Wrestlemania 9: A Retrospective Look

[theHeadliner]

Actually seeing someone else' post jogged my memory. I thought Flair should have stayed until WM9 and had the loser leaves town with Mr. Perfect at WM. Change up Shawn's match because the ending was brutal. Tatanka was being pushed hard but I don't know if it was the right time for that match. Then have Savage win the Rumble, turn into a maniacal heel, and put Bret over at WM9 giving Bret a legitimate and credible win over an established opponent that would have vastly improved his first title reign while still building Yoko for later in the year.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Bret getting the belt at all was cos Flair had given 3 months notice... he didn't care about Mania 9 cos he knew by then he was not one of Vince's top guys. To be fair to Vince he held his end of their deal up and let him walk and Flair was more than happy to put Hennig over on the way out, but not to stick around 3 more months.

It's ironic that basically Hogan and Warrior can be traced back to every talented guy who could have headlined the company of that era who walked or refused a deal in that era... Bam Bam in 88, Rude and Vader in 90, Flair in 93, DiBiase in 93 for AJPW (where he got hurt) they all got the Hogan and by extension Warrior treatment and all left because of it.

 

[thebarber]

rubbih ppv, I absolutely hated it when the VHS copy finally arrived down under. From the crappy dated Roman theme, the outdoor arena with small crowd, the hideous matches like Crush vs Doink, Giant Gonzales being in a match...and the Hogan finish. This card just sucked all around. I cant even begin to think of how I could have improved the card, anythnig would have been better. Randy Savage on commentary, hell place him on the card in a match with Luger or Razor Ramon, hell have him elevate Shawn Michaels, but to have the aforementioned nothings on the card, a returning Bob Backlund....yuck.

 

[MMK]

In a perfect world Wrestlemania 9 would have looked like this

-IC TITLE: Michaels vs Jannetty

-Loser Leaves WWF: Ric Flair vs Mr.Perfect

-Razor Ramon vs The Undertaker

-WWF TITLE: Lex Luger vs Bret Hart
Instead of Luger being unveiled at the Royal Rumble, he should have debuted in late 1992 and then gone on to win The Royal Rumble. His Narcissist gimmick fit in perfectly with the Ceasars Palace theme at that years Mania.

--Yokozuna vs Hulk Hogan
Yokozuna still could have looked dominant in the Rumble and even set the record for most amount of eliminations but they could have had 10 guys team up to throw him out of the ring. Hulk Hogan then returns to take on the mighty Yokozuna. Hogan can still main event if he's that vain, but it's not for the title.

Unfortunately none of that happened because Flair left a month too early, Jannetty screwed up AGAIN, Giant Gonzales debuted for some reason, and Luger debuted too late.

 

[Big Sexy]

I'm clearly in the minority but I actually didn't think this Mania was all that bad. The first match between HBK and Tatanka was very good. It was a cheap finish but it made sense as the title stayed with Michaels and Tatanka got to keep his undefeated streak. The second match was another great one with the Steiners and the Headshrinkers putting on a very good match. Then we got to a lot of filler matches which certainly brings the event down but the return of Hogan was huge in the tag match. Then Taker vs Giant Gonzalez delivered for what it was supposed to be. It was Taker finally having to overcome someone who was more of a monster then he was and it played out well.

That brings us to the main event. The finish rubbed a lot of people the wrong way but look at it this way. Up to that point no Wrestlemania had ever ended with a heel coming out on top and that feat wouldn't happen until 7 years later at Wrestlemania 16. At this point wrestling fans still needed to go home happy with the good triumphing over evil ending, at the conclusion of the biggest show of the year. Yoko was fine because he had just beaten Hart and would go on to defeat Hogan. Bret Hart lost due to outside interference so he came out looking just fine and the fans went home happy with Hogan as champion.

 

[jones.ben1977]

This PPV I felt was when the 80's boom died and the "new" generation (Bret/HBK/Luger/Razor/Taker) era started. Hogan winning the title was just a last attempt to shine in the spotlight knowing his WWF career was coming to an end (for almost 10 years).

 

[bitesthedust]

The first two matches were good, the IC title match was the best match of the card. But this is a Wrestlemania I would make some changes to, Money Inc would defend against the Steiners and go to a non-finish, Undertaker would beat Bam Bam Bigelow, and Razor would beat Crush.

Plenty of people have already discussed Hulk Hogan winning the World title in the manner he did, and I agree that it was a mistake.

