Wrestlemania 7: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This is topic 7 of 29 in my retrospective look back on previous Wrestlemania events. I wanted to take a few weeks to observe the history behind the biggest show of the year from the first one all the way up until last year's edition, in time for Wrestlemania 30 which is approaching soon in April.

This time we are discussing Wrestlemania 7!

Wrestlemania 7 took place on March 24th, 1991. It was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena where 16,158 fans attended. Here are the results of the show:


0. Koko B. Ware defeated The Brooklyn Brawler in a singles match for the dark match.

1. The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Barbarian and Haku (with Bobby Heenan) in a tag team match (10:41)

2. The Texas Tornado defeated Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart) in a singles match (03:11)

3. The British Bulldog defeated The Warlord (with Slick) in a singles match (08:15)

4. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags) (with Jimmy Hart) defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) (c) in a tag team match to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (12:10)

5. Jake Roberts defeated Rick Martel in a blindfold match (08:34)

6. The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jimmy Snuka in a singles match (04:20)

7. The Ultimate Warrior defeated Randy Savage (with Sensational Queen Sherri) in a retirement match (20:47)

8. Genichiro Tenryu and Kōji Kitao defeated Demolition (Crush and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji) in a tag team match (04:44)

9. The Big Boss Man defeated Mr. Perfect (c) (with Bobby Heenan) by disqualification in a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship (10:47)

10. Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Greg Valentine in a singles match (03:14)

11. The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated Power and Glory (Paul Roma and Hercules) (with Slick) in a tag team match (00:59)

12. Virgil (with Roddy Piper) defeated Ted DiBiase by countout in a singles match (07:41)

13. The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Tito Santana in a singles match (01:21)

14. Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter (c) (with General Adnan) in a singles match to win the WWF Championship (20:26)





Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the show:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 7, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in March 1991. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Wrestlemania 7 in this thread. The other Wrestlemania events will be getting their own retrospective threads shortly, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[The Brain]

WrestleMania VII. Easily the most underrated WrestleMania. I’ve heard people say this was a decent mania. I’ve heard people say this was a bad mania. I’ve hardly heard anyone say this was a great mania. I have always said WrestleMania is a great mania. I’ll go so far to say it’s possibly a top 5 mania. It is my belief that if WM7 went down exactly as it did, match for match, every single second of the show exactly the same, but outdoors in the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 100,000 people like originally planned a lot of people would agree with my opinion.

I think just about everyone is going to have the same favorite match. The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage was one of the all time great mania matches. The story those two (really three including Sherri) told was excellent. That match had it all and the emotional reunion between Savage and Elizabeth after the match was one of WrestleMania’s best moments.

My least favorite match was Demolition vs. Tenryu & Kitao. This match was pointless. I think the WWF started running some shows in Japan in 1991 so this might have been done to establish some kind of working relationship but no one in the US cared. We didn’t know who Tenryu and Kitao were and Demolition was dead by WM7. This was just a waste of time.

I know a lot of people are going to say they would have changed the main event. Some people are going to say Hogan vs. Warrior should have been the main event again. Some are going to say it should have been Hogan vs. Rick Rude and maybe Rude would have stayed with the WWF had he gotten that spot. Some will say Warrior vs. Savage should have gone on last and been for the title and Hogan vs. Slaughter should have just been on the middle of the card. Sorry but I feel those are all ridiculous suggestions. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter for the main event at WM7 and it’s too bad that so many people just don’t get that.

So what would I change? Not much. It would have been nice if The Honky Tonk Man stayed with the WWF for a few more months so he could have wrestled Greg Valentine. Valentine had just turned face and I believe the original plan was to put him against Honky but Honky ended up leaving right when Valentine turned. Valentine ended up getting Earthquake instead which was ok since Quake was Jimmy Hart’s main guy but he didn’t have the history with Valentine that Honky did. Since Honky wasn’t an option I would have put Valentine against Dino Bravo. Bravo was also a Jimmy Hart guy and was a better match up for Valentine. Their history as former tag team partners in the Dream Team would have been another element. Plus Valentine could have gone over Bravo and gotten a nice win after the face turn instead of quickly losing to Earthquake. Bravo’s actual opponent was The Texas Tornado so I say just put him against Earthquake. Also I would have just scrapped that Demolition match. Like I said, Demolition was dead by WM7 so they didn’t need to be on the show. For those that would have liked Demolition vs. The Legion of Doom, the timing wasn’t quite right. That ship had sailed. Scrapping the Demolition match would have given a little more time to the matches that ended to quickly such as LOD vs. Power & Glory and Tito Santana vs. The Mountie.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I'm going to disagree with Brain above, though I totally understand his opinion.

WrestleMania 7 was a decent Mania, once again boosted by a stellar match with Savage and Warrior, which is easily my favorite on the card. Savage's work, and the raw emotions on display during and after that match make it one of the most memorable matches in WrestleMania history.

