Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: WrestleMania Part 10
By Sean Taylor
Feb 9, 2009 - 2:54:11 AM
If your dog ate your homework, the least you could do is hand in your dog.
Welcome back to The Classroom. It’s getting warmer outside (but not by much) and No Way Out is around the corner. As WrestleMania XXV draws nearer, I can’t help but wonder who’s going into the Hall of Fame this year. We have Steve Austin confirmed already and there have been rumours of two more. There are a few that I would personally like to see go in such as “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and The Freebirds. But we just won’t know until they are announced live on Raw. However, I can personally announce the sole Star Pupil achiever from Part 9 (how’s that for a segue). He is Matt Snyder and he knew that Natalie Cole was in attendance at WrestleMania IX and six live animals walked the aisle that night (seven if you count Luna Vachon). Congrats.
Today’s lesson is all about the events and happenings surrounding the WWE’s WrestleMania X pay-per-view. Its influence can still be seen in matches today and it is responsible for hosting two of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. So without further ado, onward to History Of: WrestleMania Part 10.
WrestleMania X: 10 Years In The Making
Date: March 20, 1994
Venue: Madison Square Garden (New York, New York)
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Attendance: 18,065
By 1994, the WWE had entered into the era of the New Generation. Wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Ric Flair had left the WWE in favour of WCW. The WWE replaced them with younger stars like Bret “The Hitman” Hart, “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, Lex Luger, Diesel, Razor Ramon, and Yokozuna. At the same time, the WWE started giving their wrestlers “over the top” gimmicks. Wrestlers like Duke “The Dumpster” Droese (a wrestling garbage man), T.L. Hopper (an evil wrestling plumber), and Max Moon (a wrestling space man) started filtering in with brightly coloured costumes and big gimmicky props. Other wrestlers such as Phantasio and Battle Kat would debut and be retired after just one or two appearance.
The WWE became very family oriented. Juicing (cutting oneself for the purpose of bleeding) was outlawed in both the WWE and WCW. Wrestlers weren’t allowed to use any form of language that would be considered offensive. The WWE also started their phone hotlines and American Online (AOL) web chats. To further their family friendly image, the WWE held the first annual FanFest during WrestleMania weekend. The Rotund at Madison Square Garden contained WWE exhibits and various stations where fans could dunk Doink into a tank of water, get their picture taken with Paul Bearer inside a coffin, and wrestle inside a ring with a WWE referee.
The dark match before the event was The Bushwhackers vs The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray/Dr. Tom Pritchard) with their manager James E. Cornette. The Heavenly Bodies won after Del Ray pinned Butch. The scheduled ten-man tag team match featuring Irwin R. Shyster, Rick Martel, “Double J” Jeff Jarrett and the Headshrinkers against the 1-2-3 Kid (aka Sean Waltman), Sparky Plugg (aka Hardcore Holly), Tatanka, and the Smoking Gunns (Bart/Billy aka Kip James) did not happen due to time constraints. The on-air reason given for this cancellation was that the heel team couldn’t decide whom the team captain was.
Throughout the night, the WWE reviewed classic happenings from the nine WrestleManias past. This was the first instance of the phrase “WrestleMania Moment”.
Royal Rumble Recap
Although the tradition of the Royal Rumble winner getting a WrestleMania title shot started in 1993, the 1994 Royal Rumble would have an impact on not one, but three WrestleMania X matches. The Rumble match came down to former WWE Champion Bret “The Hitman” Hart and now babyface “Made In The USA” Lex Luger. The two got into a struggle and both fell over the top rope at the same time. One referee raised Hart’s hand while another awarded the win to Luger. WWE President Jack Tunney walked to ringside as inconclusive video replays were shown. Hart, Luger, and the referees pled their cases to Tunney. Finally, Tunney made a ruling – the winners were both men.
This created a quandary. Both men couldn’t claim one main event title shot so Tunney announced that there would be two WWE Championships matches thereby giving each man a fair chance at the title. After Luger won a coin toss, it was announced that he would get the first title match against WWE Champion Yokozuna and then the winner would face Hart later in the night. To assure fairness, Hart was scheduled to wrestle a second match against his brother Owen.
Having A Hart To Hart
WrestleMania X opened with Vince McMahon introducing Little Richard who was there to sing “America The Beautiful” with a choir surrounding the ring. The first match of the night, Bret Hart took on his brother, “The Rocket” Owen Hart. The two brothers were in the middle of a feud. At the 1993 Survivor Series, Bret led his Hart Family team into a Survivor Series match against Shawn Michaels and his Knights. During the match, Michaels whipped Owen into the ropes and Owen accidentally collided with Bret, which allowed Michaels to roll up Owen and eliminate him. The Hart Family won the match and Owen stormed to the ring upset that Bret caused him to be the only Hart eliminated. Two weeks later, Owen challenged his brother to a match but Bret refused.
