From New York, New York on March 20, 1994

Hosted by Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon.

Opening match: Bret Hart v. Owen Hart

The Background:

Bret teamed with his brothers (Owen, Keith and Bruce), while Shawn teamed with three masked Knights. The Harts systematically destroyed the heels, but Shawn managed to eliminate Owen with a fluke pinfall. Owen was upset, and began challenging him to a match. Bret constantly maintained that he didn’t want to fight his brother. Finally, the brothers reconciled and agreed to team against the Quebecers at the Royal Rumble. Bret injured his knee during the match, and the champions took advantage. They wore him down until he was to the point of not being able to continue, and at a crucial point where Bret could have tagged Owen, he instead chose to apply the Sharpshooter to Pierre. This cost the team the titles, as his knee collapsed and the referee stopped the match and awarded it to the Quebecers. Owen had had enough, and he stomped on Bret’s knee in frustration and stormed back to the dressing room, delivering the semi-famous “You’re Too Selfish!” interview. This match that turned Owen Hart from mid-card joke to main event threat. Bret would also be in the main event for the strap this very same night adding much speculation on if he could pull it off after going through the rings with his brother.

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From Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993

Hosted by Bobby Heenan, Randy Savage & Jim Ross (in a toga)

Intercontinental title: Shawn Michaels v. Tatanka

The Background:

Tatanka had a long undefeated run, and was a decent wrestler with a decent following. At Wrestlemania IX, he had the match of the show with Shawn Michaels. However, his gimmick was a weak joke at best and an absolute insult at worst. The character came into being because Vince McMahon couldn’t resist transforming useful wrestlers into “homages” of movie characters. Tatanka was derived from “Dances with Wolves”, war-danced (or something) his way to the ring and had an unsightly streak of red in the center of his hair. With such a limiting gimmick, Tatanka’s chances at garnering any level of success were seriously hampered. This is also the short-lived debut of Luna Vachon as Shawn’s manager in a move that was a head-scratcher.

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From Indianapolis, Indiana on April 5, 1992

Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan.

WWF title match: Ric Flair v. Randy Savage

The Background:

Okay, here’s the deal:

Problem: Vince wants to have Hogan v. Flair on PPV. Make lots of money. Everyone is happy.

Problem: Sid is whining. Fine, he gets written into the storyline.

Problem: Hogan wants to “retire” after that match. Fine, they’ll build it up as his last hurrah.

Problem: Flair is World champion. Fans demand a title match, and in fact it’s already announced as such. Hogan can’t win the title and then retire, and he can’t lose his retirement match, so…

Solution: Randy Savage is written into the Flair feud and Hogan is given a last win against Sid. Everyone is happy.

I never really cared for the “sign the match, then add the angle” approach to this, but most people liked it, so I guess many disagreed with me.

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From Los Angeles, California on March 24, 1991

Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan.

Retirement match: Ultimate Warrior v. Randy Savage

The Background:

This came about because Savage challenged Warrior to a title match at Royal Rumble 91, and when Warrior refused (even with implied fellatio from Sensational Sherri offered) Savage sabotaged Warrior’s title defense against Sgt. Slaughter and cost him the belt. The heat Savage had built for himself since the Rumble that year was incredible, and everyone in attendance probably wanted him to get beat. Classic wrestling angle, classic wrestling power match, and even the subplot was great.

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From Toronto, Ontario on April 1, 1990

Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura.

WWF title v. Intercontinental title: Hulk Hogan v. Ultimate Warrior

The Background:

There wasn’t a fan in 1990 who was not divided on their preference. Hogan or the Warrior. The reliable hero in Hulk for which you grew up watching, or, the compelling Comic book hero-like Ultimate Warrior, who just seemed a tad “cooler” than the somewhat milk and cookies Hulkster. We all wondered what would happen when the two most seemingly unbeatable WWF stars finally battled, and we got our wish at Wrestlemania 6. This whole match was a ‘I can’t believe I’m seeing it’ epic. Total on-the-edge-of-the-seat stuff from start to finish.

The entire match was planned out beforehand, and choreographed several times, weeks before the event to ensure a minimum of trouble.

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Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel

Hardy and Jericho are here, too. This is all POWER vs. SPEED. Barrett is a beast. He has a nice backbreaker; first lifting Gabriel up belly-to-back, then bouncing his legs off the ropes before slamming him across his bended knee. Ouch. Wade puts Gabriel on the top turnbuckle and follows him up as Gabriel is able to shove him off and then hits the 450 for the pin. Jericho gives Gabriel a Codebreaker post-match.

Winner: Gabriel

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From Orlando, FL

X-Division Title: Doug Williams vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Christopher Daniels

Lot of good spots in this one. Some great three-way spots. They actually get some time, surprisingly — this might be the longest match of the Hogan Era. Standard X Division stuff but it’s been a while. Williams retains with the Chaos Theory on Daniels.

Winner: Doug Williams

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Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Orton – Handicap Match

Match had begun during the break. Orton went to work against Rhodes, who, after a back-elbow, made the tag to DiBiase. Orton took down Teddy too, who cowered in his corner like Rhodes before him, and made the tag. The heels finally started double-teaming to get the advantage. That is, until Rhodes was back-dropped over the top rope. DiBiase went to attack, but Orton saw it coming, and DiBiase backed away. They went to break after over three minutes of action. Back from the break with Orton fighting out of the heel corner, knocking DiBiase off the apron and holding Rhodes at bay until DiBiase dropkicked Orton on the floor. Rhodes sent Orton’s face into the steel steps. Clothesline by DiBiase for two-and-a-half, causing DiBiase to argue with referee Chad Patton. The heels had an extended run on offense at this point. Orton made his comeback with a couple of scoop slams. Orton then pounded away on DiBiase in the corner. DiBiase awkwardly ran into a back-breaker. Orton pounded the mat for an RKO, but Rhodes grabbed him. DiBiase, from behind, landed Dream Street for the win at about 11:00.

Winners: DiBiase & Rhodes.

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From Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 2, 1989

Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura.

WWF World title: Randy Savage v. Hulk Hogan

The Background:

Miss Elizabeth is in a neutral corner. And one year after winning the title in his building, it all comes full circle as Savage defends against Hogan, drawing a bazillion dollars on PPV. Story of the match was that Savage generated resentment towards Hogan, which led to his heel turn and Darth Vader-like shift back to the Dark Side again.

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From Atlantic City, New Jersey on March 27, 1988

Hosted by Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura.

WWF title tournament, first round: Ricky Steamboat v. Greg Valentine

The Background:

This was assumed to be a no-brainer win for the Dragon to set up a rematch with Savage, instead of putting Valentine over the Dragon. Especially since The Hammer had been used as fodder in the new Dream Team in the previous months leading to the show and didn’t exactly have very much in the way of momentum going into this thing. Also, a Savage victory over Steamboat would erase that one black mark on his record, and considering they were putting all their eggs in Macho’s basket, I’m surprised they didn’t.

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