However, WrestleMania 7 cannot be discussed without bringing up the change in venues, and the status of the roster at that time. As THTRobTaylor pointed out in the WrestleMania 6 thread, the WWF roster was depleted at the time and in a state of transition with new guys coming onboard, but not quite ready to take the limelight. Better planning in 1989 and early 1990 would've alleviated some of this problem, but what it comes down to is this: What Main Event was the WWF anticipating to pack the LA Coliseum once that was announced during WrestleMania 6 (my memory is a bit spotty here, but I believe they announced the location during the WM6 broadcast).

It obviously wasn't Hogan Vs. Slaughter as Slaughter wasn't back with the WWF at the time of that announcement. The only thing is could've been was the anticipation of a Hogan/Warrior rematch. What the WWF didn't account for was the rapid cooling of the Warrior after WrestleMania 6. To a certain extent, this was bound to happen. I remember the Saturday Night Main Event after WM6, with Warrior coming out not to wrestle, but to stand on the turnbuckles smiling the most forced smile I think I've ever seen. No match...just a victory celebration. Ooooookay.

What followed was Warrior's "decimation" of just about every major heel in the WWF at the time: DiBiase, Rude, Perfect. It wasn't until they reached Savage that they decided it was really time to give the Warrior an angle. Do you realize that going into Survivor Series, Warrior was essentially captaining a team in which the main feud didn't even really involve him? It was built around The Legion of Doom / Demolition feud with Warrior playing 3rd man on the LOD! Perfect was a bolt-on for his team as well, and was really in a feud with Von Erich.

Regardless, the misuse of Warrior, and the increasingly tepid response he was getting as champion must have spooked McMahon.

So at WM7, we got Hogan Vs. Slaughter, in a feud that wasn't about marquee players...but about a storyline built around the real world Gulf War conflict. For what it was, it wasn't bad. But it was a SummerSlam quality feud in all respects. Slaughter did good with his role; he had to. But there was no way that 43 year old Sgt. Slaughter was going to help back a 100,000 person stadium in L.A., and the WWF had to have known that.

What I would've done differently? One of the following:

1) Stick to Hogan Vs. Warrior. Yes, it means we lose out on the Warrior/Savage match. However, Hogan/Warrior 2 likely still would've sold the Coliseum. It just wasn't a guarantee by that point. However, had Warrior been given some actual feuds over the course of the year that were not so one-sided, he probably still would've had steam coming into WM7 to drop the title back to Hogan.

2) Build up Rude and/or Perfect for the Main Event. By all reports, both Hogan and Warrior had it in for Rude, who would've been excellent in the main event role. Night after night, Rude had the crowd in the palm of his hand, and was putting on fantastic matches against Warrior. Warrior dropping the title to Rude would've been a shocker, and perhaps a wake up call to Warrior that might've gotten him back on track as well.

Perfect would've been another choice. The trick with Perfect, IMO, would've been to stay committed to the Perfect Record gimmick for the remainder of the year. Too long? Perhaps in today's WWE, it would've been given the rapid compression of storylines. But back in '89/'90/'91 WWF, this was completely feasible. Perfect beats Beefcake at WM6, beats Hogan by countouts and DQs in house shows, and never drops his title to Von Erich (who gives him a good run for his money anyways). Eventually at Royal Rumble, it's Perfect who finally goes over Warrior and pronounces himself the Perfect Champion, and claims that he will do one final perfect feat: Destroy Hogan at WrestleMania.

Enough to sell the Coliseum? If Hennig's streak was kept intact, yes, I think it might've.

One last note: The most underrated match on the WM7 card was the opener. Go back and watch The Rockers vs. Haku and Barbarian. The match was long enough to give them time to actually showcase their moves, and all of them were bringing their game that night. Very underrated, fun match, even if it wasn't a major feud at the time.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage was one of the all time great mania matches.

For sure. The theme of "Beauty and the Beast" has been used in many forms of entertainment but when did you ever see a version in which beauty saved the beast? They set it up so that Savage seemed helpless at the hands of Sensational Sherri, even though she wasn't the one who put him in that condition to start with.

Still, you had to suspect when we saw Elizabeth sitting in the crowd before the match that their long estrangement was about to end, one way or the other. As always in the ongoing soap opera, though, there was the chance it was all a teaser and that nothing would happen to bring the two together again. High drama.

Kudos to Randy Savage for allowing himself to portray that type of character; the man in distress. Given his "macho" persona, he seemed the last person who could accept being rescued by a woman.....yet, it happened before our eyes and the performers made it look real.

Great writing, great performance......and one hell of a match between Ultimate Warrior and the Macho Man leading up to it.

