Dolfan Watches Every Wrestlemania On Lockdown

[Brian Fowler]

Kai was also the only person to wrestle on both WrestleMania I and X.

[Robert S]

1 hour ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

(...)

Now, for as good as heel Doink was... D*ink and D*nk....  ugh.  The whole thing that's appealing about the character was that he turned an archetype on its head, exploited the fears a lot of people had, and performed the character incredibly. But since Matt Borne got fired for drugs, and Ray Apollo took over, we get this.

(...)

At least cagematch has Matt Borne wrestling as Doink in WWF until the end of 93, so it was still him when Doink got turned and even when Dink debuted. Wikipedia cites a Borne shoot interview that implies the same (with Borne blaming Bigelow for him getting fired from WWF as Bigelow apparently did not like to work with Borne).

Regarding the Clinton stuff: Vince must have absolutely hated Clinton. I have been watching some 93 and 94 Raws lately and there were lots of Clinton "jokes" on that shows.

[elizium]

MOM and the Quebecers have an even better match on Raw after WMX. The Quebecers were the MVPs of the WWE from late 93 until their breakup.

I'm going to have to rewatch that Savage/Crush match. I remember liking it, but I am also an unapologetic Crush fan.

[NikoBaltimore]

9 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

The Fink is in a wig for some reason.

They had Sy Sperling from Hair Club for Men as a guest and this was one of the things they did.

[SirSmUgly]

9 hours ago, elizium said:

MOM and the Quebecers have an even better match on Raw after WMX. The Quebecers were the MVPs of the WWE from late 93 until their breakup.

I'm going to have to rewatch that Savage/Crush match. I remember liking it, but I am also an unapologetic Crush fan.

It's not good, but it's interesting. They take it backstage at a time where that didn't really happen, so at the time I remember feeling like some wild shit was happening. 

Plus, as a massive Savage fan, it's hard to hate anything he does. Though as I rewatch Nitro, his stuff from 1999 comes real, real close. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

I think that's true.  in 1994 almost no one ever literally pulled back the curtains. Savage/Crush is a match that is absolutely hurt by being seen in 2020 because the expectations of this kind of match are entirely different.  Just in this last Mania we have two examples to compare it to in Orton/Edge & (eventually) KO/Seth. 

It's just an odd throwback match with a modern gimmick (hampered by another throwback gimmick).  It just doesn't work any more, in my opinion.  

[Curt McGirt]

13 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Owen cuts a promo that almost rivals "kicked your leg out of your leg" celebrating his win.  Aw fuck it.  I'll forgive it.

You've gotta love him doing the whole interview with that gob of snot hanging off his face. Being Owen, I don't know whether he didn't know it was there or just left it on as a gag.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

15 hours ago, elizium said:

The Quebecers were the MVPs of the WWE from late 93 until their breakup.

 

All the likes for this statement

[Dolfan in NYC]

DAY 30

Yup.  Gonna make it a long ride today.  

So, as we've discussed Yoko has to defend against Lex, and if successful against Bret.  Now, supposedly the original plan was that Luger would beat Yoko and beat Bret, and become Hogan II.  However, earlier in the week, Lex apparently let the booking slip and admitted he was going to win, Vince was furious and changed all the booking.  And frankly, that fits. 

I should take a moment to acknowledge, 1994 Yokozuna was a unique and incredible talent.  Though they very much kayfabed weight, I can absolutely see Yoko being at or over 500 lbs, and to ask that guy to have two good 15-20 minute matches... well, the fact that he delivers speaks volumes to what he could do when he was still this mobile. 

Mr. Perfect is the guest ref, and a 'surprise', because I think he'd been out with a massively fucked up back at this point.  So, the match itself begins, and Lex and Yoko are absolutely throwing haymakers at each other.  It's a very fun "Irresistible Force vs. Immovable Object" match, as Lex is doing his damndest to impose his will, but the champ is swatting him away like a fly.  And Lex is also trying to get his spots in, but also trying to fit it into a hit and run strategy.  Every time he lingers though, he gets fucking clobbered.  Jim Cornette is also being a pest as Yoko's American Spokesman, in his WrestleMania debut.  

