WrestleMania IX Review

Sunday, April 4th, 1993
Caesar's Palace
Paradise, Nevada

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The show kicks off how every big show should kick off, with Vince McMahon yelling. Gorilla is the first one to be shown in his toga. He introduces Jim Ross, who is technically making his WWF debut. Finkus Maximus introduces Caesar and Cleopatra, who arrive on an elephant. Macho Man is next to make his way to the ring, carried out by some dudes in S&M/Demolition outfits. Bobby Heenan comes out backwards on a camel in one of his more famous bits. I personally love that an ostrich led the way.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka

Shawn is accompanied by Luna Vachon for the first time. Sensational Sherri trails behind Tatanka. Tatanka had a fairly long stint here and I think it's fair to say that this may be the biggest match that he ever had. Tatanka hits a back suplex, but misses Michaels in the corner. Michaels goes off the top rope and Tatanka counters that with a hip toss. That was a nice little move. Michaels ends up on the apron and gets a chop and he flops his way to the floor. That was a nice sequence to kick things off. Tatanka chops Michaels as he is trying to get back in the ring. Michaels then catches him with a thumb to the eye. He heads up top and hits a sunset flip that doesn't quite land for a 2 count. Tatanka catches Michaels in midair and hits an inverted atomic drop. Tatanka hits a DDT and is now working on Michaels' left shoulder. Tatanka hits a shoulder breaker and follows it up with an elbow drop. Tatanka comes off the top rope with a chop and goes for a second time, but Michaels hits a superkick. Michaels throws Tatanka over the top rope. Luna goes to attack him, but Sherri is there to stop her. Michaels hits a running clothesline off the apron to the floor. Michaels hits a neckbreaker for a nearfall. Michaels goes for a victory roll, but for some reason Tatanka isn't on the same page and it looks like Michaels gets the worst of it. He goes for it again, but Tatanka hits the electric chair. Tatanka begins to feel it and hits Michaels with a series of chops. Tatanka hits a crossbody off the top rope for a 2 count. Tatanka hits a catapult into the ring post and again gets a 2 count. Tatanka goes for End of the Trail, but Michaels is able to counter into a pin attempt. Michaels goes off the top rope, but Tatanka catches him for a body slam. Michaels dumps Tatanka to the floor and goes for a crossbody from the apron, but misses and hits the apron on his way down. Michaels grabs the ref by the feet and pulls him outside. Tatanka hits the End of the Trail, but the ref calls for a countout and victory for Tatanka. That is such a lame finish to an otherwise good opening bout. If that is the best finish that you have, why do you book yourself into a corner? Tatanka is stuck having to pretend to be happy that he won the match, but not the championship and that hurts him more than the result. Sherri is cheering on Tatanka and then Luna pulls her off the apron and attacks her. Sherri is hurt and Tatanka carries her to the back.

Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)

The Steiner Brothers are with Mean Gene. They're excited for their first WrestleMania and I believe their last.

The Headshrinkers vs. The Steiner Brothers

Jim Ross debuts slobberknocker here on WWF programming. Man, Scott could have easily been a big singles star during this era. He hits a clothesline on Fatu, but Fatu comes back with a thumb to the eye. Both Steiners go up top, while the Headshrinkers are distracted and both hit clotheslines. JR announces that Luna has once again attacked Sherri backstage in first aid. Samu hits a clothesline in the corner and goes for it again, but this time Rick explodes for a clothesline of his own. Samu then hits a hot shot and Fatu pulled down the top rope, leading to Scott flying over the top rope to the floor in one of the scarier looking spots you will see. The Headshrinkers don't care and they are immediately attacking him. Fatu hits a backbreaker and then a second rope headbutt for a 2 count. Scott is able to get a boot up on a charging Samu, but Fatu makes the tag and knocks Scott out of the ring. Scott slams Fatu face first to the mat, but he bounces back up and hits a superkick. They hit a double clothesline and both men are down. Samu misses a splash off the top rope and Scott finally makes a tag. Rick goes after both men, but he attempts a double headbutt and it doesn't work. The Headshrinkers drive Rick face first to the mat and Fatu puts Rick on his shoulders, but he catches Samu in midair and hits a suplex, which was fantastic. Scott hits a belly-to-belly suplex but Samu attacks him. Scott hits a Frankensteiner, albeit not a great one, and the Steiner Brothers get the victory. Bobby wants a replay, but JR declares that there will be no replay. That was a good physical match with a couple of memorable spots in it as well.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Doink is with Mean Gene and they show clips of him attacking Crush. Doink thinks Crush will be seeing double vision after this match.