 

[Elchicano15]

Another awesome Mania with a pretty stacked card in my opinion. It was a mania of firsts. First ever blindfold match, first ever "career ending" match, Undertaker's first "victim" to build up a streak and it gave various stars a chance to shine on the card. The likes of the Mountie (jaques rougeau), Davey Boy Smith, and Kerry Von Erich were all getting their chance and moment under that spotlight. One match I didn't care much about was the Demolition vs Kaito & Tenryu match. I didn't know who Tenryu and Kaito was at the time and it seemed like they were randomly added to give Demolition a match. I did eventually catch a clip between Bobby Heenan and Tenryu on Prime Time Wrestling. In Canada I never got that show (only Superstars) but that clip was pretty funny where Heenan offered Tenryu some rice.

Of course match of the night for me was the Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage. Amazing back and forth match as both performers were busting their asses through out that match. It was a pure Wrestlemania moment at the end when the Warrior got his "ultimate win". From Randy Savage reuniting with Liz another great moment, to win Bobby Heenan made his quote "I'd rather have me some money than a skirt" "Randy Macho King Savage......History" LMAO He was great.

Now as to what I would change I would keep Ole Hacksaw on commentary seeing as the Brain had to duck in and out of the table to represent members of his family, and Hacksaw would fit for the theme as it was called "Superstars and stripes forever" I wouldn't have made the Warrior/Savage match a career match as Savage was going to come back anyway and win the World title the year after. But I guess at the time it had people at the edge of their seat wondering who they were never going to see again in a WWF/E ring anymore. I understand that they had to pull out of the huge stadium due to security reasons but it would have been awesome still to have the event outdoors, with a huge crowd rather than the Forum. Than again I think it rained that night but would have been cool to have that record attendance and all these performers doing their thing in that stadium.

 

[Pedigree1]

Everyone is on the same page as far as the Warrior vs Savage match goes. Its an all-time great match top five in terms of WM allure. I agree with the Brain,I wish Honky would have stayed with teh WWE so he could have wrestled Valentine instead.. That would have been a much better match IMO,but quake match was okay.

Demolition by that time,was not the Demolition I loved. They were pretty much done by then so them not going over,against Tenryu and Kitao not much of a shocker there. (They fell apart when Ax left).. I liked the Idea of a blindfold match,but that match was slow and just never flowed they way i wanted it too.

Of course people are not pointing out,this was the Debut WM match of the Iconic Undertaker. Its interesting to go back and look at the undertaker now and then. Even Bobby the Brain Hennan pointed out in that match,Thats Superfly Jimmy Snuka,he destroyed him. I enjoyed the Nasty Boys vs Hart Foundation match,Bret was on his way to going singles,but the way the dropped the titles to the NB,on a WM card no less,was a bit of a shocker at that time..

We all know the reason why this didn't take place outside the LA coliseum,had it taken place there,100,000 plus people that card would have rocked. I enjoyed WM7 its extremely underrated as it was a good one

 

[jrush1978]

0. Koko B. Ware defeated The Brooklyn Brawler in a singles match for the dark match.

1. The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Barbarian and Haku (with Bobby Heenan) in a tag team match (10:41)

2. The Texas Tornado defeated Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart) in a singles match (03:11)

3. The British Bulldog defeated The Warlord (with Slick) in a singles match (08:15)

4. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags) (with Jimmy Hart) defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) (c) in a tag team match to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (12:10)

5. Jake Roberts defeated Rick Martel in a blindfold match (08:34)

6. The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jimmy Snuka in a singles match (04:20)

7. The Ultimate Warrior defeated Randy Savage (with Sensational Queen Sherri) in a retirement match (20:47)

8. Genichiro Tenryu and Kōji Kitao defeated Demolition (Crush and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji) in a tag team match (04:44)

9. The Big Boss Man defeated Mr. Perfect (c) (with Bobby Heenan) by disqualification in a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship (10:47)

10. Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Greg Valentine in a singles match (03:14)

11. The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated Power and Glory (Paul Roma and Hercules) (with Slick) in a tag team match (00:59)

12. Virgil (with Roddy Piper) defeated Ted DiBiase by countout in a singles match (07:41)

13. The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Tito Santana in a singles match (01:21)

14. Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter (c) (with General Adnan) in a singles match to win the WWF Championship (20:26)




Favorite Match--Big Shock...Savage-Warrior
Least Favorite---Again surprise--Demolition-Tenyru/Kitao

Changes
As previous posters have said, the easiest way to try and sell out the Coliseum is Warrior-Hogan 2, and while I dig the previous idea of having Hennig challenge Hogan for Mania I think that was the way to go all along. Just let Warrior go over Slaughter at the Rumble, let Warrior do the flag waving instead of Hogan and move on. Sarge did a good job but that feud at that time wasnt main event WM material. Hogan still wins the Rumble. And we get Warrior-Hogan 2 as the Mania main event.

I would have changed the tag title match to a triple threat. Hart Foundation-Nasty Boys-LOD. I think this match was given 10-11 minutes. You could drop the Demolition match, and obviously the pointless 1 minute LOD squash of P&G and give this match 16 or so minutes. The Nastys could go over the Harts with LOD not factoring into the pin and you can still have LOD defeating the Nasty's at SummerSlam as actually occurred.

Perfect over Bossman clean.