Now, the finish comes as Lex has finally worn down Yokozuna to the point where the champ is getting knocked down and barely fighting back.  It's like a lion trying to take down a hippo (and I mean that in a very good way). Running forearm for Yoko, then Cornette gets thrown in and beat up by Luger, same for Mr. Fuji.  Cover...  and Perfect goes to check on Cornette.  Cover... and Perfect is VERY concerned about Mr. Fuji.  Luger is furious and slightly shoves Hennig... and that draws a DQ.   

Oooh the crowd is SUPER pissed at Perfect's turn and Lex's loss.  I'm grinning because that was a very creative way to get out of putting the belt on Luger, and getting all the pieces to line up for the next 5 years of the WWF.  Really better than I remember.  

Also, in quick Googling, I see WhatCulture listed this as one of the worst title defenses in Mania history... so in conclusion, WhatCulture is run by idiots.  But you hopefully knew that. 

[BobbyWhioux]

and Hennig's year-long quest for wrestlemania revenge comes to a successful conclusion.

I'm a big fan of the grudges and sins of someone's heel past not being forgotten and forgiven just because they're a babyface now.  It makes total sense -- dare I say perfect sense? -- that Hennig would relish the chance to ratfuck Luger at Wrestlemania, particularly for a textbook rule violation.

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

33 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

I should take a moment to acknowledge, 1994 Yokozuna was a unique and incredible talent.  Though they very much kayfabed weight, I can absolutely see Yoko being at or over 500 lbs, and to ask that guy to have two good 15-20 minute matches... well, the fact that he delivers speaks volumes to what he could do when he was still this mobile. 

Something happens with his weight between Mania X and the casket match with Taker at Survivor Series because that match was purely Taker's athleticism and basically smoke and mirrors. Obviously, Yoko is Taker's boy so he's going to try to make him look good. However, he looks aged and way too heavy. Then, they use losing that casket match as way to write him off so they can send him to the weight loss clinic at Duke. You can look at Cornette's recent video about that to see how well that went. He shows back up at the next Mania (XI) as Owen's mystery tag team partner against the Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team titles. Unfortunately, he doesn't look any better. Despite Owen working roughly 90% of the match, it's a tremendous struggle for him to do a minute of anything strenuous. After the match, while Owen is celebrating his first title win in WWF (twenty-five year spoiler!), Yoko is standing there looking like he ran a marathon. From XI to XII, it really doesn't get any better. It makes you wonder if he took the forced hiatus seriously, could he gotten all that under control.

[NikoBaltimore]

1 hour ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Now, supposedly the original plan was that Luger would beat Yoko and beat Bret, and become Hogan II.  However, earlier in the week, Lex apparently let the booking slip and admitted he was going to win, Vince was furious and changed all the booking.  And frankly, that fits. 

It's amazing to think about this as if he did win the belt his Nitro debut the following year might not have happened.  For all we know Lex might have been quite happy and we wouldn't get the surprise that we did on the first episode.  How much it would have impacted Nitro's debut to begin with is up for debate but his debut really did emphasize the "Anything-can-happen" aspect that they were going for.

[Robert S]

4 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

(...)

So, as we've discussed Yoko has to defend against Lex, and if successful against Bret.  Now, supposedly the original plan was that Luger would beat Yoko and beat Bret, and become Hogan II.  However, earlier in the week, Lex apparently let the booking slip and admitted he was going to win, Vince was furious and changed all the booking.  And frankly, that fits. 

(...)

Someone else may correct me, but wasn't this story refuted long ago? I think the real story is that WWF taped some interview for a post-mania TV show with Luger having the belt and the reason why they did that was to throw dirtsheets off (apparently something that happened from time to time back then).

[Mister TV]

2 hours ago, Robert s said:

Someone else may correct me, but wasn't this story refuted long ago? I think the real story is that WWF taped some interview for a post-mania TV show with Luger having the belt and the reason why they did that was to throw dirtsheets off (apparently something that happened from time to time back then).

