Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: WrestleMania Part 6
By Sean Taylor
Jan 26, 2009 - 4:54:10 AM
Welcome back to The Classroom. I am your teacher, educational leader, and guide down memory lane, Sean Taylor. I want to start off, as usually do, by thanking everyone for the great feedback. I think I received a record number of emails. The majority of those concerned the Pop Quiz from last time. I thought the questions were tough but I apparently underestimated my readers. You’ve impressed and humbled me. Congratulations to Styxx, Cody, Anthony, Justin, Manny, NightofDay, Tomas, and Mazza who earned Star Pupil status for knowing that Big John Studd’s entrance music was remixed and given to “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan AND Terry Taylor was considered for the role of Mr. Perfect. There were others who had one or the other correct but you needed both to get the kudos.
Well this column is obviously going to deal with WrestleMania VI. This one is one of my personal favourites (yes that’s partly because it happened in my home country) so I was more than slightly disappointed that during my research, I could hardly find anything but results. So I guess I’m going to have to draw mostly from memory but fear not, as I said this is one of my favourites so this will be fun to write. I hope you all enjoy it as well.
WrestleMania VI: The Ultimate Challenge
Date: April 1, 1990
Venue: SkyDome (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Attendance: 67,678 (new SkyDome attendance record)
WrestleMania VI stands out among its brethren for a few reasons. For starters, it was the first WrestleMania to take place outside of the United States. It was also the first WWE pay-per-view to emanate from The Great White North. The maiden Royal Rumble in 1988 was held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, but was not broadcast on pay-per-view (it was a special presentation on the USA Network). Secondly, it was the first WrestleMania to have a dark match which featured Paul Roma defeating The Brooklyn Brawler.
This was the second and last WrestleMania where the superstars were carried to and from the back in mini-rings. Lastly, this would be the final time the commentating team of Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. The two had commentated every WrestleMania (except for WrestleMania 2 when they were in different cities) but Ventura would leave the WWE in August 1990 over a dispute with Vince McMahon about the use of his image in a video game.
The tradition of celebrity involvement WrestleMania continued. Canadian crooner Robert Goulet stepped between the ropes to proudly sing “Oh Canada” to start to show. Hollywood gossip columnist Rona Barrett was billed to “look into the private lives of the WWE superstars”. During the event, however, she only interviewed Miss Elizabeth backstage and then was interviewed by Monsoon and Ventura. Comedy moments were provided by comedian/actor/musician Steve Allen (The Tonight Show/Match Game). Allen appeared in vignettes during WrestleMania VI faux-interviewing The Bolsheviks and Rhythm & Blues in which he spent more time making quirky one-line jokes than asking questions.
Model Opening
After Robert Goulet sang the Canadian national anthem, WrestleMania VI kicked off right away with Koko B. Ware taking on Rick “The Model” Martel. After breaking up Strike Force, Martel proclaimed that he was the best-looking man in the WWE. He became “The Model” and carried around his signature perfume “Arrogance” inside an atomizer – a spraying device usually reserved for pesticides. After or during his matches, Martel would spray his opponent with Arrogance to make them smell better. This night Martel got the best of Koko B. Ware getting a submission victory.
The second match of the night featured The Colossal Connection (Andre the Giant/Haku) managed by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan defending the WWE Tag Team Championships against Demolition (Ax/Smash). Andre’s health had continued to deteriorate and by this time he was unable to wrestle full matches on his own. But he was still a big draw so he was teamed with Haku and together they defeated Demolition for the tag belts. Demolition would get their revenge at WrestleMania VI. Andre held Smash and Haku attempt to hit Smash with a thrust kick but Smash ducked and Haku kicked Andre. Andre stumbled backwards and got tied up in the ropes. Demolition hit their finisher on Haku and became only the second team to “three-peat” as WWE Tag Team Champions.