Savage-Rude #1 Contendors Match For Summerslam (if you could convince Rude to stay for this).
If not....
Savage-Slaughter. You could still give Slaughter his WM sendoff and have Savage's face turn.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Do you realize that going into Survivor Series, Warrior was essentially captaining a team in which the main feud didn't even really involve him? It was built around The Legion of Doom / Demolition feud with Warrior playing 3rd man on the LOD!

Wow, you're passionate about that...and wrong. No shock. It absolutely involved him, as he had been teaming with LOD to face all three Demos for months before Survivor Series.

WrestleMania VII is very underrated, in my opinion. As Brain mentioned, in his post that came 4 minutes after the OP's--work ahead much? nice cut/paste--it was hurt by the venue. A stadium here would have given it a bigger feel. The blindfold match is underrated and the Savage/Warrior match is overrated. Women in the audience were crying---who cares? People overreact to the charcters in this play, feeling it was real life just because the actors happened to be married. Nice match though.

Good card, hurt by venue...not as bad as most think it was.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

The main difference I would make would be keeping the strap on Warrior and making the Macho/Warrior match the main event as well as a title v career match. It made no sense for Macho to put his career on the line for just a regular match with Warrior. The build was that Warrior wouldn't give Macho a title match (kinda weird since Warrior was a face) so the natural solution would be to have Macho put his career on the line for the shot. Slaughter and Hogan should have still went down, just didn't need the title. Hogan was going against Slaughter for America and that should have been enough.

Other than that, I have seen people scramble the tag matches and while I'm not completely against that, the matches served their purpose. The Harts dropped the titles so Bret could begin his solo career, and LOD won in the same fashion the Harts did in the previous year to set up their upcoming title reign in the same fashion.

Best match by a mile was Macho/Warrior and it could have been greater if it went down the way I suggested. Not only that, but had WWF better booked Warrior as champ in 90 and than followed my advice for 91, maybe his title reign means more which probably is better for Warrior's morale and we avoid what went down at SummerSlam 91 with Warrior getting fired.

 

[LODemolition]

This is a very underrated WrestleMania in my opinion. The Hogan/Slaughter feud was perfect for the time, with the Gulf War going on. My favorite match was of course Warrior vs Savage, but it really was a loaded card. There's a couple changes I'd make, but nothing too huge. LOD vs Demolition is a match I wish had always taken place at a WM, no matter how many times it had happened at other events. I liked Power and Glory and think they deserved a longer match, maybe they should've wrestled The Rockers. Also, I would've put Texas Tornado vs The Mountie. This WM is always kind of forgotten about, even though it had a lot of memorable moments. Undertaker's first Mania, the blindfold match, Nasty Boys winning the tag title, Savage and Liz reuniting, and obviously Hogan conquering the American turncoat Sgt Slaughter to win his 3rd WWF Championship.

While I would've liked to see Hogan/Warrior II, you can't argue the direction they went. Slaughter was so hated at this time, I remember him talking about getting death threats. I also would've preferred to see a clean finish between Mr. Perfect and Bossman. But overall, this was probably my 2nd favorite 'Mania up to this point, behind only WMIII. It's arguably the best booked 'Mania they had up to that point as well.

Also, if I remember correctly, it was raining that day in LA. Or at least the forecast called for it. So if it had taken place at the Colisseum, it would've possibly ruined things for the crowd. So things worked out for the best.

 

[Gibby]

Good event, Jim Neidhart cuts 30 seconds of absolutely bonkers gibberish before they dropped the straps to the Nasty Boys, every word of it lingers in my mind to this day.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Wow, you're passionate about that...and wrong. No shock. It absolutely involved him, as he had been teaming with LOD to face all three Demos for months before Survivor Series.

WrestleMania VII is very underrated, in my opinion. As Brain mentioned, in his post that came 4 minutes after the OP's--work ahead much? nice cut/paste--it was hurt by the venue. A stadium here would have given it a bigger feel. The blindfold match is underrated and the Savage/Warrior match is overrated. Women in the audience were crying---who cares? People overreact to the charcters in this play, feeling it was real life just because the actors happened to be married. Nice match though.

Good card, hurt by venue...not as bad as most think it was.

As passionate as you are in stalking me around the site now.

I'm not wrong at all...they had the World Champion playing third wheel in a tag team feud between LOD and Demolition. Plain and simple.

I can understand the match to a certain extent. I thought it was a cool pairing at the time too, until it became the dominant match on every house show and Survivor Series. They seriously let their new champion and torch bearer without a serious challenger for the title.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

As passionate as you are in stalking me around the site now.

I'm not wrong at all...they had the World Champion playing third wheel in a tag team feud between LOD and Demolition. Plain and simple.

I can understand the match to a certain extent. I thought it was a cool pairing at the time too, until it became the dominant match on every house show and Survivor Series. They seriously let their new champion and torch bearer without a serious challenger for the title.

