Rewriting 1994, Part 2 of 4: Wrestlemania X

[LODemolition]

Actual results:

1. Owen Hart def. Bret "Hitman" Hart

2. Mixed Tag Match: Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon def. Doink and Dink

3. Falls Count Anywhere Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage def. Crush (w/ Mr. Fuji)

4. Women's Championship: Alundra Blayze (c) def. Leilani Kai

5. Tag Team Championship: Men on a Mission (w/ Oscar) def. The Quebecers (c) (w/ Johnny Polo) *by countout*

6. WWE Championship w/ Mr. Perfect as guest referee: Yokozuna (c) (w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) def. Lex Luger *by disqualification*

7. Earthquake def. Adam Bomb (w/ Harvey Wippleman)

8. Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Razor Ramon (c) def. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (w/ Diesel)

9. WWE Championship w/ Roddy Piper as guest referee: Bret "Hitman" Hart def. Yokozuna (c) (w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette)


WrestleMania X did provide us with 2 of the greatest matches in the event's history (Bret vs. Owen and Razor vs. Shawn), but the rest of the card was forgettable to say the least. With this being the first WrestleMania that Hulk Hogan would not be a part of and The Undertaker out due to injury, there was a rather large void to fill which I suppose is the reason they brought in not 1, but 2 surprise special guest referees in Roddy Piper and Mr. Perfect to officiate the WWE Championship matches that evening. Even with the diminished roster, I feel the card could have been much better than it was. Here's how I would have booked the 10th anniversary of WrestleMania and in their return to Madison Square Garden.

Rewriting WrestleMania X​

1. Diesel def. "Macho Man" Randy Savage

I did not mind the Savage/Crush feud of early 1994, but the falls count anywhere match was rather confusing to me. Once you pin the opponent, shouldn't that be it? In this match, once you scored the pinfall, the opponent then had 60 seconds to make his way back to the ring. For what, so they could get beat again? Made no sense to me. In my rewrites, Randy Savage had been involved in the feud between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels/Diesel, and had been helping even the odds when Razor would find himself on the bad end of 2-on-1 attacks. Rather than Diesel just being a bodyguard at his first WrestleMania, why not give him the best rub possible and put him over a legend on his way out in his final WrestleMania? A great opening match where Diesel gets the win with the jackknife powerbomb to let the fans know he's for real.


2. "Double J" Jeff Jarrett def. The 1-2-3 Kid

I can't blame them for scrapping the 10-man tag that these 2 were scheduled to be a part of, but I would have definitely showcased Jarrett in what would have also been his first Mania, not to mention Waltman's. Solidify Jarrett as a midcard presence and future Intercontinental Title challenger with a win here, making the Kid submit to the figure four.


3. Tag Team Championship: The Quebecers def. The Steiner Brothers (c)

The tag team division was in shambles at this point, but it could have been salvaged if they had used the Steiners. I would have had them hold the gold for a full year, having defeated Money Inc. at my WMIX rewrite. Rick and Scott would be gone from WWE in a couple of months, so this was your last chance to use them on a big stage. Why not make it count with an important and unsuccessful title defense to Jacques and Pierre?


4. Tatanka def. "The Narcissist" Lex Luger

I am taking their exact feud and match from SummerSlam and simply moving it up a few months here. However, Luger does not turn face until this night, where we also have the heel turn from Tatanka who would join "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and reveal to the world that it was indeed him who sold out, despite accusing Luger of the crime. A WrestleMania double turn, not to mention a rematch of my WMIX where The Narcissist would get the better of Tatanka - which just adds another layer to the story as Tatanka says he had been planning his revenge for a full year now.


5. 20-Man Battle Royal: Crush wins by last eliminating Adam Bomb

Although I'm taking away Crush's big opponent in Savage away, I still give him the spotlight here in a staple of WrestleMania tradition in the battle royal. Other competitors would have included Virgil, The Bushwhackers, The Smoking Gunns, Men on a Mission, The Heavenly Bodies, The Headshrinkers, IRS, Bob Backlund, Rick Martel, Doink the Clown, Bob Holly, Nikolai Volkoff and Duke Droese.


6. Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Razor Ramon (c) def. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels

You'd have to be crazy to change anything about this absolute classic. This would have also been the big anticipated rematch after Razor defeated Shawn for the title back at my SummerSlam '93 rewrite instead of Shawn being stripped before serving his 30-day suspension.


7. Bam Bam Bigelow def. Earthquake

Earthquake made his short-lived return in early '94 and it could have been used more wisely to put over Bam Bam Bigelow imo. A quick 5-minute match here between 2 super heavyweights who could really move in the ring, with Bigelow hitting the moonsault for the win.