After the match, Heenan blamed Andre for the match while Andre tried to protest that it was Haku who kicked him. Heenan continued to poke Andre in the chest but crossed the line when he slapped the Giant in the face. Andre saw red and fought back. After taking out Heenan, Andre pulled Haku away from the mini-ring and rode to the back alone. Andre’s career – and life – was coming to a close and he wanted to retire as a babyface (good guy). After leaving the Heenan Family stable that night, Andre was once again a hero to the fans.
The following match pitted the powerful Hercules against the mammoth Earthquake managed by “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart. Earthquake was a newcomer in the WWE and due to his large size, when he jumped up and down in the ring, it sounded like the rumblings of an actual earthquake. Hercules’ strength and power was no match for Earthquake who got his hand raised that night in Toronto.
Up next was a grudge match between Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake and Mr. Perfect. Mr. Perfect had never been defeated on television (he lost matches to Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior at house shows). After a classic “back-and-forth” match, Perfect charged Beefcake in the corner but Beefcake moved and Perfect hit the ring post. Beefcake rolled up Perfect and blemished the perfect record.
As was his tradition, Beefcake went to cut some hair. Perfect got away but Beefcake found a substitute in Perfect’s corner man, The Genius. The Genius was the new effeminate character played by “Leaping” Lanny Poffo (Randy Savage’s real life brother). The Genius dressed in a graduation gown and mortarboard and read his own poetry before every match. Beefcake put The Genius into his Sleeperhold and then cut his hair.
Baby It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White
At the 1990, Royal Rumble “Rowdy” Roddy Piper eliminated Bad News Brown. The angry Bad News immediately pulled Piper out of the ring eliminating him. A feud was started between the two. Whenever they were in the same building, they always ended up brawling and their match at WrestleMania VI was no different. The match spilled to the outside where Piper and Brown continued to trade lefts and rights. The referee had no choice but to count both men out while they brawled to the back.
Controversy arose from this match surrounding the always-controversial Roddy Piper. Piper painted half of his body black for his match against the African-American Bad News Brown. Piper claimed that the two colours represented his two personalities – “Hot Rod” (white) and “The Hot Scot” (black). While most fans recognized this as Piper trying to push the envelope as he usually did, others complained saying that Piper was celebrating “black face theatre”. “Black face theatre” was a style of performance from the early 1900s where Caucasian men would paint their faces black, their mouths red, and perpetuate racist stereotypes from the African-American culture. Luckily for the WWE, nothing came of the complaints. At this time in North America, rappers like The Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) and Run DMC were making the urban culture “cool” and bridged the gap between the races.
Did You Blink?
The Hart Foundation (Bret “The Hitman” Hart/Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) had challenged the winner of the Colossal Connection/Demolition match stating that they were deserving of the next title shot. After making a claim that bold, they had to really make an impact at WrestleMania VI – and they did. While their opponents, The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff/Boris Zhukov), were singing the Russian national anthem, The Hart Foundation jumped them from behind. The referee quickly called for the opening bell and within nineteen seconds The Hart Foundation had hit Zhukov with their patented Hart Attack finisher and gain the pinfall. This match set the record for quickest match in WrestleMania history and the record stood for another nineteen years.
The next match was Tito Santana against The Heenan Family’s newest acquisition, The Barbarian (formerly of the Powers of Pain). The Barbarian, decked out in animal pelt, used his power and hard hitting moves to defeat Santana.
The King vs The Common Man
The next match was a meeting of two of wrestling’s biggest superstars – “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. Dusty Rhodes had been not only one of the NWA’s biggest superstars, he was also a booker in the Florida Championship Wrestling territory and the creator of wrestling mainstays like the Great American Bash pay-per-view and the War Games match. Rhodes was a staunch NWA supporter and was very vocal about speaking out against Vince McMahon and the WWE’s takeover of the wrestling industry. But soon, backstage politics and creative differences soured Rhodes on the NWA and he signed with the WWE in late 1989. Rhodes had always claimed to represent “the common man” but McMahon wanted to take that to the next level. Before making his in-ring debut, Rhodes appeared in vignettes working blue-collar jobs (gas station attendant, pizza delivery man, butcher, etc). He first started coming to the ring in the same ring gear that he wore in the NWA. But Vince had a better idea. Polka dots.