Exactly. WWF almost set up Warrior to fail as champ the second he won the title. Warrior should have spent the remainder of 90 (post Mania) in a feud against Earthquake and the rest of Heenan's squad. Earthquake was the biggest heel at the time and should have feuded with the champ instead of Hogan. Instead, Warrior got a retread quick feud with Rude and than didn't have much going on other than the stuff with Macho that was slow billed to go up to Mania.

It was cool seeing Warrior team up with LOD because of the similar appearance and eccentric nature of those guys, but it should have been part of the grand final match where those are your ultimate sole survivors seeing as they were the most over faces (other than Hogan who didn't need to always be on top at this point) at the time.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Wrestlemania 7 wasn't the best Mania by no stretch but I have a lot of fond memories watching Wrestlemania 7. Slaughter vs. Hogan was a perfect main event even if the US/Iraq conflict wasn't nearly as hot. Slaughter was as hated as any heel there has ever been and who wouldn't want Hogan to put him in his place at that time? I know Savage vs. Warrior is the most remembered from this event but make no mistake about it, Hogan vs. Slaughter was the biggest match on the card no question.

My least favorite match was Demolition vs. Tenryu and Kitao. I had no freaking clue who Tenryu and Kitao were (I still don't know who Kitao is), Demolition fell so far down the totem pole since Summerslam '90 it was unreal, they were managed by Fuji again and they didn't even have their kick ass theme song as their entrance. This was just an enormous waste of time and it was obvious the only reason they did this match was because of that Super World of Sports thing they had going on.

My favorite match? Savage vs. Warrior. There is no match on this card that comes even close to how great this match was. The whole feud was built great, people just gave a shit about these guys, this match and the story they told in the ring and after the match ended is a perfect example of why I love wrestling. Truly one of the all time great Mania matches.

Overall the only thing I would have changed was the Blindfold Match between Martel and Roberts. They certainly should have had a Mania match, the stipulation made sense with Martel blinding Jake on the Brother Love Show but blindfold matches just don't work, never had, never will and sadly this was probably the best blindfold match ever. I would have given them either a regular match or another stipulation where they could work a match, both were very good in the ring and giving them 10 minutes in a singles match is more than enough to get it over. I would have scrapped the Demolition vs. Tenryu/Kitao as well but outside of that I would have left it alone.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The first thing that stands out about 7 is the sheer level of talent and accomplishments over the history of the business on display that night. Former champions, future champions, I don't think there was ever a better card in terms of what people had or would go on to do ever.

Former World Champions - Kerry Von Erich, Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Martel, Tenryu
Former IC or US Champs - Valentine, Santana, Jimmy Snuka
Future IC or US Champs - Mountie, British Bulldog, Marty Jannetty, Haku
Future World Champions - Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Undertaker.
Current Hall Of Famers - Jake Roberts, Curt Hennig, Koko B. Ware, Legion of Doom, Ted DiBiase, Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper, Andre The Giant.
Future Hall Of Famers - Big Bossman, Rick Martel, Earthquake.

That is, more than Mania 3 the single greatest collection of talent of that era on a single show. While some of the matches seemed extraneous at the time like the Demos v Kitao and Tenryu match, it proved the WWF was now truly global and could attract names from all over the world. Indeed on that card you really did have talent from all over the world, North America, England, the Pacific Islands, Japan, Canada and France making it a truly global event.

They did well with this as all the 14 matches had some kind of storyline, even the traditional squash type matches for guys like Mountie and Davey Boy. For once the matchups also seemed to make some sense, with Bulldog v Warlord and Mountie v Santa particularly being a good match in terms of ability and "pushing the winner up the card". By Summerslam Davey was teaming with 2 former NWA World Champions in Steamboat and Von Erich and Mountie was in his best feud, albeit losing... Taker V Snuka was perhaps the best of them though - in thoroughly destroying a legend (I think this would have been Rhodes had he not quit), Taker was on the radar for the World title - they botched by not giving him a match at Summerslam but by Survivor Series he was Champion, even if for one night.

Things that didn't work so well:- The IC title match was clearly a hangover from Rick Rude's unceremonious departure. Once Hogan had nixed the idea of working with Rude and Warrior the same it was clear plan B involved Rude vs Bossman which Rude decided he didn't need and he wanted Hennig instead.

Vince wasn't looking to turn either he or Hennig and that is where I think this COULD have gone had Rude stayed... We may have seen the first ever Triple Threat or more likely Rude v Bossman would have ended quickly for Rude vs Perfect for the IC title at Mania in a loser leaves the Heenan Family type deal. Rude got his vindication, he went to WCW and carried the US title for a year, but I can't help but feel that had he stayed he could have done similar with the IC, finally putting Bret Hart over in 92 especially as Hennig was clearly struggling with his back by then.

As it was the match was a little redundant as Bossman would never have worked with a belt due to his character and stick/cuffs gimmick... anyone with a physical prop they have to carry will struggle to use that AND parade a title. It seemed little more than a way to shoehorn Andre into the show and have Curt limp on a bit longer to job to Hart. There were better options - he could have jobbed to Davey Boy, Kerry or even Bret on that night.

