Rewriting 1991, Part 2 of 4: Wrestlemania VII

[LODemolition]

Dark Match: Koko B. Ware def. The Brooklyn Brawler

1. The Rockers def. Haku and The Barbarian (w/ Bobby Heenan)

2. The Texas Tornado def. Dino Bravo (w/ Jimmy Hart)

3. The British Bulldog def. The Warlord (w/ Slick)

4. Tag Team Championship: The Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart) def. The Hart Foundation (c)

5. Blindfold Match: Jake "The Snake" Roberts def. Rick "The Model" Martel

6. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) def. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka

7. Retirement Match: The Ultimate Warrior def. "Macho King" Randy Savage (w/ "Sensational Queen" Sherri)

8. Genichiro Tenryu and Kōji Kitao def. Demolition (w/ Mr. Fuji)

9. Intercontinental Championship: Big Boss Man def. Mr. Perfect (c) w/ Bobby Heenan *by disqualification*

10. Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart) def. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

11. Legion of Doom def. Power and Glory (w/ Slick)

12. Virgil def. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase *by countout*

13. The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart) def. Tito Santana

14. WWE Championship: Hulk Hogan def. Sgt. Slaughter (c) w/ General Adnan


Well this is one of my favorite WrestleManias, but even so, it could have been so much better. It was a big improvement imo from the year before where there was just a huge main event and the rest of the card seemed insignificant. A one match show almost. One of my minor complaints is that they didn't use Ricky Steamboat on the card. I can understand it because he had only been back for a month and they might not have even been running vignettes for him at the time, but if you have him I say use him. Also, like the following year, this should have been billed as a double main event. With Warrior and Savage putting their careers on the line in a retirement match, how do you not? But my biggest confusion pertains to the use, or should I say misuse, of Demolition. Putting them in the ring with 2 complete unknowns from Japan, who naturally got zero crowd reaction, completely blows my mind. Not only that, but Demolition put them over! Wow. This was the greatest shape the tag team division had ever been in and at the very least they could have put them against someone that the crowd was familiar with like the Bushwhackers. Despite booking 15 matches which were a bit too much for my taste, but they did do a good job of spreading out the most important matches. With hindsight being 20/20 as it always is, here is how I would rewrite this already very memorable day in WWE history.

Rewriting WrestleMania VII​

1. Shawn Michaels def. Marty Jannetty

As you saw in my Royal Rumble rewrite, Shawn Michael's heel turn came nearly a year earlier than it did in reality after The Rockers briefly won the tag team titles from Demolition and then lost them back in the summer of 1990. I feel you could have very easily broken them up at this point as their run together felt like it had run its course. This would have made a fantastic opening contest between the former tag team partners where Shawn would have gotten the win and established himself as the breakout star of the duo.


2. Intercontinental Championship: The British Bulldog def. Mr. Perfect (c)

After a great 1990 that saw Mr. Perfect briefly hold the WWE Championship, his new year would be off to a great start with an IC Title win at the Royal Rumble from Jake Roberts. However, it would not last long after running into Davey Boy Smith here. I would have loved to have seen these 2 great athletes lock up with gold on the line at WrestleMania.


3. Power and Glory def. The Powers of Pain

This one writes itself as Hercules and Paul Roma simply decided there wasn't room for 2 tag teams in the Dr. of Style Slick's stable of talent, and turned on the Warlord and Barbarian, making them crowd favorites. These 4 could have even made for a nice Survivor Series team at one point, but even better opponents here. These are 2 of my favorite and most underrated teams in WWE history.


4. "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich def. "The Model" Rick Martel

I think both of these guys made nice midcard talent, but would give the win to the Tornado because he's still a relative newcomer and it was his first WrestleMania.


5. Virgil def. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase *by countout*

This is the first match I wouldn't have touched. It would have been nice if Piper could have been involved and maybe even tagged with Virgil against Money Inc. (if IRS had returned to WWE a bit sooner), but I believe he was recovering from a motorcycle accident at the time hence the crutches. The countout finish gives the feud a reason to continue to SummerSlam, where the Million Dollar Championship would be on the line.