Crush vs. Doink 

Doink sprays Crush with water before entering the ring. Crush chases after him and body slams him outside the ring. Crush brings the action inside and throws Doink around the ring. They go back outside and Doink is unable to get anything going. Crush gets back in the ring again and hits a neckbreaker. Crush snaps Doink's head over the top rope and then hits a backbreaker. Doink returns the favor and pulls Crush over the top rope. Doink goes off the top rope and hits him with a right arm to the back of the head. Doink follows it up with a piledriver. It's pretty safe to say that Crush was not really over with the crowd here tonight. Doink goes off the top rope, but Crush gets his boot up. Crush catches Doink and hits a powerslam and then clotheslines him over the top rope. Doink tries to go under the ring, but Crush grabs his leg. Crush hits a gorilla press and signals for his finisher. He gets it on Doink, but he grabs the ropes. Doink gets out of it, which causes Crush to hit the ref. Doink tries going under the ring again, but Crush again gets him. Crush puts him in his finisher, but another Doink comes in and hits him with an arm to the head. The ref wakes up and counts the victory for Doink. This was a nothing match, but I still love that finish 27 years later. A second referee comes down and looks under the ring, but they can't find anyone.

Match Rating: *1/4

Todd Pettengill is up in the crowd asking if there were two Doinks. He interviews a couple of Japanese photographers and then just kind of hangs out with the crowd.

Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund

I hate how Backlund has no entrance music. A large "Razor" chant has started before they lock up, if you are wondering how Backlund's return is going. This pairing really made no sense and it's a shame that they couldn't follow up Razor's really solid WWF Championship match up with something better than this. We also never really got a proper blow off for him and Perfect. Razor dominates the early going here with a body slam and some right hands. Backlund hits two hip tosses, but barely brushes him with a dropkick. Backlund hits a double underhook suplex and a big atomic drop. Backlund brings him in the hard way, but Razor gets a small package and gets the victory. This still holds up as one of the strangest matches at WrestleMania, as it did neither man any favors.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is with Money, Inc. and he lets them know that their titles are in serious jeopardy. They show the highlights of IRS hitting Beefcake with the briefcase. They reference Hogan's black eye and that it was hurt at the gym.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Money, Inc. vs. The Mega-Maniacs

We get the obvious Hogan clears the ring while his entrance music is still playing sequence to kick things off. We start the actual match off with a dream match, Beefcake and IRS. Money, Inc. quickly cut the ring in half and take advantage of Beefcake. DiBiase goes off the second rope with a double ax handle and hurts his hands in the process thanks to his titanium mask. Hogan gets tagged in for the first time and he quickly gets right hands in the corner while the crowd counts along. Hogan is legitimately one of the biggest heels of the era and somehow was the most popular babyface in the process. Hogan sends both men over the top rope and he and Beefcake dance in the ring. Money, Inc. starts heading towards the back and Hogan and Beefcake apparently are too lazy to go after them? So this leads to an impromptu announcement that they will lose the titles if they don't come back. You have to love Hogan booking. DiBiase chokes Hogan while IRS has the ref distracts the ref. They swap roles, all while Jimmy Hart and Beefcake just stand there doing nothing about it. DiBiase puts on the Million Dollar Dream and has Hogan seated in the middle of the ring. You won't believe this, but Hogan gets his arm up on the third drop and is back on his feet. Hogan drops to his knees again, but this time Beefcake comes in and puts DiBiase in a sleeper hold and now both men are down as Beefcake heads back to his corner. Both men make tags and Beefcake hits IRS with a knee and DiBiase with an atomic drop. As Beefcake was going off the ropes, DiBiase hit him in the back with the briefcase and Money, Inc. is back in control. DiBiase rips off Beefcake's mask and Hogan is furious. The heels quickly start attacking the face, but Beefcake is able to hit a double clothesline. Instead of tagging Hogan in, he decides to put IRS in a sleeper hold instead and DiBiase comes from behind and knocks them all down, including Earl Hebner. Hogan comes in and hits the big boot on DiBiase. He uses the mask and hits both opponents with it and he and Beefcake cover both men. Hart comes in, reverses his jacket, which conveniently is striped like a referee and counts the pin. Hogan and Beefcake celebrate with the championship belts and down comes another official, who raises the arms of Money, Inc. They announce them the winners as a result of disqualification. The champions try to attack Hogan and Beefcake, but they no sell it and run out of the ring. They start going after Danny Davis and Jimmy Hart throws him out of the ring. This ending was just embarrassingly bad and just like the opening match, the babyfaces don't win the titles but celebrate anyways. The actual match itself was slightly better than I remember, but has to be among the worst 15+ WrestleMania matches of all time. Oh, how could I forget? Hogan finds the "beefcase" and opens it and finds a brick and some cash, which they give away to the crowd.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Todd is with Natalie Cole in the ring, who is in shock that the money Hogan gave away is real. He then goes over to Dan Reichartz, CEO of Caesars. He claims this is the highest energy level of any event they have ever held. Dan thinks he gets like 20 minutes here, so poor Todd gives him a hug to shut him up.