Likewise the Tag Title match didn't really do much for the Nasty Boys, despite the win. It seemed more like the Harts lost cos Bret was going solo for real this time rather than the Nasty's got the better of them.

There seemed to be some very odd decisions around that time in the tag division, putting the belts on the Nasty's rather than LOD was one. I personally would have preferred to see The Rockers dethrone the Harts in the weeks running up to Mania - Hart would have been inserted into the IC title picture and Neidhart could have been pissed, thus making Perfect and Bossman a bit more interesting as a feud with Hart and Neidhart in that mix as well. Neidhart seemed a perfect fit for Heenan, but in reality it was the end of his days as a manager and Neidharts as a viable talent... total waste really. The Rockers would of course have lost to the Nasty's the same way but it would have gotten both teams more over.

Jake v Martel was a shocker - sorry but it was an awful idea and poor payoff to their angle, which had been good if not great. I think it had issues cos they had already got a retirement match on the card, so stips couldn't really be too extreme but the blindfold gimmick just didn't work. I'd have rather seen Jake return heel than in this match and it buried Martel for another year till they "refreshed" him with the sports coat and shorter hair etc. It literally did nothing for either guy.

Neither did Quake v Valentine - by that stage we knew Quake was a monster but he had been through most of the "big men" in terms of Warrior and Hogan and now was squashing much smaller guys which was not impressive. It makes the Bossman/Perfect mismatch harder to understand.

Virgil and DiBiase was ok for what it was but it seemed dumb to have him not lift the belt at Mania and save it for Summerslam. Originally this seemed to be set to be Piper v DiBiase which could have been a much bigger and better match, especially if a career was on the line.

Which brings us to the Warrior v Savage - Warrior's best non-Rude match and a classic moment of reconcilliation for Randy and Liz... but it didn't NEED to be a retirement match, especially as Savage was active again just 6 months later. They could have put it in a cage and had Savage so beat up he just took 6 months away. That way the retirement stip could have been used for a different match - Hogan v Slaughter for example.

Hogan v Slaughter - much has been made, especially by me that Rude deserved this main event. As it is that didn't happen so Slaughter was what we got and frankly it was the worst Mania main event till that time and perhaps even worse than Shawn v Diesel. The use of the Gulf War was pretty poor looking back and the fans clearly were not as into it as they had been previous feuds in that they couldn't sell out the original venue. Was Slaughter the problem? Not really, he was a good enough worker and foil to Hogan but the storyline and that people were simply tiring of Hogan's schtick was coming into play. A year earlier supposedly we'd seen the new hero... he was now lower and Hogan was back on top...

What would I have done? I would have called Ric Flair and made the offer earlier... sure there would be a payoff required as he still had months on his deal, but as he was basically fired anyway I think Jim Herd would have wanted shot of him and done business. Have Hogan beat Slaughter, only for Ric Flair to come and "pick the bones" of the new champion... the WTF moment from Hogan would have been worth it and even if the live crowd may not have know exactly who he was, having him walk to the ring with Heenan and cutting a promo to end Mania would have been a better way that the standard "Hulk Pose"...

But hey the event sold, but it was the one that led to the downward spiral of Manias...

 

[PingPongBundy]

I loved this Mania when I first watched it around ten years ago and I still love it today. This was definitely an underrated Mania. Just like most everyone else here, the Warrior-Savage match, for the match itself, and in my opinion, the greatest moment in WWE history after it. Don't really have a least favorite one. I guess if anything, the Tenryu tag match, since nobody in this country knew about them. With the venue change, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they change it because of threats of attacking the place? Slaughter had received so many death threats that he needed 24/7 protection. Weren't they worried about someone attacking from the air? I think Pedigree had alluded to that in his comment. I never noticed until seeing these last few threads how many matches there were on the early WrestleMania cards. Of course, there were more squash and shorter matches then. Great thread series, by the way!!!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

No... the ticket sales were sluggish so they used the "sniper" angle to cover the fact their main event wasn't selling out the planned outdoor venue, which was the first time a Wrestlemania hadn't sold out instantly.

You have to remember that the Gulf War was done with by the time Mania happened and any controversy had about died down, it was only Vince who flogged the dead horse into the Summer on the feud. Slaughter may have received death threats but that was not new for heel wrestlers, as the WWF Champion Slaughter was travelling better/more secure anyway so it wasn't a major issue. More to the point there was no real doubt that Hogan wasn't walking out the champion, so a lot of people were happy to just let Hogan "take care of the turncoat" so to speak. Hogan v Slaughter was Hulk's idea to avoid working with Rude - but it didn't draw to the level he thought it would and that was perhaps more than anything when Vince started to think away from Hogan altogether for the future.