6. The Natural Disasters def. Big Boss Man & "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

Boss Man was incredibly over at this point, so I can't argue with putting him in the IC Title match. And I wouldn't have even noticed Jim Duggan was left off the card honestly if it hadn't been for him to do color commentary for the opening match. But if you've been keeping up with this series, you know that I had Earthquake and Typhoon form the Natural Disasters team in the summer of 1990, a year earlier than reality, so another tag team match would have been in order. It was either this team I put together of Duggan and Boss Man or the Bushwhackers. So that's not much of a choice.


7. The Undertaker def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

This would have been a great beginning to the streak, only with roles reversed from their WM8 matchup and Roberts playing the face. I really like the thought of this over the goofy blindfold match that Jake had with Martel. After tombstoning and gaining the victory, Taker doesn't let up and smashes the urn repeatedly into Jake's head. One of the most unlikely allies comes to his aid in Andre the Giant, who hadn't been seen or heard from since SummerSlam. We have an epic staredown between Andre and The Undertaker when Paul Bearer grabs the urn and seems compelled to use it on the giant. As Jake comes to and Bearer raises his arms above his head, Roberts pulls it from between his hands to the roar of the crowd. As Andre turns around, Jake uses it himself to hit Andre square between the eyes. It seems as though Jake Roberts is under some sort of spell and has joined the darkside. Taker and Roberts both put the boots to Andre until suddenly we hear "Ohhhh what a rush" and the Legion of Doom's music hits. Hawk and Animal's match was scheduled next, and they run to the ring with more than tag team gold on their mind as they clothesline Jake and Taker to the outside and help Andre to his feet. They both want back in the ring, but Paul Bearer and the power of the urn force them to reluctantly walk away.


8. Tag Team Championship: Legion of Doom def. Demolition (c)

This is easily on my short list of all-time missed opportunities by WWE. Hawk and Animal vs. Smash and Crush for the tag team belts would've undoubtedly been the matchup you automatically think of when you mention greatest tag team matches in WrestleMania history. If nothing else, it would have been pleasing to the eye just to see all of these face painted superstars in the ring at one time. I can't tell you how much it blows my mind that they chose to not go this direction, titles or no titles. Instead, the Road Warriors were booked against Power and Glory, who they finished in 59 seconds. It seems to me that they signed LOD with this very same moment in mind between 2 legendary teams where the torch could have been passed from Demolition. The explanation for this tremendous booking error? I'd love to hear it.


9. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka

I'm thinking a little outside the box with this one I know, but I would have brought Steamboat back as a heel in 1991. Ditch the awful firebreather gimmick and establish him as a solid midcarder in the hunt for the Intercontinental gold he famously won at WM3. I once read that Steamboat wanted badly to work as a heel and Pat Patterson told him no because he was an ultimate babyface. Maybe so, but if it would have kept him around, then give him some creative freedom. And a heel Steamboat is not that hard for me to imagine. This could have breathed new life into his career, pun intended.


10. Hulk Hogan def. Sgt. Slaughter

The second match of the night I would not have touched, other than of course there being no championship at stake. This was the All-American Hogan going up against the turncoat Slaughter, who had already sent Dusty Rhodes packing in my Royal Rumble rewrite. Now he set his sights on ending Hulkamania forever. Slaughter made a great opponent for Hogan imo, but WWE Champion? No thank you.


11. Six-Man Tag Team Match: The Nasty Boys & The Mountie def. The Hart Foundation & Tito Santana

These 2 matches combining into one would've worked out nicely I think. With Bret about to venture out into his singles career, it makes sense to let the Nasty Boys get the win so they can gain credibility as challengers to the titles.


12. WWE Championship Retirement Match: The Ultimate Warrior (c) def. "Macho King" Randy Savage

What is there to say about this match that hasn't already been said before? What a great story this match told and the way they reunited Randy with Liz was perfection. My only complaint about WrestleMania VII is that this didn't end the show. It would've been a great way to cap the night with all the shots of the fans crying tears of joy in the LA Memorial while the Macho Man sits his bride on his shoulder with fireworks going off above. But what would be next in store for the Warrior and his WWE Championship? The SummerSlam rewrite is next.


Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment and/or post your changes to the card of WrestleMania VII.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Bulldog was the original plan for the IC title at 7 after his aborted go at Summerslam... but he didn't get back in time to build the programme and Rude's leaving shifted that Bossman programme to Perfect.

Always felt this show suffered from the talents who left right before it not being there and the talents that were gone later that year being on it... Rude leaving was a travesty, Dusty leaving left another hole in the card but by that stage, Greg Valentine was taking up a spot that Steamboat could have had.

I always saw this as the "debuts" Mania too as you had so many guys from tag teams doing Mania solo for the first time... Warlord, Mountie and Davey all had their first solo outing along with Taker, Kerry and LOD. Even now it seems 14 matches was in effect 6 decent ones and 8 squashes that weren't needed.

Never thought of Superfly v Steamboat before, could have worked although if Steamboat is heel then Kerry would have been interesting. As a face, Martel would have been the opponent for him in my eyes.

If I'd got my way, Rude would still be around and champ here... dropping the belt to Savage in a classic. Warrior goes against Taker and Hogan and Duggan team against Slaughter and The Iron Shiek.

I'd do the tag split match here, but it'd be Neidhart v Bret and The Rockers would be the Tag Champs as originally planned before the infamous rope snap. Bret would go over for sure... but leaving Neidhart strong enough he could either go on as a solo and feud with Duggan, Bossman and maybe even Hogan (not for the belt) or go into a team with Haku.

IF you were gonna keep Valentine around, then one interesting thing would be to have Neidhart turn on Heenan after this match and team with him instead.... Hammer and Anvil could have worked... but Haku and Neidhart would have been a good team too.

 

[LODemolition]

It's too bad things happened the way they did with Warrior in the summer of '91 because we ended up missing out on what would've been unquestionably a great feud between him and Roberts/Undertaker. I would've pulled Hogan into that program and certainly gone with that as the SummerSlam main event instead of Slaughter, Mustafa and Adnan. Or they could've always did the Savage wedding sooner where Jake and Taker crashed the reception, bringing Randy out of retirement sooner and making him Warrior's partner.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

If Bossman was headlining B House Shows at the time i don't see why he can't challenger for the IC Title at WM7. If I recall, at the time, he was the most over guys in the roster my cousin even bought a Big Bossman action figure before anyone else's back when I was a lad around the time of WM7.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

First off, I've enjoyed reading your re-writes of the early 1990's WWF (E), and thus far, I've actually agreed with or enjoyed most of your re-writes of storylines, feuds, championship wins/losses, what you did with wrestlers' careers, etc.

But this is the first one where you've done some stuff that I strongly disagree with or don't like.

First off the major re-writes you did I agree with. Savage and Warrior for the Championship and the main event, I agree with whole-heartedly. That was the match that should've ended the show, not only because it was the best match and storyline, but also it would've really solidified Warrior as the "next guy" by having him close a Wrestlemania, and not Hogan.

I also agree with LOD and Demolition having a major feud and culminating at Wrestlemania for the tag team titles. This should've been the "money" feud of the tag team division, and though I liked the Nasty Boys ok, it's odd that they became the top heel team while Demolition were pushed to the back-burner, especially when you had a dream match in the making.

The matches/changes I'm indifferent on.

Shawn Michaels' early heel turn. This is good for one thing in that we would actually get the Michaels/Jannetty feud and match at Wrestlemania, as Marty had issues all through 1992 which killed the feud and the match (which was supposed to occur at WM 8, to the best of my knowledge). But at the same time, it seems really odd to have Shawn go solo in 1991. Shawn's turn to singles occurred around the same time that the direction and in-ring style of WWE shifted (that of smaller more athletic-orientated matches thanks to Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Ric Flair, and of course Shawn). WWE wasn't at that direction in 1991 yet. It was still the Hogan and Warrior show, and I see Shawn potentially getting lost in the shuffle as a singles wrestler throughout 1991. Of course it's your universe we're talking about so things could and probably would be very much different (as far as what other wrestlers are doing that in real life would've held Shawn back). But yeah, I'm not necessarily against it, it just seems odd.