On the Christmas weekend edition of Superstars, Bret and Owen announced that they had patched things up and would be turning their combined attention to winning the WWE Tag Team titles from The Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau/Pierre Ouelett) at the 1994 Royal Rumble. During that match, Bret suffered a kayfabe leg injury and couldn’t reach Owen for a tag. The Hart Brothers lost the match and Owen attacked Bret’s injured leg yelling, “All he had to do was tag me”.
When it was announced that Bret would have to face Owen at WrestleMania X, Owen claimed it would be his chance to finally step out of Bret’s shadow. The match itself was a technical wrestling classic. Halfway through the match, Bret leapt over the top rope and onto Owen. This move caused Bret to suffer another kayfabe leg injury. The match continued until Owen whipped Bret into the corner and ran in after him. Bret caught Owen with a high knee and went for a victory roll but Owen countered and pinned Bret for the win.
The match lasted twenty minutes and was filled with action from start to finish and is frequently recognized as one of the top ten matches in WrestleMania history.
I Shall Call Him Mini-Me
Next, ring announcer Bill Dunn introduced Sy Sperling. Sperling was the president of the Hair Club For Men, which was a popular hair restoration/replacement company thanks to their television commercials. Leading up to WrestleMania X, the WWE announced that Sperling was working to help bald ring announcer Howard Finkel get a new head of hair. Sperling introduced Finkel and his new haircut before sitting at ringside for the following match.
Ironically, Sperling bore witness to a match where three of the competitors wore wigs or hair extensions and the fourth was bald. The match was a culmination of a feud between Bam Bam Bigelow and the now babyface Doink the Clown. It was a mixed tag match where Bigelow was teamed with his “main squeeze” Luna Vachon while Doink partnered with his midget clown friend Dink. The rules stated that Doink could only wrestle Bigelow and Dink could only wrestle Luna. Bigelow pinned Doink to win the match, which was followed by a sloppy attack from the heels.
Hanging Out In The Back
In 1993, Crush was injured by Yokozuna as a part of a storyline. When he returned he attacked his friend “Macho Man” Randy Savage because Savage never visited him while he was out. Crush then signed Mr. Fuji to be his manager and became a “Japanese sympathizer”. Now heel, Crush was signed to meet Savage in a Falls Count Anywhere match at WrestleMania X.
The rules for the Falls Count Anywhere match stated that after a pinfall occurred, the loser of the fall had one minute to get back into the ring or else they would lose the match. This caused the fans to wonder what would happen if the pinfall occurred in the ring. At the end of the match, Savage pinned Crush in a backstage room containing a scaffold. Savage then used rope to hang Crush up from the scaffold by his feet. The minute expired and Savage’s hand was raised in victory. After the match, Savage went to the Paramount Theatre to celebrate with fans.
Revitalizing Women’s Wrestling
When Rockin’ Robin left the WWE in 1990, the Women’s Championship was retired. In December of 1993, the WWE brought back the Women’s Championship and Alundra Blayze (aka Madusa in WCW) won a tournament to become the new champion. At WrestleMania X, Blayze successfully defended the title against Leilani Kai. The WWE recognized former Women’s champion The Fabulous Moolah who was sitting at ringside but didn’t mention Mae Young who was sitting next to her.
Whoomp There It Is
The next match pitted WWE Tag Team Champions The Quebecers against Men On A Mission (Mo/Mabel). Mo and Mabel (aka Viscera/Big Daddy V) were cornered by their manager Oscar who rapped the team’s theme song. The Quebecers’ manager was Johnny Polo, who fans know better as ECW original Raven. In order to save their titles, The Quebecers eventually walked out of the match allowing Men On A Mission to win via countout.
Perfect Return, Questionable Referee
The next match was the first WWE Championship match at WrestleMania X. Television host Rhonda Sheer was the guest timekeeper while New Kids On The Block front man Donnie Wahlberg acted as the special guest ring announcer. Mr. Perfect was the surprise guest referee, returning from an unexplained hiatus from active competition.
Yokozuna and Lex Luger had a history of confrontations prior to WrestleMania X. On July 4, 1993, Yokozuna challenged any American to bodyslam him on the deck of the USS Intrepid. After several NFL players and bodybuilders failed to bodyslam the WWE Champion, Lex Luger arrived via a helicopter and slammed Yokozuna winning the challenge. At WrestleMania X, Yokozuna removed one of the turnbuckles then used his size to wear down Luger. Luger eventually fought back and knocked out Yokozuna with his metal-plated forearm. Luger went for the cover but Yokozuna’s managers James E. Cornette and Mr. Fuji had Mr. Perfect distracted. When Luger shoved Perfect to get his attention, Perfect disqualified Luger.