8. The Undertaker def. Yokozuna

In my rewrites, the casket match between Taker and Yoko takes place at Survivor Series a couple of months earlier, rather than the Royal Rumble as it did in reality. This gives Taker the time to heal in order to be made available at WrestleMania where WWE needed him most. Also, forget about the 2nd Undertaker (Brian Lee), or "Underfaker" as many have called him. Taker should have had one thing in mind and that was revenge on Yokozuna. With this match on the card, WrestleMania X truly could have been billed a double main event in my view. The only thing I hate about The Undertaker going up against opponents of this size is that we obviously can't see the tombstone as a finisher, so I suppose the top rope clothesline would have to suffice.


9. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper def. Jerry "The King" Lawler

I'm simply taking their King of the Ring match and moving it up much like I did with the Tatanka vs. Luger contest. Piper could have definitely generated a buzz around WMX with his big comeback match here. I mean it did main event KotR just a couple of months later. While the wrestling would honestly leave a lot to be desired, I would still go this direction rather than throwing Piper in as a guest referee.

10. WWE Championship: Owen Hart def. Bret "Hitman" Hart (c)

Exact same match and exact same finish, only it ends the show instead of starting it of course because the WWE Championship would be on the line. You have that added shock value here as nobody expected Owen Hart to beat his older brother at WMX, let alone become the new champion. Bret would be riding a year-long title reign at this point, fending off challenges from names such as Savage, Yokozuna, Luger and Bigelow. This was one of my all-time favorite matches in WrestleMania history and there's no way I would change a thing about it. However, I would have loved to up the stakes. And with Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart making their returns in the summer, the Hart family feud would only get better.


Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment and/or post your changes to this card.

Next up, SummerSlam '94!

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I did not mind the Savage/Crush feud of early 1994, but the falls count anywhere match was rather confusing to me. Once you pin the opponent, shouldn't that be it? In this match, once you scored the pinfall, the opponent then had 60 seconds to make his way back to the ring. For what, so they could get beat again? Made no sense to me.

I think it was more to give you another chance, as the pinned opponent. I see what you're saying, but I think the purpose was to use anything in the arena to not only pin your opponent, but lay such a beating on him that he still couldn't get back to the ring, given another minute. Kind of like how Hogan kicked out RIGHT AFTER the 3 count at Mania VI. This would mean you pinned him and pinned him good. Haha. Honestly, I am not defending the match. I just loved that Savage ALWAYS had something different or special going on at Mania. World title, IC title, retirement match, mixed tag, falls count anywhere...never once had a simple one on one match, which is why he is my Mr. WrestleMania.

Anyway, just thought I'd offer that possible reason for the match, with it being a feud needing a little more to the blowoff. I too wasn't a huge fan of this Mania and, to be honest, was past my time as a diehard fan. So, I'll leave the revisions to those who are more familiar with the roster at that time. I will say that, in my opinion, the Razor/Michaels ladder match at SummerSlam '95 was better than their Mania X version. It might not be fair to call the Mania match overrated, but I've always felt the SummerSlam match was underrated.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is one of those shows where I honestly don't want to change much of anything. It was so good. If I had to make a revision it would be for Luger's match with Yokozuna to not have been for the title. The reason for this is that in my rewriting of the 1994 Rumble there would NOT have been any two winners nonsense. Luger, who won the world title at my version of Summerslam 1993 would have lost the title to Yokozuna already by this point. Bret wins the Rumble. I don't want to remove the Bret VS Owen match. That has to still happen. Bret having two matches means Yokozuna should also have had two matches. Luger VS Yokozuna stays but as a non-title. That way both of the guys in the world title match have had a non-title match first. It's the best way to change this show without taking away too much from the greatness that was the actual Wrestlemania 10.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Seeing your re-written card here I can definitely say that your version of WrestleMania X would actually have been awesome back in 1994 if it ever happened

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Wrestlemania X was a strange one for me.

It's my Top 5 favorite Wrestlemanias yet there were a lot of bad matches.

Luger vs. Yokozuna = Bad, Mixed Tag Team Match = Bad, Adam Bomb vs. Earthquake = Bad (yes it's short but still bad because it was pointless), Tag Team Championship Match = Bad.

Savage vs. Crush wasn't too good either because the rules got in the way of the match.

While there were a lot of bad matches the event as a whole was great. Mostly because the event did have two amazing matches and there was a story that progressed through the night. So even if you had to sit through Men on a Mission there was already a well developed story being built during the night. Is Bret Hurt?, Who will he face in the final match?, etc.

Everything played so well from the opening match to the ending with a jealous Owen Hart watching his brother win the WWF Title.

I guess I would change most of the undercard maybe give Savage a better match. Or give another team that's not Men on a Mission a shot at the Tag Titles.