The whole Natural Disasters thing happening early.

I don't really have a problem with that either as the Tugboat gimmick was lame. But of course making them a tag team so early kind of takes away Earthquake's run as a monster heel in 1990 against Hogan, which was really good. I don't know about bringing the Natural Disasters together in 1990, but doing it by Wrestlemania 7 certainly wouldn't be a problem, as Earthquake's run with Hogan officially ended at the 91 Rumble, so Quake wasn't doing much (other than a good post-WM feud with Jake) throughout the year. I like Earthquake having a more prominent tag team match on your card against Boss Man and Hacksaw then what he did in real life (a squash match against Greg Valentine, which did nothing for him).


Now to the stuff I don't agree with.

1. Ricky Steamboat as a heel against Jimmy Snuka

I get it. It'd be really interesting and something new to see what Steamboat could do as a heel. And he most certainly should've been on the WM card. He didn't necessarily need to be in a title match already (though I'd have no problem with that either), but any match he would've been in would've instantly made the card better. But to me, I agree with Pat Patterson. Ricky Steamboat (like Sting and Goldberg) should never be a heel. He's a babyface, through and through. Yes, get rid of the stupid Dragon gimmick, but keep him as a babyface and either have him go for the IC title against Mr. Perfect (talk about a match that could've stole the show and added another potential all-time great match to the card), or put him against a good mid-card heel like Rick Martel (that would've been another potential great match), Haku, or the Warlord. I'd love to see him against Dibiase or Savage again, but obviously those two were busy with the opponents they should've been against (Virgil and Ultimate Warrior, respectively).


2. Mr. Perfect losing the I-C title so quickly after first getting it (and winning the I-C title after being World Champion for that matter)

I'm with you on Mr. Perfect deserving to have a world title run at some point in his career. But overall, I don't really like what you did with Mr. Perfect throughout 1990 and thus far, 1991 for a number of reasons. 1. In my mind Mr. Perfect is the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time. One of my first posts on this site was a ranking of the top 10 I-C champions, and he was my No. 1 choice. And the biggest reasons was one he was such a great wrestler, two he had two significant reigns, with his second reign being one of the longest ever, and three, he was such a strong champion that he made the I-C title on equal footing with the world title, maybe for the only time in history. In your universe, unless you have further plans for him, he becomes a mediocre I-C champion that has a short meaningless run, like all the Attitude Era champions and beyond. To win the I-C title at the Rumble and then lose it at Mania is completely unnecessary, it also ruins the Bulldog a bit to, but more on that later. Secondly, the I-C title in my view, and especially in that time served two roles. Either it was the top of the line or the peak for a mid-card wrestler (Greg Valentine, Tito Santana, Honky Tonk Man, Rick Rude, Razor Ramon and ultimately Mr. Perfect) or it was a stepping stone for a mid-carder to eventually move up to the main events and become world champion (Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, etc). In this time period, the I-C title was for mid-carders, not main event world champion-level wrestlers to go back to. That's obviously the norm in this era, but we're not talking WWE circa 2012 here, this is 1991. It makes no sense for Mr. Perfect to win the World Title, then lost the title, and immediately become I-C champion. You basically have a main eventer who was just world champion who's hogging the mid-card from the other mid-card wrestlers, and it makes both titles not mean as much. Which is one of the major reasons that the titles haven't meant squat over the last 10-15 years. You're booking the 1991 version of the WWF like the modern day WWE, and that's not a good thing at all.

