s WrestleMania streak. SQUASH

-Video package of the Warrior/Savage feud. Basically, Savage wanted a title shot and sent Sherri to seduce the Warrior. He turned down Sherri’s advances at the Rumble, so Savage cost him the title later on that night.

Career vs. Career: The Ultimate Warrior vs. “Macho King” Randy Savage (w/ Queen Sherri)

-Gorilla and The Brain handle announcing duties. Heenan immediately points out that he sees Elizabeth sitting in the crowd. Several underneath guys carry Savage and Sherri to the ring on a throne. Monsoon puts over that Liz has a right to be here since she was there the majority of Savage’s career. Warrior shows a brain for once and walks to the ring (even Heenan notes how unusual this is). Warrior’s tights say it all: “Means much more than this” w/ a picture of the WWF Title. They have done a marvelous job of putting over how important this match is, and it really does have a different feel to it. The crowd is absolutely jacked as things start out slow with neither man wanting to make the first crucial mistake. The crowd hates Savage as he poses on the top rope. Warrior uses his power early to frustrate Savage, so he decides to bail. Sherri distracts Warrior and Savage nails him from behind. It doesn’t last long as Warrior chokes Savage and tosses him to the mat. A massive atomic drop from the Warrior and he chokes Savage again. Sherri tries to get involved, so Warrior tosses Savage on top of her. Savage finally gains the upper hand by hitting a running clothesline. He heads up top, but Warrior catches him in mid-air. Instead of slamming him, Warrior puts him on his feet and slaps him in the face. That is so fucking awesome. Savage is pissed and throws a chair in the ring to distract the ref and the Warrior. Warrior is still a step ahead (as long as he maintains his deliberate pace) and continues his domination of Savage. This is just a total beating as Savage gets bounced all over the ring. Finally, Warrior gets a little out of control and misses a splash in the corner, which sends him to the floor. Sherri distracts the Warrior and Savage takes control on the floor. He sends Warrior head first into the post, and brings him back in the ring. Warrior counters a backslide into one of his own, but that only gets 2. Savage decides to spit on the Warrior in hopes that it will get him out of control again, but Warrior won’t bite and keeps his deliberate pace. He stays in control because of that, but again makes the mistake of running out of control at Savage and he gets face planted after missing a shoulder tackle. Savage locks in a chin lock, but the crowd gets the Warrior back to his feet. The action gets a little faster and it results in a double clothesline to put down both men. Sherri continues to be a distraction as she keeps the ref from counting three on a small package by the Warrior. He argues with the ref and Savage drops both of them. Sherri heads to the top rope, but misses Warrior and hits Savage with her shoe. So that’s where Bischoff got the idea for all those finishes on Nitro in the mid 90s. Warrior chases Sherri on the floor, but it leads to Savage getting a roll-up for 2. Savage now controls as he hangs Warrior on the top rope with the clothesline. He heads to the top rope and drops the Great Flying Elbow in the history of the business. He does it again, and again, and again, and again. How much of a dick does Savage look like for hitting 5 flying elbows. As far as the crowd is concerned the Warrior is dead and buried, but some how he kicks out at 2. Savage has no idea what to do now, and Warrior gets to the ropes and starts to Warrior-Up. Three clotheslines from the Warrior and he hoists Savage into the air with the press slam. The splash looks to finish, but Savage kicks out at 2. Now the Warrior is questioning what he has to do to win the match. He starts looking to the heaves and starts talking to whatever God told him that Queering don’t make the world right (his words not mine). Apparently they tell him to leave, but Savage comes back to life and drops Warrior from the apron to the floor. Savage tries to hit the double-axe from the top rope to the floor, but Warrior moves and Savage eats the steel railing. Savage is basically out on his feet after that and Warrior destroys him with a flying shoulder block that sends him to the floor. Back in the ring and Savage gets hit with another one that again sends him to the floor. Back in the ring, and another one sends Savage to the floor once more. Warrior drags the lifeless carcass of Savage back into the ring and pins him with a single foot on his chest @ 20:48.