Vince had a vision of seeing Rhodes wear black tights with bright yellow dots. Many inside the industry believed – and still believe – that Vince did this because Rhodes wasn’t a WWE-bred talent. Whether it was a rib (prank) or not, Rhodes made up his mind not to let the dots ruin his legacy. Rhodes continued to speak out for the common man and entertained crowds with his dancing in the ring and unique, high-energy promos. He had won over the WWE fans just as he had done in the NWA.
Randy Savage also had a big year since losing the WWE Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania V. After teaming up with Hogan’s No Holds Barred opponent, Zeus, Savage defeated “King” Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the King of the Ring crown. In a ceremony led by The Genius, Savage changed his moniker from the “Macho Man” to the “Macho King” and named his new manager Sherri Martel, “Sensational” Queen Sherri. For his matches, six nameless men carried the “King” and “Queen” to the ring on thrones that rested on their shoulders. Savage also carried a jewel-encrusted sceptre that was given to him but “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
With Rhodes as “The Common Man” and Savage as “The King”, it was a natural feud combination that practically wrote itself. Rhodes was teamed with Sapphire – a homely, frumpy yet energetic former WWE production truck driver. A match was made for WrestleMania VI and was billed as “the first Mixed Tag Match in WWE history” – “Macho King” Randy Savage and “Sensational” Queen Sherri versus Dusty Rhodes and Shappire.
Before the match started, Dusty announced that he had a surprise for Savage and Sherri. They had the crown and the sceptre but Rhodes had “the crown jewel” and he brought out Miss Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been absent since WrestleMania V and her long history with Savage made her the perfect distraction in Rhodes’ corner. Rhodes and Shappire would win the match and they celebrated with Elizabeth as an irate King and Queen left the ringside area.
High Flyers and Tough Brawlers
The ninth match of the event pitted The Rockers (Shawn Michaels/Marty Jannetty) against The Orient Express (Sato/Tanaka) managed by Mr. Fuji. Both teams were comprised of fast, young wrestlers known for their high risk moves and specialized double team attacks. After seven minutes of fast-paced action, The Rockers were attempting their patented Double Fist Drop but Fuji distracted Jannetty and Jannetty went to the outside after the devious manager. Sato snuck up behind Jannetty and threw salt into his face. Jannetty was unable to get back into the ring leading to an Orient Express count out win.
Following the high flyers, were two tough street brawlers. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan challenged Dino Bravo, who brought Jimmy Hart and the 470-pound Earthquake to be in his corner. The Canadian SkyDome crowd was unsure how to react to the babyface Duggan trying to get them to chant “USA” as he usually did during his matches. At the end of the match, Duggan hit Bravo with his 2x4 behind the referee’s back and covered for the pinfall. But his celebration was cut short when Earthquake attacked Duggan from behind and proceeded to drop three Earthquake Splashes.
Hissss Into Money
Despite being close friends in real life, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and Jake “The Snake Roberts were involved in a bitter feud leading to WrestleMania VI. Roberts didn’t appreciate how DiBiase would make audience members grovel or perform embarrassing acts for money so he wanted to give DiBiase a taste of his own medicine. He wanted to find out what DiBiase would do for what he valued most – the Million Dollar Belt.
The Million Dollar Belt was shaped like numerous gold dollar signs of varying sizes with the front three encrusted with diamonds. DiBiase brought it into the WWE and began to refer to himself as The Million Dollar Champion. Before his match on Superstars, DiBiase announced that if Roberts wanted his belt, “come and get it”. Roberts took him up on the offer and stole the belt and put it in the green sack that he also carried his python, Damien, in. DiBiase and his bodyguard Virgil both had a fear of snakes so during one of Roberts’ matches on Superstars, DiBiase sent the Big Boss Man to the ring to beat up Roberts and steal the sack.
