April 4th, 1993
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: Caesar's Palace
Attendance: 16,891
In 1993, Vince McMahon and the WWF wanted to kick WrestleMania up a notch. With lots done in the first eight years, it would not be easy to think of a new idea.
It turns out it wasn't. For the first time in WrestleMania history, the event would be held outdoors and take us back to the Roman Empire.
Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas received a massive makeover and decorated in gold to look like the Roman Coliseum. Everybody got into the theme as all broadcast announcers, camera operators, and interviewers were donned in togas for the ninth WrestleMania.
At the time, fams interpreted as the WWF going above and beyond. Before 1993, the company put little effort into set design.
Gorilla Monsoon, the man who called the first eight WrestleManias, opened the show as host as he passed the torch to a voice that would end up being synonymous with the World Wrestling Federation.
A man from Oklahoma by the name of Jim Ross was making his Wrestlemania debut and his first appearance in the company. What a way to kick off your WWF career, eh?
With "America the Beautiful" sung before the show started by Diahann Carroll, the WWF opted for a "royal" opening ceremony."
Finkus Maximus" (ring announcer Howard Finkel) welcomed Cleopatra and Julias Caesar to the ring to continue the theme. Surprisingly, this entire segment was highly entertaining.
As seen above, "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan were introduced as the men who would be sitting alongside Ross for color commentary. Their entrances were well-fitting.
To the actual wrestling side of the show, only eight matches were scheduled for WrestleMania 9.
They were, um, entertaining? All I'm going to say is, I struggled hard to find three [positive] things that stood out regarding this WrestleMania. So, let's get into this trainwreck, shall we?
Giant no-no
Throughout 1992, The Undertaker had issues with ring manager Harvey Whippleman. 'Taker feuded with Kamala and even went as far as beating him in a casket match. Whippleman, who was Kamala's manager, wasn't very happy at The Undertaker for having the upper hand.
So what does Whippleman do? Introduce one of the biggest superstars in the history of the WWF/WWE. The Giant Gonzalez made his debut at the 1993 Royal Rumble, quickly going after The Undertaker and eliminating him from the Royal Rumble match.
That event from January took us to April at WrestleMania 9.
I'm going to be as blunt as I can be regarding this match. (Ahem)
It was absolute trash.
The entire match had Gonzalez looking very stiff throughout the whole thing. The big guy didn't sell anything. He sort of just stood there and made nothing believable. If that wasn't an issue, the event that led to the end of the match was worse.
Whippleman had a cloth filled with chloroform and used it on the deadman to knock him out. That was cause for disqualification and gave The Undertaker the victory. Let the record show that Gonzalez was pretty much "dominating" the match, but the manager practically said, "forget this."
There's not much more to say regarding this WrestleMania match. Gonzalez eventually faded away from the WWF. As for The Undertaker, it may not have been a pretty win, but he still locked it up as his WrestleMania streak grew to 3-0.
May the WWF never have somebody in an outfit like this ever again.
Yokozuna's short-lived moment
The 1993 Royal Rumble was a historic one for the WWF. Starting with that year's Royal Rumble match, whoever won it would be awarded a world championship opportunity that would take place in the main event of WrestleMania.
The man who would be the first to receive the opportunity would be Yokozuna. Making his debut in 1992, he quickly took care of everybody leading up to the Royal Rumble before guaranteeing himself a championship match.
Meanwhile, Bret Hart would win his first WWF Championship after beating Ric Flair in the fall of 1992. With that win, the main event was set for Hart and Yokozuna to battle for the world title.
There was only one strategy for "The Hitman" to do: swing for the fences. Hart immediately began striking and trying his hardest to take down Yokozuna.
While Yokozuna did put up some offense in yet another slow-paced match, Hart found his opportunity to put the Japanese fighter in his signature sharpshooter submission. As the hold locked in, Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, grabbed a handful of salt and threw it towards Hart's eyes.
Being blinded and down, Yokozuna took advantage, went for the pinfall, and became the WWF champion.
The crowd went silent as referee Dave Hebner handed the Japanese sensation his new title with Mr. Fuji waving the Japanese flag.
Less than 10 seconds later, everything would go down the drain.
Are you kidding me? Hogan?
As Yokozuna was being handed the WWF World Heavyweight title, Hulk Hogan immediately came down to the ring in aid of his friend, Bret Hart.
Hogan desperately tried to tell the referee what went down, but it didn't matter.
Instead, luck would be on Hogan's side as Mr. Fuji grabbed a microphone and asked Hogan to challenge Yokozuna for the WWF title at that very moment.
Hart was telling Hogan to go for it and challenge for the WWF Championship with fans coming alive.
As soon as Hogan got in the ring, Yokozuna held The Hulkster by the arms as Mr. Fuji took out more salt from his pocket to throw at Hogan's eyes. However, Hogan ducked right on time as Mr. Fuji ended up throwing salt towards his client instead.
Hogan dropped down Yokozuna, connected with the leg drop, and in a matter of 22 seconds, Hulk Hogan was the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion.
The 16,891 in attendance erupted in celebration as the closing moments of WrestleMania 9 had Hogan running around the ring with a title he won for the fifth time.
Final thou--nope, I need to rant
What on earth was that?
Without any doubt, this was one of the worst endings in WrestleMania history. You had a not too shabby build up between Bret Hart and Yokozuna, only to have it thrown away in what, three minutes?
It also goes to show you how much Vince McMahon valued Hogan at the time. Hogan was gone for nearly a year, thanks to the steroid scandal that came to light in 1992. When he returned in February 1993, he was thrown into a tag team match with Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc. (IRS and Ted DiBiase) for the Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania.
In what was a surprise to many, Hogan leapfrogged his way back to the top within a month.
Now, I understand why Vince may have thought of doing that. If he put Hogan to close WrestleMania 8 without a title shot due to his popularity, how would he not do that for WrestleMania 9?
But once again, does it make it the right call? Not at all. Is it fair to competitors like Hart and Yokozuna to be in that spotlight, and have it diminished in seconds? Nope.
Ironically enough, the trio would continue to feud for the WWF title, thankfully. However, nothing (to me at least) would sit right with how that all unfolded.
The rest of the card didn't help WrestleMania 9's case either. If the stage design and theme overshadows your actual product, it's not a good sign. With nothing [positive] standing out at Caesar's Palace, the event is one of those things you throw into a closet and forget about for years.
Once again, McMahon and the company needed to find a hard rebound for WrestleMania 10. Thankfully, it was an easy solution to figure out. All they needed to do was to return home.
Results:
- Tatanka def. Shawn Michaels (c) via countout - WWF Intercontinental Championship (Michaels retains)
- The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) def. The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu)
- Doink the Clown def. Crush
- Razor Ramon def. Bob Backlund
- Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase) (c) def. The Mega-Maniacs (Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan) via disqualification - WWF Tag Team Championship
- Lex Luger def. Mr. Perfect
- The Undertaker def. Giant Gonzalez via disqualification
- Yokozuna def. Bret Hart (c) - WWF World Heavyweight Championship
- Hulk Hogan def. Yokozuna (c) - WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Rating: D-
Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 10.
26 days away until WrestleMania 35.
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