31 Manias in 31 Days: Rewriting Wrestlemania VII

[LODemolition]

Next in my "Rewriting WrestleMania" series, comes WrestleMania 7. This took place in Los Angeles in 1991, during the Gulf War. It was originally supposed to take place at the LA Memorial Coliseum that would've held a much larger amount of fans, but whether it was for security reasons or slow ticket sales, it was moved to the Memorial Arena. That helped write the major storyline of American turncoat WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter defending his title against the All-American Hulk Hogan. Fans truly hated Slaughter in this era, as he received death threats on a regular basis. So far, I haven't made many changes to the main events, but WM7 is a different story as you'll see below. Here were the results.

March 24, 1991
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (Los Angeles, CA)

The Rockers def. Haku & The Barbarian w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

The Texas Tornado def. Dino Bravo

The British Bulldog def. Warlord w/ Slick

World Tag Team Championship:

The Nasty Boys w/ Jimmy Hart def. Hart Foundation to become new champions

Blindfold Match:

Jake "The Snake" Roberts def. "The Model" Rick Martel

Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer def. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka

Retirement Match:

Ultimate Warrior def. Randy "Macho King" Savage w/ Queen Sherri

Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao def. Demolition

Intercontinental Championship:

Big Boss Man def. Mr. Perfect w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan by DQ

Earthquake def. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

Legion of Doom def. Power and Glory, Hercules & Paul Roma w/ Slick

Virgil w/ "Rowdy" Roddy Piper def. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase by count-out

The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart def. Tito Santana

Main Event for WWE Championship:

Hulk Hogan def. Sgt. Slaughter w/ General Adnan to become new champion


*Rewriting WrestleMania VII*

1. Intercontinental Championship: Mr. Perfect w/ Bobby Heenan def. British Bulldog

In my opinion, the Big Bossman as challenger for the IC Title fell flat for me. I feel like Davey Boy Smith would've made a much better opponent for Hennig, as they just matched up better physically and it would've been a faster-paced match. Mr. Perfect retains, but by pinfall.

2. Big Bossman def. Earthquake w/ Jimmy Hart by disqualification

I'd move Bossman here to an opponent he matches up better with in the enormous Earthquake. I just never saw him as a serious threat to the IC Title.

3. Hart Foundation def. Power and Glory w/ Slick

I always enjoyed watching Power and Glory. They deserved better than getting squashed by the LOD in my opinion. I'd give them a solid 10 minute match with Bret and Jim.

4. Texas Tornado def. Warlord w/ Slick

I didn't like Tornado's pairing with Dino Bravo at all. Even back then, Bravo was completely washed up. Put him against Warlord in a battle of 2 younger, physically well-matched undercarders.

5. The Nasty Boys w/ Jimmy Hart def. The Rockers

While I somewhat liked the Nasty Boys going over as tag champs at WM7, I would've booked it different. The Rockers lose another Mania match here. The straw that broke Shawn Michaels' back.

6. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Looking back, if we knew how important Taker's streak would have been, there's no way we would have started it with Jimmy Snuka. The same match they had at WM8, only moved up 1 year. I'll be making lots of changes to Taker's matches, so hopefully it'll make sense as we continue.

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

Why on God's green earth did this match not ever happen at a ppv? They were on opposite sides of a match at Survivor Series, but never just 2 on 2. These were my favorite 2 tag teams of all-time, and this match could've helped make this the greatest Mania card that ever took place.

8. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Virgil vs."The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase & "The Model" Rick Martel

I didn't like seeing Piper in Virgil's corner for one. He should have been on the card. At the same time, Martel's blindfold match with Roberts was flat out ridiculous. I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone and put them in a tag match here.

9. Hulk Hogan def. Sgt. Slaughter

This match should have absolutely happened, I'm not questioning that. I just don't think it should have ever been for the title. Who took Sgt. Slaughter seriously as the champ? And who didn't see him dropping it to Hogan from a thousand miles away? This could have still been a high profile match...just not THE match that sold the event.

10. The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart def. Tito Santana

This match was fine right where it was, before the main event where the fans can get their second wind.