-Now post match we get what takes this match from just great to beyond epic. Warrior celebrates and quietly leaves the ring. Sherri is pissed she’s just lost her meal ticket and starts to lay the boots to Savage. Liz has seen enough and hops the railing. In a great character development, Liz gets physically involved and tosses Sherri out of the ring. Savage comes to and only sees Liz standing in front of him. He is confused until he hears Sherri screaming at him from the floor. The crowd is patiently waiting for the reunion, and after some soul searching, Savage embraces Liz in the most emotional moment in WrestleMania history. Heenan is absolutely hilarious as he tries to explain why people in the crowd are crying (“maybe her shoes are too tight”). Then in one of the greatest touches ever, Savage keeps Liz from holding open the ropes like she did thousands of times, and he holds the rope for Liz. That is just awesome, and one of those moments where you just get it. It’s similar to Flair last year when he was asked what his plan was and he said “To be the Man.” Savage leaves the ring as a massive face, and Warrior looks like a World beater as he can lay claim to pinning each member of the Mega Powers cleanly in back to back WrestleManias. Only thing I think can compare is the Rock pinning Hogan and Austin clean in back to back Manias.

Winner: The Ultimate Warrior via pin after multiple shoulder blocks @ 20:48
-This is my 2nd favorite match of all time, and the post match angle only helps things. I loved the story with Warrior having to slow his normal pace down, and Savage trying to get Warrior angry to get him to make mistakes. The announcing was awesome and the crowd was absolutely insane from the start. This is easily the best match involving the Warrior and is one of the best from Savage as well. This didn’t need 100 different holds, or tables, ladders, and chairs. It was just 2 men fighting for their careers and doing whatever they could to get the win. The match plus the angle that follows makes this an easy rating for me. *****

-Philbun tries to interview Taker and gets measured for a casket instead.

-Trebek tries to interview Demolition (Smash and Crush version) and things don’t go well for him.

-Back to Philbun as he attempts to interview Tenryu and Kitao. Language barriers are fun.

-Back to Trebek as he has Jake and Damien. You can kind of guess how that goes.

-Heenan takes credit for setting up each one of those interviews.

Demolition (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Tenryu and Kitao

-Both teams actually get a proper introduction here. As a kid I figured Demolition would just roll in this match because I had no clue who the other 2 guys were. Crush and Kitao start with some brawling. Smash takes in and he continues the brawling. We get even more brawling as Demolition double Kitao. Crush comes off the top rope with a double ax to the back. Gorilla already calls this the largest grossing PPV of all time. I won’t even begin to start with what’s wrong with that statement. This is the first time the crowd has been quiet all night and we even get a few boring chants. A hot tag to made to Tenryu, but he gets cut off by a clothesline. Crush hits a backbreaker and Demolition control once again. Belly to belly suplex sets up the decapitation, but Kitao breaks things up. Crush goes for the move again, but Kitao pushes him off the top rope. Smash eats a boot to the back of the head, and Tenryu finishes things with a powerbomb @ 4:41.

Winners: Tenryu and Kitao via pin after powerbomb @ 4:41
-I still have no clue why this was on the show. The crowd was dead (still coming down for the Savage/Liz angle I guess) and only popped for the powerbomb. This also killed any lasting images of Demolition as bad asses in my eyes as a 10 year old. The match was short and featured mostly brawling from Demolition. 1/2*

-Gene interviews the Bossman and he hypes the IC title match with Mr. Perfect.