So yeah, I don't agree with this at all. If you want Perfect to get a world title run down the line, he should've been I-C champ first then elevate to the world title. Now if you had him as I-C champ at some point in 1989, then sure your story works for my tastes, but the way it is now, I don't like it at all. Plus you're really diminishing Perfect's legacy and career here. How you ask? Well the way you've booked him, he's had a two month reign with the world title (August 1990-November 1990) and a two month reign with the I-C title (January 1991-March 1991). Yeah getting a run with the world title, no matter how short was a big deal in this era, but compared to the way his career turned out in real life, I think that was much better than his career in your universe. In real life he had two long reigns with the I-C title), one that was 4 months long (April 1990-August 1990), and then 9-10 months long (November 1990-August 1991). And again in that era, the I-C title was almost as big a deal as the world title (and in my view, as big a deal when Perfect was champ, that's how great he was for the title). I think he's a far bigger legend having two lengthy I-C title runs, then a short I-C title run and short World Title run.

And having the Bulldog win the title so early, to me kind of hurts his career too. Bulldog debuted in late 1990, and if he was to win the I-C title only about 3-5 months after he debuted, it wouldn't mean as much as his win of the title in real life at Summerslam 1992 did. Not only did he win the title in front of one of the biggest crowds WWE has ever drawn, he also did it after being with the company for almost 2 years (on his singles run anyway), so he had time to get himself over massively with the audience and have the fans salivating at the thought of him finally winning singles gold.

Like I said, I don't mean to be mean, but you're booking here is somewhat Vince Russo, Attitude Era, hotshotting the titles style, which not only didn't fit WWE circa 1991, it also diminishes the careers of both wrestlers in my view.


3. Undertaker and Jake Roberts.

I'm sorry but this idea is terrible, absolutely terrible. One, I don't really like Jake Roberts taking on the Undertaker. I liked his feud with Martel for one, so I hate to see that go to the wayside. I liked the Blindfold match too, but I can see why many fans don't and would want to change it. So instead of scrapping the match and feud (which was one of the best mid-card feuds of that era in my view), why not make it a different gimmick match? Like a Lumberjack match so Martel can't escape, maybe a new type of match, something called a "Snake Pit" match where they fight in some kind of cave or something filled with snakes to really make Martel scared. That could've become a specialty match for Jake, like the Coffin match for Undertaker. Or just a simple, good ole steel cage match. Steel cage matches were rare for WWE in that era, and practically non-existent for wrestlers that weren't champions. Pretty much all steel cage matches were either world title matches or I-C title matches. You never had steel cage matches for mid-card feuds, so this would've been a huge deal to have Jake and Rick in a steel cage match and would've made both look really important.

But anyways, even if you want to stick with Taker and Roberts, obviously Taker wins to start the streak, but the way you did, I hate, sorry lol. This storyline absolutely reeks of Vince Russo, Attitude Era booking. Aka: Illogical, Shock TV turns of wrestlers. Again this is 1991. Storylines at that time actually made sense lol. And your explanation why Jake suddenly turns on Andre (who shouldn't have been involved at this point, more on that later) after losing a hard fought match to Taker, is just downright hokey and silly. And yes, Taker is a supernatural character, so obviously his storylines shouldn't be UFC ultra-realism, I get that. But the way Jake turns makes no sense and it kills his character. By coming under the spell of the urn, you're basically making Jake a helpless victim/slave to the Undertaker and Paul Bearer, much like what happened to the Brood, Viscera, Mideon during the Ministry period. That's a horrible direction for Jake Roberts. Jake Roberts was always the mastermind behind anything his character did. He was always in control. He was the king of mind games and manipulation. He was never anyone's second in command or soldier. He was the ruler having his own soldiers. His heel turn in real life during the summer of 91 was far better, not only just from a logical sense of his character, but also just in general. It was far more bad-ass for him to betray Warrior and side with Taker, just because he could and was an evil son of a b***h. Him coming under the spell of Taker is just terrible and makes him look absolutely weak. And I hear the argument in support of it already. That storyline going against his character is the point. It's something different, a new twist on his character. Well you could make the exact same arguments for the storyline of Shawn Michaels being poor and losing all his money and having to be JBL's man-servant. It was still the drizzling s***s. There's just some characters you don't make weak, just to do something different. Jake Roberts is one of those guys.