That’s the story I remember.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Going to write up something quick, because the post after is going to be long...  

Harvey Wippleman is now out to tell off Howard Finkel because why not.  Harvey comes *THIS* close to calling Finkel a "dirty j**" (or worse).  And does some other Memphis heel stuff.  

The Fink stands up for himself, which draws out Adam Bomb.  I remember thinking as a kid, holy crap, this dude has the look of a champ.  Hoo boy was I dumb about that.  So anyway, Earthquake comes out and destroys Adam in about 20 seconds and that's that.  Easy night for Mr. Tenta.  It kind of seemed like they were setting him up to be a face challenger for Yoko's title, and they did start that angle, but he left later in the year for Japan and eventually WCW.  

And because this is so short, here's the clip of his debut:

It is weird seeing him in street clothes.  

[Dolfan in NYC]

"The Absence of Wasted Motion"

I was sitting watching a Florida Marlins game once, in whatever Joe Robbie Stadium was called at that point, and the guy seated in front of me was explaining some points to his son about the different batting stances and swings. In particular, he singled out Gary Sheffield. "Now son, watch Gary come up. Gary's got basically a perfect batting stance. Watch when he swings, he's not kicking his leg, he's not wagging his elbow, he's not dipping his hips.  It's the absence of wasted motion.  It what makes him an excellent baseball player."

The Intercontinental Champion was in dispute going into WrestleMania as Shawn had taken the first of his trademark hiatuses (a/k/a suspensions), and Razor Ramon had beat Rick Martel a few months before on Raw in his absence. Shawn's return led to a feud over who really was champ since HBK had never been beaten for the belt.  And so a never before seen (on American TV) gimmick was thought up to have only one man be able to say that he was the rightful champion.  The ladder match.

Shawn comes out to the ring with Diesel, who I'd completely forgotten was in this.  (I'll remember why I forgot him in a minute.)  Razor Ramon is out next and apparently Mania X is when Kevin Dunn began directing, because we ALMOST miss one of the signature moments of this match as Razor goes under the ladder set up in the entranceway.  

The ring announcer made a big deal about this match having "no rules" (followed immediately with the rule of how to win). So, this is essentially a handicap match. However, after the first couple of tie-ups, Razor got sent to the floor where Diesel attacks. However, the ref immediately ejects Diesel after his first shenanigans.  So yeah, Nash was out for about 3 minutes of the match... that's why I forgot. 

Now, I'm not going to get into every single spot in this match, but what struck me was the simplicity of it.  The ladder is a 30-lb. (~13 kg) prop and both Shawn and Razor are making it look like they are getting crushed by a Mack truck with every thing happening on or around the ladder.  It's been 25 years, and I was still wincing at some of the spots. 

The end comes as the ladder had gotten knocked over (and getting noticeably bent) in a spot. As HBK is making his final ascent, Razor knocks him off one last time, tying his foot up in the ropes. Michaels gets his foot free in enough time to be able to get to the ladder to knock off Razor, but gets his arm trapped, and an exhausted Razor Ramon claims the Undisputed Intercontinental Championship in the performance of his life. 

This match is basically perfect because each person played their role so well. There was no overly elaborate spot set up.  Things are done for a reason, and when something is set up, it is almost immediately paid off.  The spots flowed one to the other, and EVERYTHING looks like it fucking hurt.  It was excellence.

It was, the absence of wasted motion. 

[SirSmUgly]

Is this Scott Hall's best match, or is it the return ladder match at SummerSlam 1995?

The return match had less fanfare, but I think it was even better than this one. 

[Boydy]

9 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

Is this Scott Hall's best match, or is it the return ladder match at SummerSlam 1995?

The return match had less fanfare, but I think it was even better than this one. 

Yeah I always preferred the Summerslam rematch to the original Ladder match at Mania.

I had fond memories of renting the video and watching it at my Nan's.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Like I said, this was a long ride, because Mania 11 is going to be a fucking slog.  So let's finish this.

There's apparently supposed to be a 10 Man tag, but it gets called off because we're completely out of time the heels cannot pick a captain(?).  I always wonder if as soon as the cameras are off if the rest of the wrestlers start cracking up at Afa pretending he couldn't speak English. The Mean Gene outtakes that recently surfaced would lead me to think, yes.