Boss Man carried the sack to the set of The Brother Love Show, which started immediately. DiBiase, Virgil, Boss Man, and Slick all mocked Roberts and threatened to kill Damien if he left the ring. DiBiase then demanded that Boss Man reach into the sack and retrieve the belt. Boss Man hesitated and DiBiase yelled at him again to get the belt. Boss Man freed the belt from the snake sack and DiBiase announced that he had proved “everybody has a price and everybody can be bought”. This statement personally insulted Boss Man so he put the belt back into the sack, carried the sack back to the ring, and handed it back to Roberts. Boss Man turned babyface stating that no one could buy him off and he still had his integrity.
“The Million Dollar Man” was foiled again so he challenged Roberts to a match at WrestleMania VI with the Million Dollar Belt on the line. During the match, while Roberts and DiBiase were locked in a rest hold, the SkyDome crowd in the upper deck started “the wave” and then they started another one on the floor level. Soon, Roberts made a comeback but was pulled to the outside of the ring by Virgil. Roberts stalked Virgil allowing DiBiase to attack from behind sending Roberts into the ring post. Virgil rolled DiBiase into the ring and Jake was counted out. Because the Million Dollar Belt wasn’t a WWE sanctioned title, it could change hands on a count out. Roberts re-entered the ring and DDT’ed DiBiase while Virgil took off to the back with the belt.
When Towers Collide
When the Big Boss Man turned on DiBiase, he also turned on Slick and his Twin Towers tag team partner, Akeem. Akeem wanted vengeance and had his opportunity at WrestleMania VI. Akeem came out first and when Boss Man arrived at the ring, he was stealth attacked by DiBiase. DiBiase had hid under the ring after the previous match. Akeem took advantage of the situation and dominated most of the match. But Boss Man fought back and ended up pinning his yellow-garbed behemoth opponent.
Elvis & Elvis Have Left The Building
Up next was a special concert presentation by the Honky Tonk Man and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Rhythm & Blues. The Honky Tonk Man had built his character around being an Elvis Presley imitator although he claimed that Elvis stole songs that he wrote. In an attempt to prolong his career, Valentine’s gimmick changed from tough, highly skilled wrestler to a Honk Tonk Man impersonator. Valentine was an Elvis impersonator impersonator although he more resembled Johnny Cash without the cowboy hat.
Prior to WrestleMania VI, it was announced that Rhythm & Blues would perform their new hit single “Honka Honka Honka Honky Love” live in the ring. They were driven to the ring in a pink Cadillac by Page Joseph Falkinburg, Jr - later known as Diamond Dallas Page. Rhythm & Blues were joined by their manager/record producer “Colonel” Jimmy Hart and two young, female backup singers called The Honkettes. While driving to the ring, Jesse Ventura mentioned that “Honka Honka Honka Honky Love” was such a big hit; it had already gone gold even though it wasn’t released yet.
They sang their song and were about to sing it again when the Honky Tonk Man noticed two vendors selling WWE merchandise at ringside. Then he recognized the vendors as Luke and Butch, The Bushwhackers. Rhythm & Blues had attacked The Bushwhackers in the previous weeks continuing their feud. Luke and Butch cleared the ring and then destroyed Honky Tonk Man and Valentine’s “$1,000” guitars.
The next to last match featured “Ravishing” Rick Rude with his manager Bobby “The Brain” Heenan against “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. Since defeating the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V, Rude went on to hold the Intercontinental Championship for most of 1989. He eventually lost it back to Warrior at SummerSlam but still remained a top contender. At WrestleMania VI, Rude utilized his Rude Awakening neck breaker to gain the victory over Snuka.
Champion vs Champion, Title for Title
Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior were the two most popular wrestlers in the industry in 1990 and both were champions. Ultimate Warrior held the Intercontinental Championship while Hogan represented the WWE as the WWE Champion. When the two met in the 1990 Royal Rumble, fans wondered what would happen. They were the only two competitors left and had almost the full two minutes before the next superstar was allowed to enter. After some unsuccessful shoulder checks by both men, they criss-crossed before hitting each other with a double clothesline. Later on during the Rumble, Hogan would inadvertently eliminate Warrior on his way to winning the match.