4. Andre the Giant still being around

I absolutely loved what you did with Andre from the Rumble to Summerslam. I liked moving his face turn up to the Rumble, and then giving him a significant Singles match at Mania. And I absolutely loved you having him join forces with Hogan one last time to take down Quake (again) and Typhoon. At that point though, I think you should've wrapped it up with Andre. Having him in the Survivor Series elimination match was a bit overkill by that point, but still somewhat logical as he wouldn't need to do much. Having Andre still around by Wrestlemania VII, now I just feel sorry for him. Here's the deal, not only was Andre no longer in his prime, but he was basically dying by this point. He was only about a year and a half away from dying. He couldn't wrestle, he could barely walk, he was in constant pain and discomfort. He was by far to the point where he should've been retired and at home trying to enjoy whatever time he had left on Earth. Not traveling and making appearances at wrestling shows. Yeah, I get in real life he was still around in 1991, but it was absolutely sad to see him at this point. And also tying him with the Taker/Jake thing (which I already detailed), kind of adds to me not liking this idea admittedly, but having him just randomly come out to save Jake (and he had been seen since Summerslam, he was on your Survivor Series card in the elimination match) doesn't make a lot of sense, and it especially doesn't make sense to have Jake turn on him when he's trying to help him (for the Attitude Era sure thing, for 1991 WWF, no way), and then have Taker and Jake beat Andre down, only to be saved by LOD. If this is Andre's final time in WWE, it's not a good way to see him being beaten down for others to come save him. That happened in real life at Summerslam 91 as LOD came to his rescue from the Natural Disasters, and I didn't like that storyline either. I much prefer your match with him and Hogan triumphing over the Natural Disasters. You had a great storybook ending to Andre's career with that. You should've let it be at that point.


Again, I apologize if I come across too harsh, I just didn't really know how to word it any other way. But I'm highly enjoying your re-writes and look forward to how your WWF universe continues to play out. Keep them coming!

 

[HeenanGorilla]

If Bossman was headlining B House Shows at the time i don't see why he can't challenger for the IC Title at WM7. If I recall, at the time, he was the most over guys in the roster my cousin even bought a Big Bossman action figure before anyone else's back when I was a lad around the time of WM7.

Haha! I'm sorry, but I had to thank you for the laugh. Not about Boss Man being over, he was. I just got a kick out of your "my cousin bought an action figure before anyone else" line. Sounds like something a 9-year-old would say during a heated discussion on the playground.
"I had the Boss Man figure before any of you did."
"Nuh uh! My cousin had it way before anyone else."
Always amazed, as a kid, how my friends' cousins had the first crack at new toys.

Anyway, not sure how your cousin's toy purchase history can be used to strengthen an argument, but it was still a good laugh on a Friday morning.
Have a good weekend, everyone.

 

[sikkbones]

Wait, bulldog debuted in 1990?

Whose this guy I'm watching at wrestlemania 3 then?

 

[roipdh123]

Title vs Career Match for the WWF Championship
The Ultimate Warrior (C) def. Randy Savage

Singles Match
Hulk Hogan def. Sgt. Slaughter

Singles Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def. Mr. Perfect (C)

Tag Team Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
The Nasty Boys def. The Hart Foundation (C)

Tag Team Match
The Legion of Doom def. Demolition (Crush and Smash)

Steel Cage Match for the Million Dollar Championship
Virgil def. Ted Dibiase (C)

Singles Match
The Undertaker def. Jimmy Snuka

Singles Match
Earthquake def. Greg Valentine

Blindfold Match
Jake Roberts def. Rick Martel

Singles Match
The Big Boss Man def. The Mountie

Tag Team Match
The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michales) def. Haku and The Barbarian

Six Man Tag Team Match (Opening Contest)
The Teaxs Tornado, The British Bulldog and Tito Santana def. Power and Glory & The Warlord

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Bulldog was the original plan for the IC title at 7 after his aborted go at Summerslam... but he didn't get back in time to build the programme and Rude's leaving shifted that Bossman programme to Perfect.