-Perfect and Heenan give their retort.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect © (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Big Bossman

-Simple story here as Heenan made jokes about the Bossman’s mother for months on end. Bossman fought his way through the Heenan family and gets his shot at the crown jewel in Mr. Perfect. Alfred Hayes takes Heenan’s place next to Monsoon. Bossman wipes his ass with Perfect’s towel and then tosses it in his face. He even spits on Perfect, so he responds with a slap to the face. Can’t blame him! Perfect bumps all over the place to start and hits the floor early. Bossman misses a charge in the corner, and Perfect brings the chops. Perfect gets whipped into the corner and does a somersault to sell. Nice! Bossman uses his belt to whip Perfect, and the ref decides to let it go. In all fairness the ref lets Perfect use the belt too. In a nice touch, Perfect makes sure to open the Bossman’s shirt so the chops hit flesh. An abdominal stretch is applied by Perfect and the crowd starts getting behind the Bossman. Perfect breaks the hold and gets a two count off a standing dropkick. The neck snap from Perfect gets a good reaction from the crowd. It’s a pretty safe move, but looks nasty. In an even nastier spot though he does the neck snap in the other direction. Perfect goes to the top, which is unusual, and he eats a Bossman boot. Perfect takes a hilarious bump off a turnbuckle shot, and then gets his perfect balls posted. They brawl on the floor and Bossman gets tossed into the steel steps. Heenan takes the opportunity to lay in a few shots. This brings out Andre the Giant and Heenan shits himself. Andre can barely move at this point, and lumbers away the ring after Heenan. Perfect sees that Andre has the IC title, and is rightly pissed. In a stupid move Perfect goes after Andre and gets blasted with the title. Bossman gets to his feet and crawls over for the cover, but Perfect is able to get out at two. Haku and the Barbarian hit the ring and that is enough for the DQ @ 10:46. Andre takes out Perfect, and Bossman makes his own save against the Faces of Fear.

Winner: The Big Bossman by DQ @ 10:46
-This finish may have been done just to set up that the same thing could happen to Hogan later in the show, and even Monsoon points that out. The match itself was pretty fun, and Perfect bumped for the Bossman like a champ. Seeing Andre beat some ass in a guest spot is always fun, but kind of sad that this was his last moment at WrestleMania. **1/2

-Gene interviews some of the celebrities in the crowd: Donald Trump, Chuck Norris, The Fonz (Henry Winkler), and Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk)

Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine

-For some reason I would like to see a fight between Valentine and Chuck Norris. Not sure if Valentine is a legit bad ass, but I figure he could take a solid pounding from Norris and keep on coming. Much like the earlier Taker/Snuka match this seems like a chance to build a new monster at the expense of a WWF staple. At least Valentine was fortunate enough to get an entrance. Quake mauls Valentine to start and uses his girth in the corner. He powerslams Valentine, but that only gets a two count. A splash in the corner misses, and Valentine fires away. He tries to push Quake around, but that’s not the best strategy. He lands an elbow and sends Quake to a knee. He tries to drop the big man, and finally gets him down with an elbow from the middle rope. He works the midsection and tries the figure four, but Quake is too damn fat for that. Hart distracts Valentine and Quake jumps him from behind. He drops an elbow, and the Earthquake splash finishes @ 3:16 (hmm!).

Winner: Earthquake via pin from a fat ass splash @ 3:16
-Valentine got some decent offense, and even got to drop the big man. Still, this was the same as Taker/Snuka earlier. It’s slightly above a squash because of the offense from Valentine, but the point was the same. *

-Gene interviews the Legion of Doom. They threaten Power and Glory.

The Legion of Doom vs. Power and Glory

-Roma and Hercules also get the jobber introduction leaving little doubt in this match as well. There is actually a story behind this match as Power and Glory cost the LOD the chance to face the Hart Foundation at this show for the Tag Titles. With the Nasty Boys winning the titles earlier, the LOD are just a tad pissed. Hawk ducks a double clothesline attempt and drops both men with a clothesline of his own. All four men brawl, but Roma gets caught coming off the top by Animal with a powerslam. Hawk lays Hercules out on the floor. He heads to the top rope and the Doomsday Device finishes things @ 0:59.