They head back to Mean Gene and Mr. Perfect. They talk about Lex Luger knocking out Bret Hart at a brunch event. Perfect says that he got a hole in one and has been hot at the tables, he's Perfect.

The Narcissist vs. Mr. Perfect

Luger is accompanied with women dressed in gold thong bikinis, which is about as risque as it gets here in 1993 WWF. It's obvious, but Luger was so much better suited for this gimmick than Lex Express. The booking of Perfect here in 1993 was pretty poor. After ending Flair's WWF run, he gets fed to Luger here and then sort of becomes just a mid-card guy during a time that they were desperate for main event talent. Perfect hits a running knee to the face and follows it up with a dropkick. Luger goes for a boot, but Perfect slaps him and drives his knee into Luger's. Perfect is now working on the leg of Luger. Luger is able to counter an Irish whip into one of his own and then hits another. Luger is now going to work on Perfect's lower back. Luger goes for a pinfall with his feet on the ropes, but gets caught. Luger hits a powerslam for a 2 count. Perfect gets a sunset flip and a nearfall. Perfect goes for a sleeper hold, but Luger drives his back into the turnbuckle to break the hold. The next minute or two feels like they weren't on the same page, as they both kind of tried to regain control. Perfect clubs him with a forearm and gets another close call. Perfect goes up to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick, but Luger gets his foot on the rope. Luger blocks a backslide attempt and rolls Perfect over. Perfect's feet are on the ropes, but the ref doesn't see it and Luger gets the victory. Where is the referee in the back for this one? Perfect is pleading his case and Luger knocks him out with the loaded forearm and heads to the back. This wasn't necessarily a bad match, but they just never really clicked. Luger was always a guy that needed a miracle performance to have a good match for most of his career and Perfect just didn't have it on this day. Perfect is back on his feet and is heading to the back in a bad mood. He finds Luger talking to Shawn Michaels and attacks Luger. Michaels comes from behind and starts hitting him with trash cans and broomsticks.

Match Rating: *3/4

Savage and Heenan start getting into it, but JR says we have to go to Gorilla Monsoon. He has the pleasure of reminding us that we still have to watch Giant Gonzalez.

Giant Gonzalez vs. Undertaker

Taker comes out on a cart with a vulture next to him and has to be his most underrated WrestleMania entrance. That and the image of Taker and Gonzalez standing face to face are the only positive aspects of this match. Gonzalez grabs Taker by the throat. Taker heads to the second turnbuckle and breaks his grasp, by grabbing Gonzalez by the throat. Taker does Old School and hits Gonzalez with a flurry of kicks. Gonzalez hits a boot and tosses Taker across the ring. We now get the always exciting rear chinlock. Taker gets out, so Gonzalez kind of throws him out of the ring. He throws Taker into the steps twice. Taker begins to start sitting up after everything Gonzalez throws at him. Taker starts throwing fists at him and gets him down to one knee. Taker grabs Wippleman and Gonzalez headbutts Paul Bearer. Gonzalez then shoves a towel in Undertaker's face. The announcers let us know that it is soaked in chloroform. Bill Alfonso calls for the bell, as Taker lies unconscious. Gonzalez grabs Alfonso and chokeslams him. Alfonso did a great job selling it. Taker does a stretcher job. The bell rings and out comes Taker. He hits a series of clotheslines and looks as if he has to push Gonzalez down to make sure he actually went down. The crowd is digging this for whatever that's worth. They finally announce that Undertaker wins by disqualification as Gonzalez is escorted by security to the back. This for the longest time was the lone blemish on the Undertaker's perfect streak. This match was absolutely dreadful. I don't know if I can wait another 5 months to see the rematch.