I'd have Yokozuna win the title as he did, and Hogan come to ringside to aid Bret Hart, but instead of him winning the title in twenty-odd seconds, Fuji would challenge Hogan on Yoko's behalf for the title on Raw. (Raw at this point was a mix of live and tape, I believe, so this could have worked.) Yoko would attack Hogan and they would attempt the salt in the eyes trick, except Hogan would move and clear the ring. Hogan's music plays to end the show.

It's not the best solution to end the ppv, but at this time, no heel had left WM as champion - someone else has already pointed this out - I'd make an exception for this, but end the event on a high note (the finish of Wrestlemania had always been with the babyface triumphant).

In 1993 (and 1994), there were a lot of faces (Hart, Ramon, Luger, Savage, Hennig, Undertaker etc) to challenge a heel champion, but not enough credible heels for a face champion - Yokozuna, Bam Bam maybe, Michaels was just starting a singles career in the WWF. Flair has gone after the Rumble.

Keeping the belt on Yokozuna means that Hart can win KOTR as he did, and Luger still does his face turn. Not sure who Yoko would defend against at KOTR, possibly Savage and go over clean. Hogan would still leave as he did.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Bret getting the belt at all was cos Flair had given 3 months notice... he didn't care about Mania 9 cos he knew by then he was not one of Vince's top guys. To be fair to Vince he held his end of their deal up and let him walk and Flair was more than happy to put Hennig over on the way out, but not to stick around 3 more months.

It's ironic that basically Hogan and Warrior can be traced back to every talented guy who could have headlined the company of that era who walked or refused a deal in that era... Bam Bam in 88, Rude and Vader in 90, Flair in 93, DiBiase in 93 for AJPW (where he got hurt) they all got the Hogan and by extension Warrior treatment and all left because of it.

Flair gave notice ?? When, as he was reigning World Champ ???

Flair didn't give any notice. He didn't want to leave. With Savage taking himself off the road and reducing his own schedule the plan in the fall of 1992 was for Flair to regain the belt (which he did) and face off with Ultimate Warrior, eventually with Warrior winning the title, likely at Survivor Series. Those plans got changed after WWE spent a month hyping Flair-Warrior matches (a feud that started due to Flair's involvement in SummerSlam) when Warrior injured Flair, screwing up the Press Slam move, I believe in Phoenix. Flair suffered broken bones in his ear which dislodged and ruined his equilibrium or sense of balance. Flair was off TV for over a month, portrayed as recuperating from injuries. Right before he left (he was headed to Mayo Clinic for treatment, no one knew at the time what was wrong) he agreed to lose the title , WWE didn't want to keep the belt on him with no timetable for his return. However, Warrior was already on thin ice with WWE and injuring Flair was about the last straw. Brett got the belt because 1) Savage didn't want it 2) Flair was hurt and couldn't keep it 3) Vince no longer wanted to put it on Warrior. Hart was just inching into the main event sphere at this time and had been wrestling full time in WWE for almost 7 years by 1992, he was popular, a good choice for the WWE preferred fan favorite champion, and he could wrestle nightly, something WWE wanted (and wasn't sure they would get with Warrior) seeing as how business had been declining since 1990.

Hart didn't get the belt because Flair quit the company, it wasn't until after Flair returned and began wrestling again in November that Vince said he didn't have any main event plans for him (beyond putting over Hart in re matches on the house show circuit, they never had any rematches or a big build up to the title switch due to Flair's injury). Flair had been given the option to leave if he didn't like the creative direction when he first arrived and decided to exercise it (nearly two months after Hart was crowned champ) since WCW offered similar pay with a much reduced work and travel schedule (WWE was running twice as many house shows at this point as WCW was, and Flair had already been in the UK, Germany, and all over Canada main eventing).

Did Hart get the title too soon ?? Maybe, but given the circumstances (remember Warrior completely dropped out of the Main Event scene after injuring Flair, his last appearance a brief interview spot after Flair came back where Flair & Hall beat him up on Sat Nite Main Event, causing the "Inuries" that forced him to pull out of SummerSlam and explain his disappearance) WWE didn't have a lot of options.

