Looking Back: WrestleMania VII

[The Brain]

Ok my first thread about looking back on an old ppv got a whopping three replies so let's try it again. This time we'll go with one that fans may be a bit more familiar with: WrestleMania VII.

I believe WrestleMania VII is one of the more underrated Manias. This was a pretty solid show, but it doesn't seem to get as much love as a lot of the others. There were some pretty good matches and storylines going on here. The crowd was prett hot too. A hot crowd can make a bad show seem good and a good show seem great. There were 14 matches. I'm not going to go through all of them so I'll pick a few big ones.

Hart Foundation vs. Nasty Boys for the tag titles. The tag titles still meant a lot back then so just it being a title match alone made it big. I felt this was a pretty good match with a very hot crowd. It was historic because it was the last match the Harts would have as regular partners.

Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel, blindfold match. This was a silly gimmick, but it was unique and really got the crowd involved.

Jimmy Snuka vs. Undertaker. The streak begins!

Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage, career match. This stole the show. This was a big time mania match. This featured two biggest guys in the WWF not named Hogan going at it with their careers on the line. It was a great match back and forth with a lot of drama going on. The crowd was off the hook and the announcers did a great job selling the story. Finally the popular Warrior pinned the hated Savage. After the match Elizabeth made a surprise appearance saving Savage from an attack by Senastional Sherri. When Savage and Elizabeth embraced the crowd erupted. People were actually crying in the arena. Savage, who came in with the entire crowd booing him, lost the match and left to a standing ovation. This is one of my favorite and one of the most underlooked WresleMania moments.

Big Bossman vs Mr. Perfect for the IC title. This was special for the surprise apperance by Andre the Giant. We hadn't seen Andre since WrestleMania VI and it would be his last apperance at Mania.

Virgil vs. Ted Dibiase. I know Virgil didn't have a great career as a wrestler, but this was a big match at the time. After serving as Dibiase's bodyguard for over three years Virgil finally broke free. The fans were just waiting for this to happen and were behind Virgil 100%.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF title. I know a lot of people don't care for this main event, but I thought it was great. The match was not great, but it was not bad. If a match has the right build it doesn't have to be great. As long is it not bad it will appear very good. This was all about the build. In a very controversial storyline Slaughter became and Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War. Slaughter had more heat at that time than anyone I'd ever seen. A showdown between the American hero and American traitor was a natural for Mania.

The card also featured plenty more mid card matches, but those were the main ones. Again I feel this is a very underrated mania. I think if it were held in it's original venue at the Los Angeles Coliseum it would be looked at as one of the greatest manias of all time. Just imagine that card outdoors in front of 100,000 people. The venue can make all the difference. Do you think WrestleMania III would be as fondly remembered if it were not for the 93,000 fans in the SilverDome?

So that's my take on WrestleMania VII. What's yours?

 

[KillBill]

Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage, career match. This stole the show. This was a big time mania match. This featured two biggest guys in the WWF not named Hogan going at it with their careers on the line. It was a great match back and forth with a lot of drama going on. The crowd was off the hook and the announcers did a great job selling the story. Finally the popular Warrior pinned the hated Savage. After the match Elizabeth made a surprise appearance saving Savage from an attack by Senastional Sherri. When Savage and Elizabeth embraced the crowd erupted. People were actually crying in the arena. Savage, who came in with the entire crowd booing him, lost the match and left to a standing ovation. This is one of my favorite and one of the most underlooked WresleMania moments.

This what I miss about wrestling. The passion, REAL passion from people. I mean, people were really crying, and it was a great moment. The best part about Savages matches is his music. Pop and Circumstances is an emotional song that represents success and farewell. So when it played at Wrestlemania 4 and 7, it makes the moment more amazing.

This was a decent Wrestlemania, a lot of solid matches. The Rockers/Haku & Barbarian match was also very good.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

another great pic...i love these threads, not sure why they aren't getting the responses though. I like the match breakdowns too, just reading through them takes me down memory lane. This was the first wrestlemania i ever watched live at home so its extra special to me...the savage warrior match is probably the best match warrior ever had. It was one of the best matches that was a culmination of an entire storyline. The reunion with Miss Elizabeth at the end was something everyone wanted, it was great and emotional. The start of the streak what more can be said...quick pointless match but historic nonetheless...have to admit at the time i was young and really thought Superfly would pull it off. The Jake Martel match was corny but they pulled it off, two professionals doing the match. That is what is missing now, they put anyone in these gimmick matches and so it doesn't work. Jake and Martel were both great at what they do and jake did a great job of selling being blind and martel did a good job of being sneaky. Virgil Dibiase was another great one because it was long over due.
The harts nastys was a great tag match as this was back was WWE had some of the best tag teams ever. Just wish the harts had won, though kind of glad bret went out on his own and blew up like he did.

All in all a good wrestlemania with a dramatic main event no matter how mad the match was, awesome build to it with hte hero winning...great ending, well except the fire in the eyes after that was never really dealt wtih or mentioned again.

 

[BernacK6]

I was watching the Wrestlemania Moments thing on the Wrestlemania DVD and when they got to Wrestlemania VII, I didn't remember alot about it, as it was a few years before I was super passionate enough to buy a PPV...I was also 9.

