Its been a few weeks since Ive done an old ppv review. They dont get a lot of replies, but I enjoy them anyway. This time Im going to discuss WrestleMania XI. From what Ive read a lot of people consider this to be one of the worst WrestleManias. I would have to agree that it is near the bottom. Lets take a look at this match by match and see how good or bad it was and if we can come up with ideas that could have made it better. Remember if you have a suggestion to make it better you need to keep it real like its 1995. Hulk Hogan wasnt going to show up and wrestle Bret Hart. Id love to hear suggestions, but you have to work with what WWF had at the time. Lets get started.
Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith vs. Jacob and Eli Blu: This match was pretty much pointless. I think the idea here was to introduce the new team of Luger and Bulldog. The problem was no one cared about Jacob and Eli Blu. Beating them didnt really mean anything. Also Luger would be back in WCW in five months so the new team never meant much either. My suggestion to make this better: Lex Luger vs. Davey Boy Smith one on one. They could have had a confrontation at the Rumble. They could have been working together during the Rumble and one could have eliminated the other from behind causing friction between the two. Neither would turn heel, but they would decide to settle their differences at Mania. After a hard fought match they would discover mutual respect for each other. They would shake hands after the match and then form their team. I think this is better than a tag match no one cared about.
Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett: No problem here. A good match and a good feud over the IC title. I would have left this as is. This also set up a tag feud between Razor and Kid vs. Jarrett and Roadie. Kid ended up getting hurt again spoiling those plans, but this was good for Mania.
Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy: This is a good feud on paper. The match was not good. Honestly at the time I would not have changed anything. Bundy seemed like a worthy opponent for Taker at Mania. Its just one of those cases where the match didnt live up to the feud. Sometimes it happens.
The Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart and Yokozuna: This was all about the return of Yokozuna and Owen getting his first title and didnt really have much to do about the Gunns. This was done well for Owens character. He was desperate to surpass Brets legacy and getting the tag titles was the first step. He needed a partner and got the biggest guy he could find. I like how he pointed out that his partner also beat Bret for the world title. This wasnt anything great for Mania standards, but it got Owen his title and brought Yoko back.
Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund: This was a rare Bret Hart miss. Not a very good match at all. Ive been back and forth on if I would have done this differently. I think I might have booked Bret vs. Hakushi instead. Most of you are probably thinking Im crazy. No way was Hakushi a big enough name to wrestle Bret at Mania. That may be true, but hear me out. Bret and Hakushi had begun a feud just prior to Mania. Hakushi was new to the WWF and had a high flying style that hadnt really been seen in WWF yet. Obviously Mania draws more viewers than any other show. This year in particular drew some new viewers thanks to Lawrence Taylors involvement. I think Bret and Hakushi could have put on a show that would have made the new viewers take notice and maybe gotten them to tune in the next night. This could have been a major push for Hakushi and gotten him over as a top heel. Hakushis one year run in the WWF was nothing special, but maybe he could have done better if he had gotten the opportunity to work with Bret at Mania. My idea has nothing to do with the Backlund match not delivering. I think this Mania drew more new viewers than usual. Because of this I think Hakushis style should have been showcased over Backlunds style.
Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels: This was a very good match. I would have preferred if this was the main event. The problem is Shawn Michaels wasnt really a main event name yet and Diesel suddenly became a main eventer only a few months earlier. After years of Hulk Hogan main eventing Mania Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels didnt have that main event sex appeal. LT was brought in because of this. LTs appearance helped spike ppv buys, but the title match should have gone last. If Diesel and Michaels were going to lead the new generation they should have at least seemed more important that the LT special attraction. At the time I thought maybe Bret Hart vs. Diesel would have been a better main event. I was thinking it should have been Shawn vs. Diesel at the Rumble and Bret should have been held off until Mania. Looking back Im glad that didnt happen. Winning the Rumble from the #1 position is what pushed Shawn to the next level. His match with Diesel at Mania was another step forward.
Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow: I know a lot of people dont like this, but the angle was really well done. The start of this angle at the Rumble looked like it could have actually been real. It was reasonable to think egos could clash and Bigelow wouldnt like LT on his turf. The fact that he just shoved LT and walked away instead of throwing a punch or starting a brawl made it seem more legit. LT reacted perfectly too. He seemed legitimately upset and wanted to jump the rail. His managers restrained him and he quickly calmed down but was still visibly upset. Also Vince, who on tv was still just an announcer even though we all knew he was the boss, went off headset when this went down. This really added to the angle. If Vince tried to sell this we would have known it was a work. By going off headset and not selling it at all is how he really sold it. I hope that makes sense. As soon as the lawyers appeared on WWF television it was obvious it was a work and it would go to Mania, but it still got a great start at the Rumble. The match itself was better than expected. I dont think this ruined Bigelows career. Just like I dont think Mayweather ruined Big Shows career. I think this was good as a special attraction during a time when WWF was hurting for main event star power. I think people wouldnt look at this as negatively if it didnt close the show.