Regarding WM 9, the ending was a complete curve ball and surprise and in that way it worked very well. If business had not been down with Hart as champ WWE likely wouldn't have brought Hogan in like they did (booking left a lot to be desired thought, people blame Hart alone for declining business without noticing that business was declining, albeit slower, when Hogan was still around in 91 and 92, plus the company lacked star power to oppose Hart once Flair left, HBK wasn't at that status yet, neither was Nash). My only complaint here is that I felt they should have kept Hogan through SummerSlam, remaining champ, and let him lose there. If the decision was that Hart wasn't worthy of beating Hogan cleanly then having Yoko, a guy who was primed as the company's lead heel, and a clearly physical opponent, getting a screw job win was fine with me, it left open the possibility for a Hogan return and re match down the road (although that didn't transpire) but it still gave Yoko a marquee victory, enhanced his rulebreaker status, and would have made the chase with Hart pursuing him entertaining. Hogan staying for a month and quickly losing to Yoko without much of a feud I felt wasted the momentum of his return and surprise title win.

As for the other matches, It was clear by now that Henning wasn't catching on with fans as a Fan Fave, having him lose to Luger, who was one of the biggest names in the business in the 90s, in Luger's first big singles moment made sense. It would have been nice if Flair had stayed with the company and had his match with Henning here but given that Henning didn't connect with fans the way they had hoped as a Fan Fave even with the win over Flair in Jan I doubt it would have made much difference, it would have been a better quality match though.

I still think it was a good time for Hart to lose and to let a dominant heel take over for a bit (a rarity in the Vince Jr era outside of HHH in the Evolution Days much later). I don't have a problem with Hogan's return other than that it should have lasted much longer, through SummerSlam.

 

[FlairFan2003]

In a perfect world Wrestlemania 9 would have looked like this

-IC TITLE: Michaels vs Jannetty

-Loser Leaves WWF: Ric Flair vs Mr.Perfect

-Razor Ramon vs The Undertaker

-WWF TITLE: Lex Luger vs Bret Hart
Instead of Luger being unveiled at the Royal Rumble, he should have debuted in late 1992 and then gone on to win The Royal Rumble. His Narcissist gimmick fit in perfectly with the Ceasars Palace theme at that years Mania.

--Yokozuna vs Hulk Hogan
Yokozuna still could have looked dominant in the Rumble and even set the record for most amount of eliminations but they could have had 10 guys team up to throw him out of the ring. Hulk Hogan then returns to take on the mighty Yokozuna. Hogan can still main event if he's that vain, but it's not for the title.

Unfortunately none of that happened because Flair left a month too early, Jannetty screwed up AGAIN, Giant Gonzales debuted for some reason, and Luger debuted too late.

Luger had left WCW after SuperBrawl 92 in Feb of 92 but his WWE debut was delayed a year after he was injured in a motorcycle accident. This was used as the basis for his "bionic arm" storyline where the steel plates inserted in his fore arm after the accident gave him and extra damaging fore arm smash (something was pretty much forgotten once they got rid of The Narcissist Gimmick he debuted with)

 

[Judah's Lion]

Mania 9 was needlessly brutal. it looks like i'm in the minority, but i don't mind the setting in the slightest. Caesar's Palace was pretty unique and made this event stand out, and not just for all the wrong reasons either. there was more than enough talent available to make this more memorable. just some poor booking and rough spots (steroid trial, anyone?) made this less than the best possible for all its potential.

for starters, literally, i'd have HBK open the show in an IC Title match, but not against Tatanka. something about that match just didn't quite click with me. maybe it was the finish. but a Steel Cage Match with Jannetty would have been epic. and a mega hot start to an otherwise lacking Mania.

Steiners vs. Headshrinkers was a pretty solid tag contest. i'd make it for the belts and put a decent storyline together, but otherwise keep this match as is.

call me all the names you want, but i absolutely loved the idea behind Doink's debut at Mania. thought it was freaking brilliant. i'd swap out his opponent though. put Kona Crush somewhere else and give Doink Brutus the Barber Beefcake. switch up the storyline that Beefcake was wearing the protective mask because of an attack from Doink and his fake arm instead. then have the match at Mania go as it did with Crush.

kudos to everyone that said WWF needed to do whatever it took to keep Flair around for a "Loser Leaves Town Match" with Perfect at Mania instead of on Raw. this match should have happened on this stage. speaking of Flair...

and here's where it gets really far-fetched perhaps, but here's my fantasy booking...