11. WWF Championship Retirement Match: Ultimate Warrior (c) def. "Macho King" Randy Savage w/ "Sensational Queen" Sherri

I loved absolutely everything about this match. It was by far the Warrior's best match of his career, thanks in large part to Savage. I just never would have had Warrior drop the belt to Slaughter at the Royal Rumble. Savage still loses, and still reunites with Elizabeth to turn babyface once again. Only this is how I would have ended the night. Savage deserved to have the spotlight on him when the show wrapped up. It could've been perfect. Warrior and Hogan II was originally the plan for the main event here. And that's the direction I would've gone in for SummerSlam '91, with Hogan getting the upper hand and regaining the title there. If I'm not mistaken, Warrior left after that until WM8. So the timing for him to drop the title would have worked out logistically.


On a side note, 14 matches was just way too much. Feel free to comment and/or post your rewritten WrestleMania 7.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I liked what you did with the tag scene. Maybe even go Rockers/Harts. I also like LOD Demolition and think this would be the ideal spot for it.

I'm going to disagree on the taker match. No1 could have saw the streak coming. The match served it purpose with a a dominating win over a veteran like Snuka.

I'm also going to disagree with the title switch. No need to change anything from savage/warrior. It was perfect. Hogan/slaughter was a hot angle using political issues and I have no problem with it as the title match. Now I wouldn't nessicarly have a problem with hogan/slaughter on 3rd to last with no title and warrior/savage closing for the belt but where do you go after that? You need to get the title off warrior before summerslam and this is the last ppv.

 

[LODemolition]

I had The Rockers take on Hart Foundation at WM6. This is arguably the strongest that the tag division ever was, and somehow they managed to book them wrong.

 

[HBKperfect23]

6 May have been better for the match with the Harts going over in Canada. But yea, either way, strong tag division and mania just didn't have classic tag matches.

7 could have given us 2 awesome tag matches.

 

[Goldie]

I agree that Davey Boy would have been a good choice to match up with Curt Hening. I think they did wrestle on PPV in WCW when both were washed up, but in their primes this would have been a god match.

I would keep Slaughter and Hogan for the championship. Warrior & Savage was so intense it didn't need the title at stake.... plus Vince seemed desperate to get the belt off Warrior and back on Hogan (Wrestlemania being the best occasion for Hogans 3rd crown).
Warrior/Savage and Hogan/Slaughter are fine to keep as they were.

I would also keep the Martel vs Jake pairing, but make it a standard match instead of a blindfold match (it just didn't work).

I also feel that keeping Harts vs Nastys made sense.... the heels taking the titles so they can drop them to LOD at the next PPV.
Demolition were a spent force by WM7... and had been destroyed by LOD... they had lost too much heat and momentum to still be tag champs by this point, and Ax had been replaced by Crush more or less full time.
However it still didn't make a lot of sense to have Demolition lose to two wrestlers the WWF wouldn't use again in the near future (Tenryu did return a couple of years later... but the 2 Japanese wrestlers were totally devoid of any crowd reaction).
As Demolition folded after WM7, we could have seen LOD swat them one final time in a tag team leaves the company bout. (Afterall LOD were only involved in a squash match themselves on the card).

Dibiase vs Virgil made sense one on one.... but I would have Ted win this. It was always a shame to see Ted going from top heel in the company in 1988 to losing to his baggage handler within 2 years??

Taker vs Snuka is again fine to keep... as the old veteran puts over the new rising heel.

Warlord vs Von Erich looks more favourable than Kerry vs Bravo. Dino was a jobber to the superstars... and seeing Kerry lose to him gives Kerry the same lowercard status.

Tito vs Mountie fine as a quick squash.

I also like the pairing of Boss Man vs Earthquake, to pave way for Davey vs Curt... though might book Quake to win by some form of cheating.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

My big thing with this card is that the title was involved in the wrong match. Warrior should never have dropped the belt to Slaughter. He should have walked into Mania as champ in a title v career match with Macho. That is what made the most sense. Macho wanted the title, why would he put his career on the line against Warrior once he lost the strap? Hogan and Slaughter did not need the strap. The story of the All-American Hogan returning to defeat Slaughter was all that was needed.

 

[MMK]

My big thing with this card is that the title was involved in the wrong match. Warrior should never have dropped the belt to Slaughter. He should have walked into Mania as champ in a title v career match with Macho. That is what made the most sense. Macho wanted the title, why would he put his career on the line against Warrior once he lost the strap? Hogan and Slaughter did not need the strap. The story of the All-American Hogan returning to defeat Slaughter was all that was needed.

In total agreement.

I also like a lot of the OP's ideas

Here would be my WM7

1. The Rockers vs The Nasty Boys
(Rockers opening the show is always a good idea. But I would have went with a different opponent. The Nasty's fit the bill as I feel they were too new to the scene to deserve a tag team title shot at Mania. More than likely only happened the way it did because they were Hogan's mates.

2. Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer def. Jake The Snake Roberts
(I liked Jakes rivalry with Rick Martel, but I would have had that feud end in the Summer or fall of 1990. I wouldn't have let it stretch all the way to Mania. After losing to Taker at Mania, Jake turns to the darkside and joins forces with Undertaker. If you can't beat em, join em)

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
3. Bret Hart def. Mr. Perfect
(The Harts were supposed to drop the titles to the Rockers in the fall of 1990. The match never aired, but that doesnt mean they couldnt have done it again. If they had, The Rockers would have got a much deserved run as tag team champions, and Bret would have been allowed to move on to his singles career. Which would have allowed for Bret to challenge Perfect at Wrestlemania. They could still do a sequel at Summerslam.)

4. 17 MAN BATTLE ROYAL (Won by The British Bulldog)
The British Bulldog, The Warlord, Rick The Model Martel, The Texas Tornado, Earthquake, Greg Valentine, Big Bossman, Barbarian, Haku, Tito Santana, The Mountie, Jimmy Snuka, Hercules, Paul Roma, Dino Bravo, Kato, Tanaka
(There were way too many matches at some of these earlier Mania's. I like the idea of a battle royal every year because it cuts down on the number of meaningless matches yet still gives the participants in those matches a spot on the card, but most importantly it gives more time to the matches that matter.)

1st half of double main event
5. Hulk Hogan def. Sgt. Slaughter
(This match never needed the championship. In fact, if Hogan is the patriot he claims to be, the title shouldn't be his main goal. Fighting Slaughter and his anti-american stance should have been more than enough ammunition for Hogan to want this match. I never cared for the blatant exploitation of the Iraq War being used in a wrestling angle, so I couldnt care less if this match happens or not. Slaughter never should have won the title from Warrior. He was rushed in to the main event scene to capitalize on the real life war unfolding in the middle east. Bleh. If this match was going to be done, it didnt need to be the main event, and it certainly didnt need to be for the title)

$Million Dollar Title$
6. Virgil def. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
(Take Piper out of the feud entirely. The match these two had at Summerslam should have taken place at Wrestlemania imo.)

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
7. Legion of Doom def. Demoltion
(In my version, The Rockers take the straps from the Harts in the fall of 1990 as was planned but then drop them to Demoltion in early 1991. Demoltion, my favorite team of all time, deserved a much better fate at WM7 than getting squashed by two newcomers making their wwf debut no less. LOD also deserved better than an 10 second match with Power and Glory. This feud had been built up for so long and the only PPV encounter we got was at Survivor Series which ended in a double DQ.
NO reason why this shouldnt have happened. So what if it wasnt the original Demolition. It's still better than not doing the match at all. Demolition were the most popular and succesful tag team during their tenure in WWF, they deserved a big send off and to pass the torch to LOD)

Main Event for WWE Championship:
CHAMPIONSHIP VS CAREER
8. Ultimate Warrior def Macho King Randy Savage
I prefer the idea of Savage having to put something on the line in order to get his shot against Warrior. I would have gone with something similar to Taker's streak vs HBK's career years later, only with Warrior's title going up against Savage's career.
The Elizabeth/Savage reunion should have ended the ppv in my opinion. It would have been a classic way to close out Wrestlemania. Putting this match in the middle of the card made it impossible for any other match that followed to top it.

 

[roipdh123]

WrestleMania 7:

1.15 man over the top rope battle royal
The British Bulldog won by last eliminating The Texas Tornado.

2.Tag Team Match
The Nasty Boyz def. The Rockers

3.Singles match
The Big Boss Man def. Haku.

4.WWF Intercontinental Championship match
Bret "The Hitman" Hart def. Rick Martel {C}.

5.Singles Match
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan def. Sgt. Slaugther via a Disqualification.

6.Million Dollar Championship Match
Virgil def. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase {C}.

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

8. No Disqualification Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
The Legion Of Doom def. Demolition {C}.

9.Semi-Main Event: WWF Championship Match
Hulk Hogan def. Mr. Perfect {C} {w\Bobby The Brain Heenan}.

10.The Main Event: Retirement Match
The Ultimate Warrior def. "The Macho King" Randy Savage {w\Queen Sherri}. Have the same ending like in reality with the difference that it gets his well deserved spot of ending Wrestle Mania.