Match Rating: 0 stars

We go back to Mean Gene. The background for his interview set is fantastic, for what it's worth. He shows clips of Yokozuna attacking Jim Duggan. They then show the contract signing where Yokozuna hit the Banzai Drop on Bret. Hogan then joins Okerlund to tell us Bret is ready and that all of his Hulkamaniacs will be supporting Bret. As he looked into the eyes of Bret Hart, he issues a challenge to either Bret or Yoko (not the words Hogan chose to say) for the first title shot.

Back to Todd in the crowd and he interviews a kid, who says nothing. He then pushes another kid out of the way to interview two dorks in togas. I'm not sure how the show would have survived without these segments.

WWF Championship Match
Yokozuna vs. Bret Hart

Fact: The original version of Bret Hart's music is much better than the version the remake. Bret is sporting the all pink look tonight. Bret comes out aggressively, but Yoko just shoves Bret to the ground and out of the ring. Bret grabs a hold of Yoko's foot on his way back in and trips him. Hart launches over the ropes on him and then hits a second turnbuckle elbow. Bret hits two clotheslines, but Yoko doesn't budge. Yoko clotheslines Bret on the third attempt and follows it up with a body slam. Yoko hits a big leg drop and I always love the reaction that move gets from the live crowd. The crowd starts chanting "USA" because of course they do. Bret gets hit foot up on Yoko and jumps on his back to take him down. Yoko hits an impressive superkick to regain control. Bret this time avoids the charging Yoko and hits a bulldog. Bret gets another second rope elbow drop for a 2 count. Bret hits a a second rope clothesline and then a running clothesline to knock him down, but not for long. Yoko tries to slam Bret down, but Bret grabs the turnbuckle and pulls off the cover. Yoko goes to try and use it as a weapon, but Bret counters it. Yoko is down and Bret somehow gets the Sharpshooter applied. While Earl Hebner is checking on Yoko, Mr. Fuji throws sand in his eyes and Yoko gets the pin. When writing the show, they realized that the finish to this match is probably only the third worst of the night, so they worked all night to come up with an even worse finish. Hulk Hogan comes to check on Bret and Mr. Fuji does what ever heel does and that's issue a challenge to Hulk Hogan. Bret is still blinded by the sand, but tells Hogan to go for it. Bret worked his butt off here to make the most of his first WrestleMania main event and all of it was for nothing. This was about as good as this match could be with the exception of the rushed finish.

Match Rating: **1/2

WWF Championship Match
Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan

Fuji accidentally throws sand in Yokozuna's eyes and Hogan gets the leg drop and the victory. This is hands down one of my least favorite moments in WWF history and I didn't even see it until about two years after it happened.

Match Rating: 0 Stars

This WrestleMania is notorious for being the worst of them all. I personally would rank IV below it. However, it's really not the in ring action that is so bad and the atmosphere is unique. The finishes are downright embarrassing. I can see having one bad finish on here, but almost every match was ruined by their own ending. As for the whole Hulk Hogan debacle, he is absolutely and ironically the black eye on this show. The WWF was better off without him in 1993, as it was time to build new stars and let go of his stale act.

Overall Rating: 42%

***Bonus Match***

Papa Shango vs. El Matador

This is Jim Ross's debut here and he's flying solo. This is the first time in 9 years that Santana is not on the main card. Ross references "Bruce", as in Bruce Prichard. Santana knocks Shango over the ropes and hits him with some right hands before going back into the ring. Santana hits a top rope crossbody, but Shango rolls through and gets a nearfall. Santana rolls him up for a 2 count. Shango now throws Santana out of the ring and hits a body slam on the outside. Santana hits a sunset flip on his way back in the ring, but Shango kicks out and then hits a clothesline. Shango hits a headbutt to the abdomen. Santana gets a small package, but again Shango kicks out. I'm still not sure why they even bothered with Shango at this point. Everything that made him unique was no longer part of his act. Santana makes his comeback and goes for a flying forearm, but Shango sidesteps it. JR sarcastically says that he's sure that Bruce will tell him exactly what it's called since he doesn't know what it is. Shango misses of the top rope and Santana gets the victory. Santana was such a solid worker and it seemed like he could have still had a role here in '93, but this is pretty much it for him on pay-per-views.

Match Rating: *1/2