WWE WrestleMania IX (1993)

Live from Las Vegas, NV (Caesar's Palace)Attendance: 16,891Intercontinental ChampionshipShawn Michaels (C) (W/Luna Vachon) Vs Tatanka (W/Sensational Sherri)Tatanka wins by countout. Shawn Michaels keeps the title. This was a pretty good match! It started off slow, but really kicked into gear after a while with some great action. I lost track of how many near- falls there were near the end. The drama with Sherri and Luna was good as well.***1/4The Steiner Brothers Vs The Headshrinkers (W/Afa)The Steiner's win. This match featured some impressive spots from both teams. It was a very physical battle that I enjoyed for the most part. The right team went over here.**3/4Doink The Clown Vs CrushDoink wins after another Doink interferes. As much as I don't care for Doink, the finish was pretty well done. The match itself is very forgettable, though. *1/2Razor Ramon Vs Bob BacklundRamon wins with a small package. It's surprising that Ramon didn't win with the Razor's Edge. I guess the point they were trying to make is that Razor could wrestle his way to victory. This was just a filler match. The crowd loved Razor, and Razor was still a heel at this juncture.*1/4Tag Team ChampionshipMoney Inc (C) Vs Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake (W/Jimmy Hart)Money Inc wins by DQ after a very controversial finish. This match was pretty brutal! It had a big match feel, but the execution wasn't very good. The finish was stupid as well. I'm being generous with the rating.*1/2Lex Luger Vs Mr. PerfectLuger wins in another controversial finish. This match was decent. Perfect could work wonders with anybody at this juncture, and he did just that with Lex Luger. **1/2The Undertaker (W/Paul Bearer) Vs Giant Gonzalez (W/Harvey Whippleman)The Undertaker wins by DQ after using chloroform. This match is as bad as you've heard it is. It definitely deserves to be ranked as one of the worst Wrestlemania matches of all time. It's nothing but punching, kicking, and The Giant Gonzalez staggering around. ½*WWF ChampionshipBret Hart (C) Vs Yokozuna (W/Mr. Fuji)Yokozuna wins the title after Fuji throws salt in Bret Hart's eyes. This match has always angered me. Bret Hart didn't get a proper run with the WWF title. It's almost like he was treated as an after- thought during his first run as champion.**We're not done yet! Hulk Hogan comes out to check on Bret. Mr. Fuji challenges Hogan on Yokozuna's behalf and offers to put the title on the line. Bret Hart tells Hogan to go for it. Yokozuna holds Hogan for Mr. Fuji to throw salt in Hogan's eyes, but Hogan ducks. Hogan delivers the legdrop on Yokozuna and wins the WWF title. The crowd went absolutely bonkers for Hogan's title win, but it really was selfish BS on Hogan's part. He didn't need the title at this juncture. It's a memorable moment for the wrong reasons.DUDThis is notorious for being an awful Wrestlemania. I'd have to say it's one of the worst of all time. The main event is average if you exclude Hogan winning afterwards. Every Wrestlemania is worth a watch, just don't be surprised if you end up with a bad taste in your mouth.4/10

I watched this back earlier today. I believe the last time I watched it was 1994. Time has not been kind.First and foremost while the outdoor setting and Roman Colosseum theme are quite cool but it's all papering over the cracks-the venue is rather small, which it has to be as the attendance was under 17,000. Also, the booking was terrible. Granted, WWF was struggling somewhat at the time, but given the high status the 'mania should have, some of the participants are shocking. The commentary really saves it and makes each match far more enjoyable than it actually is. Coming to this fresh for the first time in over a decade I was astounded by how bad things must have been for the WWF. Crush vs Doink the clown. Read that back and savour it. Not to belittle either performer (as they were good enough performers in their time) but they were on the mid card of Wrestlemania! The whole sordid mess is capped by Hogan's massive ego stroke. Bret Hart dropped the belt to Yokozuna in a not too shabby match, and Hogan, with his backstage politicking, won't leave it at that. Oh no. That's not good enough for Bollea, who comes out and defeats Yoko in 30 seconds and bags another title reign which he clearly felt he needed to have for the, oooh perhaps 5 minutes, maybe 10 before leaving WWF. Frankly, it pisses on the effort and reputation of Bret and Yoko and really didn't need to happen. More positive things in evidence were a genuinely solid 20 minute opening match (no, really, 20 mins! For an opener!) between Shawn Michaels and Tatanka, and the Steiners had a pretty good match. Also as mentioned, Jim Ross (debuting for the WWF) Heenan and the Macho Man on commentary is a laugh riot.In summary: Lacklustre cardAbsolutely disgusting finishFlat and rather small crowdAnd an absolute shocker of a match with 'taker and Giant Gonzalez -granted, Taker was hardly a top performer back then in terms of work rate and consistency but still, this match stunk to high heaven. Proof that Vince's obsession with big guys could actively hurt his promotion. Just a general bad "feel" to the whole thing. It just didn't feel at any point during watching it that it had that big-event mania magic.Overall the worst thing you can say about WM 9 is that you could skip it and not really miss anything. Even the other poor manias generally had at least one or two matches that were worth catching. This had Great commentary and Shawn Michaels in his midcarder days showing glimpses of the performer he would become and that's just not a good enough reason to bother with this. The only real good points are that this was the lowest point in the history of 'Manias and things would pick up. If you are having a marathon few weeks of watching all the manias sequentially, take heart, you are just 8 away from X-7!On the other hand I could well see this achieving 7 stars if viewed with alcohol and friends!

This was an alright Wrestlemania it had an outdoor setting and a different atmosphere. The good: Tatanka vs Shawn Michaels, this was a great way to start the card and the crowd was into it sherri and luna didn't take away from the match they added to it, the only thing, it should have been a clean finish. Steiners vs Headshrinkers was another great match, Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect's styles clashed well and they did a good job of setting up the feud between Perfect and Michaels.Razor Ramon began to emerge as a fan favourite even though he was still a heel (listen to the fans chant his name). The bad: This was another time Bret Hart "got screwed" as Hulk Hogan stole the spotlight from him and he didn't belong anywhere near the main event that night. Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez was forgettable. Doink vs Crush was memorable for the finish only, but Crush really should have gone over, he could've been big. Money Inc. vs Hogan and Beefcake the match was ok but what happened later

UGH!...this is the worst Wrestlemania hands down....no good matches.....Hulk Hogan rears his over tanned bald head yet again in the main event, the spot light hoggin scum!....not one thing note worthy on this tape, oh..I take that back...this is Jim Ross's first WM...but other than that....it has nothing worth seein....a major bust...1 out of 10 stars WOOF!!!