This column has taken me a while to write. It’s quite difficult to have writers block three columns in but here we are. There is no real deep reason for this, just real life sometimes take over but hey we are here now so let’s get to it.
This column is going to talk about the beginning of one of the worst periods in WWE history. I am referring to March of 1994 which means ‘ugh’ the New Generation. This column is going to be about a particular show. I think because it’s a milestone show it gets a free ride, the unpopular opinion in this column is:
Wrestlemania X is an average show at best.
I can feel the hate mail already but try to keep reading and hear me out. I am talking about the show as whole, I am well aware that the show has the greatest opener in PPV history. The Hart Brothers put on a 25 minute clinic that in 2019 more than holds up and they were able to make the younger brother the heel and totally unsympathetic which is just masterful storytelling from two people that know their craft and with the personal relationship know each others strengths and weaknesses. The end of the match with Owen’s celebration is a thing of beauty which makes the crowd hate him more.
The other great match on this card whilst not the first match of its type is definitely regarded as a trendsetter amongst wrestlers and fans alike. Shawn Michaels v Razor Ramon took part in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship where there were two titles above the ring (Ramon was the current champ and Michaels the former champ who was never beat). The two put on a match that was at least 5 years ahead of its time, there was only one ladder involved in the match and if younger people watched it compared to today’s spotfests they may not like it that much. What this match had compared to today was that there is more psychology coupled with a world class talent like Shawn Michaels putting the match together.
Having described the great in this show, it’s my sad duty to report that the rest of the show apart from one average match and a good match at the end is terrible. I’m going ignore the celebrity involvement which are all had apart from Burt Reynolds doing some ring announcing when absolutely wasted. The first match is a mixed tag between Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon vs. Doink and Dink. It feels bad to say something with Bam Bam is bad but here we are. This wasn’t Matt Bourne in the Doink suit and Dink is a midget and I think we all know how bad midget wrestling is.
The next match on the card is the only other match on this show that creeps over the level of ‘ok’ which in itself was a disappointment for how well it had been built up. The match is Randy Savage v Crush in a falls count anywhere match. This feud started back in August when Crush had a WWF championship match against Yokozuna. In a losing effort, he took four Banzai Drops during and after the match, Savage was on commentary but had been ordered not to interfere in matches of risk fines and/or suspension. After the fourth drop, he couldn’t stand no more and jumped into the ring to stop the beating. In the following week’s Vince McMahon would have phone interviews with Crush but every time he would hand over to Savage, Crush would get very angry, rant over the phone then hang-up. This led to a face to face summit between the two where Savage should have known there was trouble ahead as Crush had an evil goatee. The feud ended up with Crush administering a vicious beatdown on Savage and things built up over the next 5 months to get us to this match. The reason I’m going on about the build up is because the match really isn’t the best, it’s the first attempt at a falls count anywhere match and it shows. After each pinfall you would have 60 seconds get back in the ring, the end of the match involved Savage using a gym pull to hang Crush up by his feet so he couldn’t move. In Savage’s last WrestleMania match he is victorious, but this was very much in the time period where Vince was pushing Savage into the background.
The next match on the card was a women’s title match between Alundra Blayze and Leilani Kai. There’s not really a lot to say about this match as there was no build on TV for it and was only really there to give Blayze a successful title defense. The same could also be said of the tag title match between The Quebecers and Men On A Mission. MOM’s reign of terror didn’t begin until the year after so this was just a standard title match which would have been ok for TV but not on the biggest show of the year.
On this show there are two WWF championship matches, that was because for the first time we had dual winners of the Royal Rumble in Lex Luger and Bret Hart. It was decided to have a coin toss to decide who would have the first title match which would lead to the loser of the coin toss to have a warm up match as ‘suitable competition’. Lex won the coin toss which led to Bret facing his brother Owen in the opener to this show. The title match between Yoko and Lex might be the most boring match of all time. It contains a nerve hold which must be at least 5 minutes in length (I have no wish to go back and watch it to confirm). The only interesting part is that the special guest ref Mr. Perfect disqualified Lex for perceived indiscretions during the match but in reality was about Perfect carrying a grudge from the year before when the face-heel alignment was reversed.
Earthquake and Adam Bomb were up next and the show was already running long at this point so this match ended up having its time cut. Bomb’s manager Harvey Wippleman ended up having an argument with ring announcer Howard Finkel which led to Earthquake attacking Bomb from behind. A powerslam and a splash later and Quake is victorious, the match time: 35 seconds.
The ladder match is next but that is another match that goes longer than it was meant to, in this case though because the match is so great we can let them off. The net result was that a 10 man tag that was set for this show was postponed and ended up appearing in a future edition of Raw.
The main event for this show is the second WWF title match of the night between Yokozuna and Bret Hart. Now if there was a man you wanted to do double-duty on a show it was the Hitman. The year previously he had wrestled three matches at the King Of The Ring. On the flip side of that, if there was a guy you don’t want to have multiple matches in a night it’s Yokozuna. The match itself is quite quick and basic due to Yoko not having the cardio to go very long as well as the previously discussed time issues. Bret wins the title after Yoko misses the drop and Bret pins him with guest ref Roddy Piper counting the pinfall. The show ends up with a variety of babyfaces in the ring and Owen appearing in the aisle burning a hole through Bret and the title.
This show has two great matches which would usually be enough to give it a free pass, especially in the mid-90s. Th rest of the show is so poor that it is open to criticism. In 2019, where everything is chaptered an archived on the network, this isn’t really an issue because you can now just skip to those matches. I would say though unless you are a completist and/or a masochist then apart from the two matches leave this show well alone.
Thanks a lot for reading, you can reach me on Twitter @benl1981 or on email wrestlinghottakes@hotmail.com. The next column will focus on a match that I think will score very highly on the GWWE match project but it’s a match that I only have at number 70 and I will try and explain why it’s that low.
The opinions expressed in this column are of that of the author and is not that of Place To Be Nation’s.