It was ironically the last Mania before the roid scandal forced them to rethink anyway... had they just started the process a year earlier, kept guys like Rude, brought Steamboat back or Flair in that bit earlier, they could have still sold out that outside venue.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

The first thing that stands out about 7 is the sheer level of talent and accomplishments over the history of the business on display that night. Former champions, future champions, I don't think there was ever a better card in terms of what people had or would go on to do ever.

Former World Champions - Kerry Von Erich, Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Martel, Tenryu
Former IC or US Champs - Valentine, Santana, Jimmy Snuka
Future IC or US Champs - Mountie, British Bulldog, Marty Jannetty, Haku
Future World Champions - Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Undertaker.
Current Hall Of Famers - Jake Roberts, Curt Hennig, Koko B. Ware, Legion of Doom, Ted DiBiase, Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper, Andre The Giant.
Future Hall Of Famers - Big Bossman, Rick Martel, Earthquake.

That is, more than Mania 3 the single greatest collection of talent of that era on a single show.

This is a fun thought. WMIII is my all-time favorite Mania, so let me see who was there. I don't feel like looking up the card or current HOF, so I'll go by memory. Forgive me if I miss any...

Martel, Orton, Muraco, Race, JYD, Rougeau, Valentine, Piper, Hart, Santana, Smith, Koko, Savage, Steamboat, Roberts, Honky Tonk Man, Iron Sheik, Volkoff, Andre, Hogan. You listed non-wrestling talent also (Andre and Piper); so, I must include Fuji, Heenan, Moolah, Valiant, Hart, Steele, Duggan, Monsoon, Ventura, Okerlund, Finkel, and Uecker as well. Since you listed future HOFers, I could possibly add Hillbilly Jim (only person in Legends House not in yet), Elizabeth, Beefcake, Neidhart and/or Dynamite.

And that is leaving out Herc, Bundy, Adonis, Reed...

All things considered...WMIII gets the nod for more talent, in my opinion.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Possibly, but more guys who had more of an impact on the business were at 7 than at 3, especially as a lot of the card was made up of guys like Orton, Zenk, Killer Bees, Adonis, Herc, Haynes who never really did that much in terms of titles or changing things.

At 7 you had as I mentioned a lot of guys who basically BECAME the business going forward mixed with the very best of the older guard from 3 (as a lot had been weeded out by then) and people who had legit acheived things outside the WWF.

To have 2 former AWA champs in Hennig and Martel, a former NWA champ in Von Erich and an All Japan Triple Crown winner in Tenryu, all still in their prime and featuring prominently was a big deal. Sure Harley was at WM3 but he was nowhere near his prime by that point and it showed.

To have the guys who would basically be the core of Wrestlemania for the next generation there, together for the first time was a big deal - Shawn, Taker, Bret, Davey Boy - these guys all became the future of Mania with their numbers of appearances and in many ways the future of the WWF. While Davey never got a world title, he did sell out their biggest show other than Mania 3, he did hold every title and was basically the anchor of the roster for many years... Shawn, Bret, Taker we all know what they achieved but we didn't know they would do so then... and that I think is why 7 is more impressive and important than 3's roster.

Mania 3 had "names" but how many of them actually lived up to the potential they had or even stuck around till Mania 4?

Some like Duggan, Reed, Neidhart, Muraco, JYD never really did much in the business after that night - Beefcake and Duggan you could say had a career but not what was intended when they debuted their gimmicks at Mania 3. WM 3 was a lot of talent signing off the big stage, past their prime and getting their last hurrah - it was the end of an era rather than the genesis of one.

You didn't see a lot of them again bar one offs at Mania like Steele, Sheik, Bundy... those guys had run their course. The closest you could say to that at 7 were Valentine and Snuka.

 

[AnthonyM4]

Wrestlemania 7 was the first wrestling show I watched after I stopped watching wrestling for a few years when I was a kid. Since then I haven't really stopped watching, but I do need a break. Maybe after WM 30.

Anyway Warrior vs Savage was hands down the best match of the night. Even as a kid I was on the edge of my seat, before I knew about workrate. The match was so dramatic. Macho Man was one of the few who can get a very good match out of Warrior. Worst match was Demolition vs the Japanese guys. Just boring and uneventful. If I had to change one thing it would be to get rid of that match. Every other match was fine.

A lot of people say this mania was bad, but because I got into wrestling again after it, it has sentimental value to me. It's in my top 10 of favorite wrestlemania of all time.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I thought about Flair, who was about 6 months away from joining the WWF. Obviously, he would've been able to help sell out the Coliseum. Undertaker would've been a good choice as well if there had been some way to move up his debut to Summer Slam to give him a chance to build. At that point in time though, nobody knew what UT would turn into. For all we knew, he could've just been another Monster of the Week, a la Bundy, Earthquake, The Twin Towers, etc. The WWF was so close to having some firepower back who could change the dynamics a bit, but there weren't there yet. Add to the fact that these were the waning days of Hulk Hogan in the WWF, and he was hanging on tenaciously by this point to his position. When Warrior failed, between the two of them, there was a dearth of talent as everyone else on the roster had essentially been stalled in their own development.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Possibly the most interesting Wrestlemania retrospective thread yet. With so many changes and departures in the build up to Wrestlemania VII, it's a wonder the card wasn't a complete clusterf**k (pardon the language); as it is, it is an underrated 'Mania, though there are a few things that could have been changed to improve the card.