Cornette cuts an absolutely incredible promo on Bret. I wasn't paying attention at first because I'm about 45-50 minutes in and I'm getting tired. But by the end, he had me.  That man can talk, Jeez.  

Now, Burt Reynolds is out to announce the Bret-Yoko match.  To say he's three sheets to the wind, would probably under-count the sheets. There's really no way to describe how much Boogie Nights revived his career.  Rowdy Roddy is the special referee making his return to WWF. 

Okay, so I should note that during Yoko's entrance, he looks noticeably worried about Mr. Fuji entering. It's nothing major, but it was kinda interesting to notice the actual guy come through instead of the character.  Bret gets a gigantic pop as he comes in limping HEAVILY. 

So, it's interesting to see that Lex and Yoko worked one style of a match, Bret and Yoko are working another.  This one is both of them clearly being exhausted and trying to beat the other as quickly as possible.  The champ has to sell the ass-beating he got earlier in his successful defense, and Bret is having trouble putting any weight on his knee, so they're both already at 50% at best, and they both know it. So while Lex ran, Bret is TAKING it to Yoko. And even though he's exhausted, getting hit by Yokozuna still sucks.  

Eventually Bret gains a bit of the upper hand and starts rolling through his ending sequence, though there's zero chance he's getting Yoko up for a Piledriver or a Sharpshooter, so they have to modify a bit. The end comes after Yoko catches Bret in a Belly-to-Belly that honestly could have finished it... but he chooses to go for the Banzai Drop, can't support his own weight on the ropes due to exhaustion and falls off.  Bret covers and we have a new champ.   (I *think* Bret was supposed to catch him on the way down or it was supposed to be a little smoother... but them both being super exhausted worked.)

Yoko chases out Piper and the new champ is in the ring celebrating.  The rest of the faces come out to celebrate with Bret as Vince declares this the new decade of the WWF (in 1994), probably as a direct fuck you to Hulk.  Piper's back, the face announcers, including Gorilla Monsoon are now in the ring too.  And the crowd gets REALLY restless all of a sudden... then a couple of the boys in the ring look over at the entrance...

It's Owen.

Gorilla actually opens the ropes to invite Owen in.  I can't quite tell if that was supposed to be "come celebrate with us!" or "if you got something to say...". I think it's the former though, mainly because when he stops when it's clear Owen is NOT out there to celebrate.  

He's furious.  He's indignant.  He's right.  

He beat this new savior.  He stepped out of his brother's shadow.  He is there to let everyone know, their happiness will be short-lived.

No one said a word and it was perfectly clear.  What an ending. 

Owen rules.  

End of Day 30. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

DAY 31

WRESTLEMANIA XI

So.... the context of this show is that the WWF is in deep, deep trouble.  It's been 9 months since Vince has been acquitted in his steroid trial and the company has lacked direction and focus. Hulk Hogan has led the exodus of a lot of the old established talent to WCW. And the TV product is generally as shitty as it's ever been with Diesel as WWF Champion.  On that note...

Live from the home of the Whale. . . Who were themselves preparing for a move south...  (sigh)

Don't know (or care) why, but Fishbone was supposed to do America the Beautiful but they're not and a Special Olympian is doing it instead. 

There's instantly a ton of audio issues as people are speaking and cannot be heard, and people talking over each other.  I can just imagine Vince's fury when he watched it back.  

So... let's start this thing off with the Allied Powers (British Bulldog & Lex Luger) and the Blu Brothers (a/k/a the Harris Twins) with Uncle Zebekiah (a/k/a the Soon To Be Owner of WWE, Dutch Mantel).  Luger is noticeably checked out, like more so than usual.  He's about 6 months from leaving WWF for good at this point, so I kind of get it.  The Blus were, I believe, among, if not the first of the talents Vince snatched from a little nameless indie in Philadelphia.  Vince is instantly annoying as fuck because he's making it a HUGE deal that they are absolutely identical and there's absolutely no way to tell them apart. I, while biking and being distracted by other stuff, am able to tell they have different tattoos within 60 seconds. 