Overall this was one of the worst WrestleManias. That doesnt mean it was a bad show. WrestleMania is held to a high standard. Just because its bad for WrestleMania doesnt make it bad.
Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith vs. Jacob and Eli Blu: This match was pretty much pointless. I think the idea here was to introduce the new team of Luger and Bulldog. The problem was no one cared about Jacob and Eli Blu. Beating them didnt really mean anything. Also Luger would be back in WCW in five months so the new team never meant much either. My suggestion to make this better: Lex Luger vs. Davey Boy Smith one on one. They could have had a confrontation at the Rumble. They could have been working together during the Rumble and one could have eliminated the other from behind causing friction between the two. Neither would turn heel, but they would decide to settle their differences at Mania. After a hard fought match they would discover mutual respect for each other. They would shake hands after the match and then form their team. I think this is better than a tag match no one cared about.
Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett: No problem here. A good match and a good feud over the IC title. I would have left this as is. This also set up a tag feud between Razor and Kid vs. Jarrett and Roadie. Kid ended up getting hurt again spoiling those plans, but this was good for Mania.
Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy: This is a good feud on paper. The match was not good. Honestly at the time I would not have changed anything. Bundy seemed like a worthy opponent for Taker at Mania. Its just one of those cases where the match didnt live up to the feud. Sometimes it happens.
The Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart and Yokozuna: This was all about the return of Yokozuna and Owen getting his first title and didnt really have much to do about the Gunns. This was done well for Owens character. He was desperate to surpass Brets legacy and getting the tag titles was the first step. He needed a partner and got the biggest guy he could find. I like how he pointed out that his partner also beat Bret for the world title. This wasnt anything great for Mania standards, but it got Owen his title and brought Yoko back.
Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund: This was a rare Bret Hart miss. Not a very good match at all. Ive been back and forth on if I would have done this differently. I think I might have booked Bret vs. Hakushi instead. Most of you are probably thinking Im crazy. No way was Hakushi a big enough name to wrestle Bret at Mania. That may be true, but hear me out. Bret and Hakushi had begun a feud just prior to Mania. Hakushi was new to the WWF and had a high flying style that hadnt really been seen in WWF yet. Obviously Mania draws more viewers than any other show. This year in particular drew some new viewers thanks to Lawrence Taylors involvement. I think Bret and Hakushi could have put on a show that would have made the new viewers take notice and maybe gotten them to tune in the next night. This could have been a major push for Hakushi and gotten him over as a top heel. Hakushis one year run in the WWF was nothing special, but maybe he could have done better if he had gotten the opportunity to work with Bret at Mania. My idea has nothing to do with the Backlund match not delivering. I think this Mania drew more new viewers than usual. Because of this I think Hakushis style should have been showcased over Backlunds style.
Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels: This was a very good match. I would have preferred if this was the main event. The problem is Shawn Michaels wasnt really a main event name yet and Diesel suddenly became a main eventer only a few months earlier. After years of Hulk Hogan main eventing Mania Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels didnt have that main event sex appeal. LT was brought in because of this. LTs appearance helped spike ppv buys, but the title match should have gone last. If Diesel and Michaels were going to lead the new generation they should have at least seemed more important that the LT special attraction. At the time I thought maybe Bret Hart vs. Diesel would have been a better main event. I was thinking it should have been Shawn vs. Diesel at the Rumble and Bret should have been held off until Mania. Looking back Im glad that didnt happen. Winning the Rumble from the #1 position is what pushed Shawn to the next level. His match with Diesel at Mania was another step forward.
Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow: I know a lot of people dont like this, but the angle was really well done. The start of this angle at the Rumble looked like it could have actually been real. It was reasonable to think egos could clash and Bigelow wouldnt like LT on his turf. The fact that he just shoved LT and walked away instead of throwing a punch or starting a brawl made it seem more legit. LT reacted perfectly too. He seemed legitimately upset and wanted to jump the rail. His managers restrained him and he quickly calmed down but was still visibly upset. Also Vince, who on tv was still just an announcer even though we all knew he was the boss, went off headset when this went down. This really added to the angle. If Vince tried to sell this we would have known it was a work. By going off headset and not selling it at all is how he really sold it. I hope that makes sense. As soon as the lawyers appeared on WWF television it was obvious it was a work and it would go to Mania, but it still got a great start at the Rumble. The match itself was better than expected. I dont think this ruined Bigelows career. Just like I dont think Mayweather ruined Big Shows career. I think this was good as a special attraction during a time when WWF was hurting for main event star power. I think people wouldnt look at this as negatively if it didnt close the show.
Overall this was one of the worst WrestleManias. That doesnt mean it was a bad show. WrestleMania is held to a high standard. Just because its bad for WrestleMania doesnt make it bad.