• the blindfold match - the context behind the match was understandable, and the storyline was decent, but two solid workers and push able gimmicks were effectively given a comedy match. Unacceptable booking by WWE there.

• I feel pretty confident that, despite not having watched this card for a decade or so, I could probably reel off the match listings. Yet I would have completely forgotten the Mountie vs Tito Santana. Pointless.

• Savage vs Warrior: match of the night. I realise the point was that Vince no longer saw Savage as a viable talent, going forward, hence why the retirement angle was used (let's not forget, part of the reason he came back so soon was because Sid, who had just started a feud with Jake Roberts, got injured before Survivor Series, and Savage getting bitten by Jake's cobra was a convenient way to write Jake out of Survivor Series as they had no suitable replacement for Sid in their SS elimination match), and perhaps Vince had hopes to build up the Warrior again, but why have Warrior kick out after FIVE top rope elbow drops? The only negative point for me of the match, it took away the suspense and realism.

• I will never understand why Demolition, one of my favourite tag teams of all time, were essentially jobbed out after losing the titles at Summerslam '90. Here they are reduced to a quick loss to two unknown Japanese wrestlers. Would have their fall from grace have occurred at the same rate had Ax not got ill?

• Something I hadn't considered until reading this thread: in this era of long-term booking (due to only having 4 ppvs a year), it does seem like the idea was originally for Hogan v Warrior #2, hence why they were portrayed as equals at Survivor Series '89. I wonder when those plans changed and Sgt Slaughter was shoehorned into the title picture? It's not like he was given a major push at Survivor Series, he eliminated the 'might' of the Bushwhackers and Nikolai Volkoff before running away from Tito Santana - no suggestions there that he would win WWE gold just two months later!

• I also agree with the earlier poster that Undertaker's first Wrestlemania match could - and should - have been against Dusty Rhodes. For someone they were high on enough to build as undefeated for a year, a win over Dusty would have been more of a rub than dominating Snuka, who hadn't been relevant for years. Brutal Tombstone to finish, though!

• Since Honky Tonk Man left in January, I would perhaps have switched a couple of matches around: have the Mountie go over Valentine if Honky isn't around; have Earthquake squash Santana if you had to have Tito on the card.

• For the second year in a row, Mr Perfect's result should have been reversed. Alternatively, if Rude stayed, they could have put Rude over Boss Man, and have Perfect regain the IC title from Texas Tornado - giving Tornado a lengthy reign, Perfect a singles ppv win (something his career lacked), and taking the useless Dino Bravo from the card (he could still be in "Eart'quake's" corner)

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Alternatively, if they had to use Dino Bravo, they could have had him turn face and face Earthquake at Wrestlemania.

They teased a tiny bit of dissention at the Royal Rumble but didn't further it (when in the pre-match interviews Bravo said he'd happily go through 'Quake to win the Royal Rumble) - obviously they didn't even share the ring in the end but it COULD have been used as the basis of a feud.

 

[RicSpade]

The best match imo will always be Warrior/Savage and I think if in hindsight we knew Savage was going to make an inring return months later I would've had him go over on Warrior, but given the story between him and Elizabeth it was poetic ending to his loss. I liked the blindfold match between Martel and Jake, but I think the crowd could've been into it a bit more and if Jake would've gotten his hands on Martel a little more it would've made the match so much better.

The worst match on the card I think was the tag title match, I don't know if it was the pairing with Jimmy Hart that bothered me or the finish, but I just didn't like it.

I think in terms of other changes I would've like to have seen Warrior vs Savage for the title, and have Hogan Slaughter be a special attraction match considering the conflicting rumors on the reason for them going to a smaller arena, I would've like to have seen Bossman win his first singles title that night because he was pretty over by WM7 as a face by then, and I think Virgil and Million Dollar Man wasn't big enough to be on the card especially if they had to use Piper to help get Virgil over.

 

[The Warlord]

Out of all the Manias I watched as a kid, this is the one Ive seen the most. Had it on VHS and watched it all the time.

I dont want to get into my favorite and least favorite matches too much because they should go without saying. Warrior/Savage being an instant claussic and Demolition being a total let down.

However there is one major change I would have made...neither involving the main events as both stories were well told. No, This change would be in the tag team title match. I didnt like the Nastys winning the tag team battle royal on Superstars. I think they should have gone with The Rockers vs Hart Foundation for the titles. Rockers were really over at this time and could have defended the titles through the summer until their split. LOD vs Hart Foundation would have been great as well, however as far as an in-ring performance The Rockers vs Hart Foundation would have tore the house down.

Other than that I wouldnt have changed a thing...it was a fantasic Wrestlemania.