Flair keeps the World Title all the way till the Rumble. Flair never drops the belt to Bret Hart. but, at the Royal Rumble, one year after they squared off in the ring, Flair vs. Hulk Hogan for the World Title does in fact happen and Hogan goes over clean. Hogan now has the World Title and goes to the main event of WrestleMania.

this allows Flair/Perfect to still happen as stated above and for Hogan to challenge the Royal Rumble winner: Bret Hart. Hart wins the Rumble and faces Hogan at Mania 9 in the main event for the World Title. and Vince, in the middle of a real life steroid scandal, has Hogan drop the World Title to Bret Hart in the main event of WrestleMania and pass the torch in a moment that never ever happened in the history of sports entertainment but should have happened here.

so what does Yokozuna do? two options and i like both. either he debuts at the Royal Rumble and eliminates the Undertaker from the Rumble Match, taking the place of Giant Gonzalez both at the Rumble and at Mania. i like that scenario okay, but that's not a good way to book a dominant monster -- losing via DQ at Mania, i mean. so scenario number two, which i like a little bit more, is a flag match vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan. let Yokozuna debut at Mania and destroy Hacksaw, eventually draping the American Flag over the fallen American Hero.

i would save the debut of Lex Luger for the 4th of July, bodyslamming Yokozuna as it happened. no Rumble debut and no Mania match.

there are some big names i'm leaving off my fantasy booking; Savage, Razor Ramon, Dibiase, Bam Bam, Tatanka, Crush and Taker. i'm not sure how i'd mix these guys up, but there are some good matches to be had i'm sure.

i think i'd do Dibiase/Taker, given their history and their lengthy feud that was about to start anyway, Crush/Bam Bam and Razor/Tatanka. Savage can stay on commentary and maybe even referee a match. maybe come to the aid of Hacksaw and begin that storyline with the heel turn of Crush that we see culminate next year.

some major missed opportunities for Mania 9, at least in my dream world, where between the Rumble and Mania, i get to see Hogan/Flair, Flair/Perfect and Hogan/Hart.

 

[spaldoni]

This has always been one of my least favorite Mania's. I know this is minor but I didn't like the setting. I would have preferred it in an arena or nighttime setting. I just think the visuals work better. The thing is Bret Hart never really had a huge moment during his first title reign. I would have booked Savage to win the rumble and face Hart for the title at Mania 9. It would of been an intriguing main event. The match would of delivered and Hart would of had his big moment. Hart defeating Savage would of given him that much needed win over a legend. Another feud I would have love to seen was Undertaker vs the evil version of Doink the Clown. This would of been the perfect time. The build would of been awesome and both these guys could work. As for Hogan's return, I think since he had a history of crushing monsters I would book him against Giant Gonzales. Have Gonzales take out Beefcake on Raw, then Hogan comes back for revenge. Hogan slamming Gonzales would give Hogan his huge Mania moment and satisfy the fans. I want to keep building Yoko as a monster heel and next title contender so I would have him defeat former world champ the All American Bob Backlund. I would do something different with Razor Ramon. I want to keep him in the spotlight so I bring in Jerry Lawler to help with that. I put Lawler and Ramon in an alliance and they take on Owen Hart and Crush in a tag bout. Lawler would be interviewing Owen on a Raw and Owen would call Hall out for attacking him a few months earlier. Lawler would get involved and they would beat down Owen. Crush would come out for the save to set up the match. This puts Lawler in the wrestling spotlight, moves Owen and Crush up the card and keeps Ramon's heat going. I have the Steiners win the tag titles from Money Inc. A dream IC match with Michaels/Perfect over who is the greatest IC champ of all time. Tatanka would take on Bam Bam, I think this would of been a good hard hitting match up. I want to showcase Luger big time, so I have him squash Kamala. So my card,

Hart vs Savage- World Title
Michaels vs Perfect- IC Title
Money Inc vs Steiners- Tag Title
Taker vs Doink
Hogan vs Gonzales
Lawler/Ramon vs Owen Hart/Crush
Tatanka vs Bam Bam
Yokozuna vs Backlund
Luger vs Kamala
Headshrinkers vs Tito Santana/Hacksaw Duggan- Two old school guys on their way out against a vicious fresh team.

 

[klunderbunker]

This show just isn't very good. At the end of the day, nothing on here feels like a Wrestlemania match and that brings things down a lot. The outdoor thing was a nice change of pace but it didn't make for a better show. Yokozuna should have walked out of Las Vegas with the title, but Vince just wasn't ready to move from the send them home happy idea. Hogan winning is a big stretch, but I can understand not wanting to change what had worked for so long.