Winner: The Legion of Doom via pin from Doomsday Device @ 0:59
-Just a burial of Power and Glory. SQUASH

-We get a recap of JBL/Michaels, I mean Virgil/Dibiase. This was quite the awesome angle at the time, and I wonder why it took the WWE so long to try to recreate it. Seeing Dibiase lose by count-out to a jobber on Superstars is still pretty damn funny.

”The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase vs. Virgil (w/ Roddy Piper)

-For those interested, Dibiase is making his spring residence in Palm Beach, Florida. That was always a great touch with the character. Dibiase is still packing the Million Dollar Belt around with him. Piper gets his own introduction and is fresh off his hip replacement. The crowd is solidly behind Virgil and we get a massive “Virgil” chant. That’s kind of weird actually. Virgil floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee early to fluster Dibiase. The story is that Virgil has no wrestling experience and must rely on the fighting he was taught by Piper. Dibiase is the seasoned pro and wants to get this a wrestling bout. Dibiase continually bails to the floor as he is getting frustrated with Virgil’s punching. He heads back into the ring and is dumped to the floor again with a clothesline. A back elbow from Virgil gets a two count, and Dibiase hits the floor again in frustration. Dibiase complains to the ref about the closed fists, which is actually a good point. The ref admonishes Virgil, and Piper tells him to keep from falling for Dibiase’s mind games. Dibiase finally gains control and works Virgil over in the corner. He drops Virgil with a back elbow and hits a stiff clothesline. A piledriver gets a two count as Dibiase has turned this into a wrestling match. A nice suplex gets another two count. A gut-wrench suplex gets yet another two count, and Virgil gets tossed to the floor. Dibiase fires Virgil in the ring, and decides to shove Piper on his ass. Back in the ring Dibiase hits a powerslam. Heenan makes my day by saying Piper’s fallen and he can’t get up. Awesome! Piper gets revenge by low bridging Dibiase with the crutch. Dibiase beats out Piper outside, but all that does is distract him and he gets counted out @ 7:55. Dibiase locks Virgil in the Million Dollar Dream, but Piper makes the save with the crutch. The shot Dibiase took with the crutch looked pretty damn painful. Sherri, looking for a meal ticket, comes down and helps Dibiase destroy the injured leg of Piper. Virgil gets back to his feet and chases the heels off with the crutch. Virgil pleads for Piper to get up in a reversal of roles.

Winner: Virgil via count-out @ 7:55
-The story was pretty solid, but again things were pretty short. I liked that Virgil worked this match as a man with little wrestling experience. The ending was pretty cheap, but it played off the previous angle where Dibiase was counted out against the jobber when he was distracted by Virgil. **

-Mooney talks with WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter and his entourage. They recap Slaughter burning a Hulk Rules t-shirt. Slaughter claimed that he was supposed to burn an American Flag, but wouldn’t go that far with the character and decided to burn a Hogan shirt instead.

The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Tito Santana

-The Mountie, with no entrance, gets caught with the flying jalapeno early, and bails to the floor. The Mountie gets the cattle prod and catches Tito in the stomach with it. That finishes things @ 1:19.

Winner: The Mountie via pin from nefarious means @ 1:19
-Well, Mountie becomes the first man on this show to win a match without having a televised entrance. Outside of that this had no business on this card. I wonder if things were running way too long and they had to cut this down. Tito deserved better. DUD

-Gene interviews Hogan, and it’s what you’d expect.