Anyways, the Warrior-Savage match looked like a classic, and the Miss Elizabeth spot at the end of the match was super emotional. Hogan-Slaughter could not have been a good match. Hands down. Slaughter looks past his prime and Hogan, well, Hogan is Hogan. But this is the WWF doing its part to add to National Pride during a time of war. Hogan was the Real American, and Slaughter was a traitor, so this was a responsible, and overall, wise booking decision.

I think I'll have to watch this. The Brain's description of the main matches really intrigued me, so thanks for opening my eyes.

 

[wiKid hoRse]

this was the first mania i ever watched. the old vhs actually died in our video machine and the old man was spewing he had to pay the rental store for it.

i thought the slaughter hogan match was great. slaughter might have looked past his prime but he put on a hell of a match. he sold hogan to high heaven and i haven't personally seen a better hogan match since (hey thats just my opinion) and the fact he had legit death threats means he was drawing heat like no else before or since.

the jake the snake and rick martel match would bomb soo bad now it's unfunny but at the time i was at the edge of my seat.

great thread man. i am going go re watch this ppv. i have been inspired

 

[Dexter]

This what I miss about wrestling. The passion, REAL passion from people. I mean, people were really crying, and it was a great moment. The best part about Savages matches is his music.

You raised an interesting point here. So interesting, in fact, that I had to register to post here just to reply to it since I'd actually been thinking about this recently.

I wonder if the lack of passion from the fans now has anything to do with the business embracing the "sports entertainment" label and dropping any pretext of realism? Of course everyone knew then just as they know now the nature of kayfabe, but it just... took itself more seriously back then. There's advantages to relaxing that, of course, but I wonder if it didn't result in exactly the kind of thing you're describing here.

It's like... a movie that's "based on a true story". Say... Titanic. Would a movie about some boat sinking have made the 987834 billion dollars it did if it didn't have that element of truth to it? We all know Jack and Rose didn't exist, but their story against the backdrop of a historical event made it more believable.

Maybe the same can be said for wrestling. We all know Randy Orton didn't really put HHH out for months because of a kick to the head, but if we were encouraged more to suspend disbelief, would that storyline have been more powerful? And would it make all these endless Orton/HHH matches more exciting because of it?

I don't know. Seems possible.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

WM 7 was unique in that it was the first truly global WM in a sense... it had wrestlers representing the UK, Canada, Japan, Iraq, Tonga and Mexico

My personal favourite bit was seeing the Mania debut of The British Bulldog, powering out of the Warlord's Full Nelson... The Rockers had probably their best WM match heading right to their break up...

It was interesting to see Tenyru and Kitao as they were a competitive, top level team as opposed the usual ethnic team of the year losing... for many it was their first look at Japanese talent and it certainly got me into watching NJPW and AJPW after...

I think they could have done far better than the main event they put out.... Rick Rude was by far a better bet to have headlined... but Vince went the cheap heat route and Slaughter did the job...


WM7 was also the real end of an era with lots of Mainstays of the early manias departing... the final mania appearances for Andre, Demolition, The Hart Foundation, Greg Valentine, The Warlord, Haku, Marty Janetty, Dino Bravo and Hercules, Paul Roman... some guys made their only Mania appearances, most notably Kerry Von Erich and Tenyru & Kitao...

I liked the format of a large number of matches, short as they were, as it showcased the entire roster... I often refer to this as one of the "classic" mainas, as every match had some kind of story to it... there was no wastage... Guys like Bulldog, Mountie, Taker etc won their first feuds... Heels got stronger... Faces went over big...

Who would have thought that the pale guy squashing Snuka would still be around nearly 20 years later huh?

For sheer tension, match of the night was by far Warrior v Savage...Easily Warrior's 2nd best match... For sheer lunacy the Jake/Martel match... it really was horrible...

On a final note, this is perhaps the most poigniant of tyhe manias... the one that puts in perspective just how many we have lost... 2 whole matches from that card has none of the major players still alive...

Andre
Big Bossman
Crush
Curt Hennig
Davey Boy Smith
Dino Bravo
Earthquake
Hawk
Hercules
Kerry Von Erich
Sherri Martel

 

[Fear Of Drowning]

This was the first Mania that I ever watched live (as in real time, not on vhs or recorded) and what great memories it gives me.

The tag title match was a brilliant way to start the show and it was great to see the Nasty's given the straps.

The blindfold match worked too and is a great show of ring psychology from two of the greats of the wrestling world. It is just a shame that they never gave Jake and Honky Tonk a gimmick match like this (with the "you nearly legitimately ended my career with that guitar shot" replacing the "you have not really blinded me with Arrogance" storyline).

The Warrior Savage match was just off the page, being very young I totally believed that the match would end one of the wrestlers careers and was totally carried away with the match. It was just perfect for me, the commentary from Monsoon and Heenan was amazing and Warrior took some 5 elbow drops from the Macho King. He then gave Warrior the honour of pinning him with a mere foot on his chest. Tremendous.

A great Mania, great thread!