After the match, Luger caught up with Mr. Perfect during a backstage interview with Todd Pettengill. A shoving match erupted between the two and had to be separated by WWE officials. A feud between Perfect and Luger was supposed to continue after WrestleMania X but Perfect soon left the company and wouldn’t return until the 1995 Survivor Series.
Fight Over A Torn Tuxedo
Harvey Whipplemen and ring announcer Howard Finkel had always had a general dislike of each other. Whipplemen preferred to introduce his clients and always poked fun at Finkel. In return, whenever Finkel announced Whipplemen, he used a snide, sarcastic tone of voice. At WrestleMania X, before introducing his new client Adam Bomb, Whipplemen teased and taunted Finkel calling him ugly and stupid before tearing the pocket off of Finkel’s tuxedo jacket. Finkel retaliated by shoving Whipplemen to the mat. This brought out Adam Bomb, who grabbed Finkel and forced him into the corner. Bomb’s opponent Earthquake ran to the ring and saved Finkel and the match began. About thirty second later, Earthquake and knocked down Bomb and hit his Earthquake Splash to gain the pinfall.
Reaching New Heights
“The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels reigned successfully as Intercontinental Champion until the fall of 1993 when he was informed that he wasn’t defending the title enough to fulfill his champion’s contractual duties. A battle royal was held where the final two competitors would wrestle to determine the new Intercontinental Champion. Razor Ramon defeated Rick Martel and was awarded the title. When Michaels returned to the WWE, he claimed to be the real Intercontinental Champion and brought his own belt with him to the ring.
The WWE couldn’t have two Intercontinental champions so they scheduled a match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels (with his bodyguard Diesel) to determine who the undisputed champion was. In addition to the storyline, the match was made into a Ladder Match. The WWE had only done one other ladder match before (Bret Hart vs Michaels) but it was never aired on television. For many WWE fans, this was their first chance to see a Ladder Match.
Ladder matches were not new to the wrestling business. One of the earliest recorded ladder matches saw the Junkyard Dog face off against Jake Roberts in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling territory in the mid 1980s. The difference between previous ladder matches and the WrestleMania X version was the psychology about using the ladder. Prior to WrestleMania X, the ladder generally had one sole purpose – to allow a wrestler to reach the prize hanging above the ring. But Michaels and Ramon revolutionized the way ladder matches were done. They treated the ladder not just as a stepping stool, but also as a weapon, a tag team partner, another opponent, and a launching pad for high risk moves. Fans and fellow wrestlers were amazed as they watched the match unfold.
Although Ramon walked out the winner, both men received a standing ovation from the often hard-to-impress New York City crowd. All future ladder matches would follow the standards Ramon and Michaels set that night. This match led to evolutions including the Tag Team Ladder Match, the TLC Match, and the Money In The Bank Ladder Match.
Hart Starting Rematch
Just like the first WWE Championship match, there were special celebrity guests. Jennie Garth of Beverly Hills 90210 fame was the timekeeper and actor Burt Reynolds took over ring announcing duties. The surprise guest referee was “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. The stage was set and the WWE showed a video package chronicling the careers of both Yokozuna and Bret Hart. This was the only time the same competitors would ever meet in back-to-back WrestleMania main events.
Yokozuna attacked Bret Hart before the match, who had limped to the ring as a result of his earlier match against Owen. Yokozuna soon gained the upper hand using this strength and size as he’d done against Luger. Bret mounted a brief comeback but Yokozuna countered. Soon after, Yokozuna dragged Hart to the corner and set up for his patented Banzai Drop. But Yokozuna lost his footing and fell off the ropes hitting his head on the mat. Hart took the advantage, covered Yokozuna, and Piper made the three count.
After Yokozuna, James E. Cornette, and Mr. Fuji chased Piper to the back, Luger came back to the ring and confronted Hart. The two shook hands and hugged before the babyfaces ran to the ring to celebrate with Bret. Owen walked out from the back and glared at Bret before going back to the locker room. Bret and his friends continued to celebrate as WrestleMania X went off the air
The New Generation had arrived and Bret Hart was leading the pack. But soon the WWE wrestlers would give their main event spot . . .
. . . to a football player.
Well that’s about wraps up Part 10 of the History Of: WrestleMania series. At this pace, we are set to finish this lesson just one week before WrestleMania XXV. It’s a lot of information being thrown at you and I deeply appreciate any and all of you for sticking with me. I’m received some great feedback (which I’ll be responding to as soon as this is posted) and I’m always open to more. Writing these columns doesn’t give me a lot of time to eat but you if send me some feedback here, it’ll help curb the hunger pangs.
I am once again looking to find out who are my Star Pupils. 1) An impersonator of what famous person made an appearance in the audience at WrestleMania X?
2) Before walking to the ring, Pat Patterson warned Burt Reynolds not to get too close to the fans. Why?