The Warrior was livid. He challenged Hogan to match at WrestleMania VI and offered to put his title on the line. Hogan accepted and offered to put his title up for grabs instead. The decision went to WWE President Jack Tunney who announced that for the first time, it would be “champion vs champion, title for title”. Both the WWE Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship would be awarded to the winner.
The wrestling world was right back to where it was three years ago. No one would have ever thought to pit the two biggest babyfaces against each other at the biggest event of the year. As Jerry Lawler later observed, “It forced fans to, at some point in the match, make a choice.” There were Ultimate Warrior fans (“Little Warriors”) and Hogan fans (“Hulkamaniacs”) who still liked the other guy but had to keep to their allegiances. No one knew what was going to happen. The Warrior was the up and coming wrestler who feared nothing and was almost impervious to pain. But he was facing Hulk Hogan, the greatest WWE Champion ever and the man who was always able to do whatever he needed to do to win.
One week after the Royal Rumble, Hogan and Warrior teamed up to defeat Mr. Perfect and The Genius on Saturday Night’s Main Event. After the match, Perfect knocked Hogan out of the ring and then he and The Genius attacked Warrior. As Warrior fended off both men, Hogan came up behind him and Warrior, thinking it was either Perfect or Genius, clotheslined Hogan. The two patched things up and agreed that they each wanted the other to be in top physical condition for their match at WrestleMania VI.
On the February 23 episode of The Main Event, Earthquake was going to splash Warrior from the second rope but Hogan ran in and knocked him out of the ring. Warrior then got into Hogan’s face yelling, “I don’t need your help!” Two weeks later, it was Hogan was being attacked by Earthquake. This time, Warrior came down to help. But Hogan shrugged off the Warrior and Warrior started criss-crossing the ring. Hogan got to his feet and stepped into Warrior’s path. Warrior made the motion like he was going to clothesline Hogan but stopped short. The two stood at a standstill until Warrior exited the ring and ran out of the building.
The stage was set and the SkyDome fans were frenzied when the two men came to the ring. After an equal showing of strength and power, Warrior clotheslined Hogan to the outside. Hogan jarred his knee and fans were worried that the match would be called due to injury. But Warrior jumped outside and rolled Hogan back into the ring. Hogan recovered and mounted a comeback but the two would take each other down by a double clothesline. The match continued with both men gaining the losing the advantage countless times. In the end, Hogan began “hulking up” and hit the Big Boot. But the Warrior rolled away from Hogan’s Leg Drop and followed up by hitting Hogan with his Warrior Splash. Hogan kicked out but it was a fraction of a second too late. The referee called for the bell and raised the Warrior’s hand.
Hogan slowly walked to the timekeeper’s table and picked up the WWE World Championship belt and climbed back into the ring. He folded the belt’s straps, handed it to Warrior, and raised the new champion’s hand. The two hugged in what would be a memorable WrestleMania moment for years to come. The fans in SkyDome that night (including Adam Copeland and Jason Reso aka Edge and Christian) watched as Hogan was carried out while the Ultimate Warrior celebrated in the ring with both the Intercontinental and WWE Championship Titles.
During WrestleMania VI, the WWE promoted that the next year’s WrestleMania would be host to over 100,000 live fans. But because of a controversial challenger, plans would have to change . . .
Well students, that about wraps up Part 6 of our WrestleMania history lesson. I hope you all enjoyed it. On a personal note, if you want to see some classic style promos, check out WrestleMania VI. Sure they don’t have the language or tongue-in-cheek references seen in promos today, but they were intense, more animated, and frankly just better. Regardless, I would appreciate any and all feedback you have either emailed here or post it in the forums. WrestleMania VII is next (duh!) so be sure not to miss it.
Pop Quiz
I mentioned earlier that Rhythm & Blues were driven to the ring in a pink Cadillac by a then unknown Diamond Dallas Page. Why was DDP the driver?
Gold Star Achievements
I’m going to take a cue from XanMan here and forego the usual list of columns in favour of advertising the great work coming out of the Column Series Invitational. Nowhere else on the Internet will you find this quality of writings about the Royal Rumble, shotguns, and apple sauce.