This match is really off.  The Blus are doing one thing, Davey Boy and Lex are doing something else.  A couple of times it looked like they may have even sandbagged each other. Like nothing is really working and they're just not vibing at all. The end comes as the Blus try *TWIN MAGIC* but the fresh twin never takes advantage of being the fresh man!!!  and gets rolled up and pinned.  Wiki says this was 6 1/2 minutes.  It felt like 6 1/2 hours. 

Why would you even put Chekov's gun's twin out there if you're never going to use it?    Dumb.   

JR has been demoted to post-match interviews and he and Dutch *try* to cut a promo god bless em, but the audio and now lighting problems, make it impossible.  This is not a good start. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

4 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

This is not a good start. 

Ok here we go:

- The Salt-n-Pepa performance is cut off the network. BOOOOOO

- Bart Gunn's promo that he has written on his hands is perhaps the worst promo in wrestling history.

- Jim Ross chastising Kama (?) for stealing Taker's urn like he's a naughty child is the best. THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU!

- Waltman is dressed like an extra from one of the live action TMNT movies from the early 90s. They were leaning hard into the kid aspect.

- Diesel stumbling through his promo and trying to make up for it by getting loud almost tops Bart. Almost.

- the Bob Backlund and Jonathan Taylor Thomas chess skit is made awesome by Bob Backlund IMO.

- The aforementioned Yokozuna being so tired after working sub 70 seconds in the WWF tag team title match.

- The WWF title match where Shawn is intentionally trying to blow up Diesel at the beginning, then angry Shawn throws around the photographers for getting in the way (to be fair, totally warranted imo), and at the end fucks over Nash by going limp like a corpse on the Jacknife. We're in petulant manchild Shawn Michaels era now.

- Roddy Piper makes the Bret/Backlund match totally unwatchable.

To me, it isn't as bad as IX (Bam does a great job with LT and Shawn/Diesel is good save for the photographers getting in the way and Shawn's antics) but we're in a clear transition period.

 

 

[For Great Justice]

WM XI is the lowest point in company history, right? What a wretched, forgettable show.

Love this series @Dolfan in NYC!

[NikoBaltimore]

39 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Don't know (or care) why, but Fishbone was supposed to do America the Beautiful but they're not and a Special Olympian is doing it instead. 

Wait, Fishbone was supposed to do this?  Considering the little I've heard about them that would have been interesting to see how they did the song.

And Taylor/Bigelow was worlds better than it had any right to be.  But not having the Salt & Pepa performance just sucks as that was awesome.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Just now, NikoBaltimore said:

Wait, Fishbone was supposed to do this?  Considering the little I've heard about them that would have been interesting to see how they did the song.

And Taylor/Bigelow was worlds better than it had any right to be.  But not having the Salt & Pepa performance just sucks as that was awesome.

Re: Fishbone

According to Bruce (Prichard), IIRC they just didn't show up. They had a connection with the Special Olympics (it's something near and dear to Vince and Linda), so they went that route instead.

The problem is Vince's audio is not present at the beginning of the show so you just have someone singing America the Beautiful with no introduction or anything. Very bizarre.

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

56 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

Vince is instantly annoying as fuck because he's making it a HUGE deal that they are absolutely identical and there's absolutely no way to tell them apart.

I always figured twin gimmicks work in wrestling because unless you're looking closely and paying attention, you can't tell them apart.  On tv, you can probably tell that the Harris twins have different tats.  I doubt you can probably tell from your seat in the arena, even if you're looking at a 1990' s jumbo monitor.

I've never paid enough attention to the Harris' to notice they have different tats.  Though, if we're being honest, I still can't tell the Usos apart.  Or tell you anything about Jimmy and Jey.  Which one is currently hurt?  Not sure.  Which one keeps getting arrested for drinking and driving?  Um... both?  Which one is married to Naomi?  Um.... both?

In my defense, i usually answer email or shop on eBay while I watch this stuff.  I'm big on multitasking.