Sorry, only just seen this whilst re-reading this series. Where did you hear this, exactly? The Bulldog was in the 1991 Royal Rumble match - in fact, didn't he eliminate Perfect from the match - so to say he wasn't back early enough to build the feud is crazy talk. And Boss Man, once Rude left, was feuding with the Heenan Family as a whole, hence why he faced Barbarian at the 91 Rumble and then onto Perfect at Wrestlemania. The very fact that Bulldog was also in a match at 'Mania VII goes against the statement that Bulldog was in IC plans. Maybe he was in an early draft, but as we know, Vince changes his mind a lot. It would have had nothing to do with Bulldog not coming back from Japan early enough.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The easiest way to tidy up this Wrestlemania is to reduce the amount of matches; 15 in three hours is just not worth it, it means so many just feel like filler. And why kill two tag teams in one event? Power and Glory were well and truly jobbed out despite having talent, and WWE finally washed their hands with a Demolition. Both of which were huge shames as both had things they could still offer.

Rockers v Haku & Barbarian - a fun opener and the Rockers were the kind of team that could have decent matches with anyone. Any ppv should be opened with a fast paced, auctioned filled match to get the crowd into it, and this match fits the bill (bear in mind that with less matches, all matches on my version of WM7 would be extended)

Undertaker v Jimmy Snuka - absolutely nothing changes. Hindsight being 20/20, this was a perfect way to start a legend's run, comprehensively defeating another legend.

Tag team titles: Nasty Boys beat the Hart Foundation. One of a few well-paced and well-booked matches on the card, and the Nastys still win so they can be fed to the Legion of Doom at Summerslam.

Jake the Snake Roberts v Rick Martel - blindfold match. Stays the same.

Ted DiBiase v Virgil - same match but switch the result, the Million Dollar Man uses illegal tactics to 'steal' the win over his former bodyguard

Intercontinental Title match: Mr Perfect v Roddy Piper - Piper still had much to give at this point, despite largely being relegated to commentary. Personally I never saw Boss Man as IC title material, plus a win over an established veteran like Piper would add credence to Perfect's claims that he was the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Perfect wins with a perfectplex.

Hulk Hogan beats Sgt Slaughter. I'm ok with this being a boot camp match. Just not for the title. Hogan can happily defend the USA but neither he not Slaughter needed the title at this point. Match plays out exactly as it did in reality, just earlier on the card and only national pride at stake.

Battle royal: a 'Wrestlemania tradition' that rarely gets mentioned as such. What's the easiest way to get as many workers as possible onto the Wrestlemania card without jeopardising the quality of matches? Shove loads into a battle royal instead. In this one, I would have the following wrestlers, in what is to be honest a bit of a cool-down match after the Hogan match: British Bulldog, Tito Santana, Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ricky Steamboat, Kerry Von Erich, Koko B. Ware, Shane Douglas, Tugboat, Greg Valentine, Power and Glory, the Orient Express, Dino Bravo, the Warlord, the Mountie, Earthquake, the Brooklyn Brawler and Boris Zhukov. Bulldog would win the match, last eliminating the Warlord (I didn't like their feud but I can pander to Vince and allow them to be the final two in a battle royal here)

Legion of Doom vs Demolition. This is the tag team equivalent of not having Hogan v Flair a year later. Completely nonsensical. Not only that, but Demolition instead got jobbed out to two ransoms from Japan that no one had every heard of in the US! I get that Crush wasn't a patch on Ax, but still this feud simply HAD to blow off at Wrestlemania. Obviously LOD get the win, with a doomsday device.

Main event: WWF Title retirement match: winner is champion, loser retires. Ultimate Warrior (c) vs Macho Man Randy Savage. Match absolutely stays the same, even down to the Sheri/Elizabeth post-match, the babyface redemption of the 'newly retired' Macho Man. If Savage was to go out, this made way more sense - and afforded Savage a greater respect - than coating Warrior the title at the Rumble. And as an earlier poster mentioned, it would have promoted the Warrior better as the 'next' Hulk Hogan whilst the Hulkster was starting to get into Hollywood.