WWF Title: Sgt Slaughter © (w/ General Adnan) vs. Hulk Hogan

-The celebrities for this one are Alex Trebek (ring announcer), Marla Maples (time keeper), and Regis Philbun joins Heenan and Gorilla for commentary. Say what you will about this angle being in bad taste, but you can’t deny how much heat it generated. The crowd absolutely hates Slaughter, and Hogan gets a deafening pop. Hogan chases early, but Slaughter still has the title on and his ring jacket. I think Maples screwed up and rang the bell way too early as things stall until Slaughter gets off his gear. We begin proper with a lockup and Hogan powers Slaughter to the man. There’s a massive USA chant from the crowd, which would be a theme for this match. They collide in the center of the ring, and both men no sell. A second go round, and Slaughter gets dropped. He bails to the floor, and Hogan gives chases. Adnan grabs a chair, but it has no effect. That’s actually a good thing as he used one of the padded chairs that at ringside. If Hogan would have sold that it would have looked ridiculous. They head back inside and Slaughter begs off so that he can catch Hogan with a thumb to the eye. Hogan is bounced off the turnbuckle, and tossed to the other corner where Slaughter catches him with an elbow. He works the throat with some knees, but another elbow misses. The running clothesline drops Slaughter, and Adnan takes one of his own. Hogan fires Slaughter into the corner and drops him with an elbow. An atomic drop gets a 2 count. Sarge bails to the floor again, and tries to get himself counted out to save the title. Hogan is able get Slaughter back into the ring, and gets a 2 count off the axe-bomber. Slaughter just starts bumping all over the place for Hogan, and takes a slingshot into the post. The Hogan squash continues with the corner clothesline and an 8 count punch in the corner. In an unusual spot, Hogan heads to the middle rope, but it seems they blew whatever they had planned. In an even crazier spot Hogan heads to the top rope, but gets caught and slammed to the mat. Wonder if that was a shout-out to Flair? Slaughter sends Hogan over the top to the floor, and targets the back with a steel chair. Hebnar decides to let things go, and Slaughter starts choking Hogan with a camera cord. The back work continues in the ring, and it is leading to the camel clutch. A backbreaker continues the assault, and a Boston crab is even thrown in for good measure. It was applied only a few feet from the ropes, and it seemed silly to have Hogan struggle that long when the ropes were right next to him. Even Regis Philbun is wondering why he doesn’t just reach out and the grab the ropes. Finally he grabs the bottom rope, and the hold is broken. Slaughter comes off the top rope with a boot to the back, but Adnan fucks up his cue. He distracts the ref while Slaughter covers. That leads to Hogan having to sell the pin for a long time until the ref finally makes the 2 count. Adnan then jumps back on the apron, and distracts the ref so that Slaughter can split Hogan open with a chair. The camel clutch is applied, and it’s a nice visual seeing Hogan struggle in the hold with blood streaming down his face. Not quite on the Austin at WrestleMania 13 level, but still a good visual. Hogan tries to break the same way he did with Sheik back in 1983, but Slaughter is smart to that and simply jumps off Hogan’s back. Our hero is down and out and Slaughter feels this is a good time to drape an Iraqi flag over Hogan. That’s not too smart there. Here comes the Hulk-up and the Iraqi flag gets shredded. Wonder how well that went over in other parts of the world? The usual finishes @ 20:24 and we have a new WWF Champion. Someone throws a US flag into the ring, and Hogan uses it to wipe the blood of his face. That always struck me as odd, and I’m still kind of shocked by it today.

Winner and New WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan via pin from legdrop @ 20:24
-This match is pretty damn good if you ask me, and featured some new tricks from Hogan and Slaughter. They did a great job of breaking from the traditional Hogan match, and this made for a fitting end to WrestleMania. A few blown spots aside, this was strong a Main Event. ***1/2

Top 5 WrestleMania Matches (at this point)

1) IC Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat *****
2) Career vs Career: Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior *****
3) WWF Title: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan ****1/2
4) WWF Title vs IC Title: Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior ****1/4
5) Strike Force vs. The Brain Busters ***1/2

The 411: Thankfully, this was the last WrestleMania for nearly 10 years to last over 3 hours. Way too many filler matches between the marquee matches, but the 2 main matches did deliver. This show featured 2 historic title changes, and one epic match with the Warrior and Savage. It also featured a super how crowd that made even the filler seem important.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]