Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut; April 2, 1995
Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler
We are deep in the New Generation Era the era of goofy gimmicks and crazy backstage backstabbing; otherwise known as the “Kliq Era”.
Kathy Huey of the Special Olympics sings America the Beautiful
The Allied Powers vs. The Blu Brothers (w/Uncle Zebekiah): The Allied Powers are The British Bulldog and Lex Luger. The Blu brothers are identical twins who would become the Harris Brothers, Uncle Zebekiah is Dutch Mantel. The Blus attack at the bell. The Powers reverse and hit powerslams. The Bulldog hits a stalling suplex on Jacob Blu and double clotheslines both twins. Jacob nails the Bulldog from the apron and Eli tags Jacob back. Davy Boy inside cradles Jacob but LUGER has the referee accidently distracted. Eli hits a sidewalk slam. They hit a double boot and keep quick tagging to confuse and annoy me. The Bulldog starts to get control on Jacob so he rolls to the floor where the Blu Brothers illegally switch. Eli comes in and floors the Bulldog. Jerry Lawler claims the Bulldog has lost only once at WrestleMania. Wrong! WrestleMania III (full review, click here) and WrestleMania IV (full review, click here). Jacob misses a second rope elbow and Luger gets the hot tag. Luger is a house of fire and beats on both twins. Luger hits a powerslam on Jacob and the bionic elbow but Eli interferes with the three count. The Bulldog enters and the Blus switch off; Jacob kicks out to the amazement of Luger. Jacob tries a piledriver on Luger who blind tags; the Bulldog comes off the top with a sunset flip for three. Post-match Uncle Zebekiah says they were hornswoggled. 3/10 Below average tag match for an opener. Luger clearly was not happy how he had fallen from WWF Title match last year to opening match this year.
Nick Turturro tries to interview Jennie McCarthy from the Million Dollar Corporation’s dressing room but there is no audio.
Razor Ramon and The 1-2-3 Kid try to cut a pre-match promo but they are still having audio issues.
WWF Intercontinental Championship “Double J” Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie) vs. Razor Ramon (w/The 1-2-3 Kid): They show highlights from the Royal Rumble where Jarrett injured Razor’s leg and won the title. Razor attacks at the bell and clears the ring and celebrates with the 1-2-3 Kid. Razor dominates and clotheslines Jarrett over the top rope. Jarrett tries to fake Razor off the ropes but he counters so Jarrett sunset flips him; Razor punches his way out. Jarrett and the Roadie try a double team but Razor avoids and sending them into each other; knocking the Roadie off the apron to the floor. Razor sets up for the Razor’s Edge but the Roadie pulls him to the floor. Jarrett try to walk out but the 1-2-3 Kid stops him. Jarrett reverses a whip and chokes Razor on the ropes; the Roadie adds an assist until the 1-2-3 Kid chases him off. The Roadie tries to interfere again but Razor tosses him into the ringpost and then tosses Jarrett out on top of him. Jarrett come back with a neckbreaker and a couple of dropkicks. A series of Jarrett nearfalls follow so he locks in a reverse chinlock. Razor counters a hiptoss with a backslide for two but Jarrett immediately clotheslines him to regain the advantage. Double J applies a sleeper hold; Razor comes out but Jarrett keeps the advantage with another chinlock. Razor back suplexes out; they both collide on a reversed Irish whip. Razor begins to punch his way back and hits the Last Call fall away slam. The Kid tries to interfere but Jarrett kicks him off. Razor goes for the second rope bulldog but Jarrett moves and Ramon lands on his bad pre-injured leg. Jarrett goes right to work on it with a shinbreaker and applies the figure-four leglock with the Roadie occasionally assisting. Jarrett and the Roadie were masters of outside interference. Razor catches the little blue ball in the little red square and reverses the hold. Razor nails a back superplex. Razor goes for the Razor’s Edge but the Roadie clips Razor’s leg for the DQ. The Kid comes in and saves Ramon from a double team. Jarrett reverses and flapjacks the Kid; Jarrett applies the figure-four on the Kid. Razor makes the save and we have a referee pull-apart brawl. 4.5/10 Good match that was killed by the bad ending.
Jeff Jarrett says he always will be the Intercontinental Champion.
With the audio fixed Nick Turturro cannot find Pam Anderson so he interviews Jennie McCarthy. Shawn Michaels arrives claiming to know where she is. Sid screams incoherently at Diesel and nearly blows out Jennie McCarthy’s ears. I love Sid.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. King Kong Bundy (w/Ted Dibiase): Match 4. This is one of the heel steals the urn storylines that I assume the Kliq mired the Undertaker in throughout the New Generation Era possibly to keep him busy or away from titles. Locked out MLB umpire Larry Young is refereeing this match. Last time we saw King Kong Bundy at WrestleMania was WrestleMania III, he looks exactly the same. Bundy tries an Avalanche but Taker moves away and he goes Old School. Taker takes three clotheslines to drop Bundy. Bundy comes back and clotheslines Undertaker over the top rope; he lands on his feet right next to Ted Dibiase. Undertaker just takes the urn from him and returns it to Paul Bearer. Good, match is over, oh wait… Paul Bearer removes the lid and they worship the flashlight inside. Taker returns to the ring and starts no-selling Bundy’s moves. Meanwhile Dibiase waves Kama to the ring to retake the urn; he says he is going to melt it down into jewelry and have a really crappy series of matches with the Undertaker. Without the urn Undertaker can sell again. Bundy chokes and punches the Undertaker a lot; Bundy tries to put the Undertaker and the crowd out with a reverse chinlock. Undertaker begins to revive the old fashion was; crowd cheers. Bundy hits the Avalanche but Taker withstands it; Bundy charges again but meets Taker’s boot. Undertaker, apparently bored with this match as well, quickly body slams Bundy and hits a flying clothesline for three. 2.5/10 Boring match and urn angles (sands Mankind) are kinda silly. The body slam was impressive.
Nick Turturro is still searching for Pam Anderson but finds Steve McMichael, still football player not wrestler yet. He and the rest of Lawrence Taylor’s All-pro team talk trash on the Million Dollar team. Turturro continues to search and finds Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Mr. Bob Backlund playing chess. Backlund berates him for interrupting. Thomas checkmates him and he rants about young people not knowing anything. He begins to quiz him and he gets all the answers correct so Backlund rants about youths being know-it-alls.
WWF Tag Team Championship The Smokin’ Gunns vs. “King of Harts” Owen Hart & Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette): Yoko was Owen’s surprise partner who chose him because he beat his brother Bret Hart for the WWF Title. Pre-match the Gunns believe they can still win. Jerry Lawler mentions Owen was The Blue Blazer. Owen and Billy trade headlocks and shoves early on. Billy wrenches Owen’s arm and Bart comes off the top onto it. Owen flips out of Bart’s armbar and pokes him in the eyes; Yoko tags in and throws his weight around but misses an elbow drop. Yoko shrugs it off and tags Owen. Bart and Owen trade reversals and the Gunns hit a double Russian leg sweep and then nail Yokozuna with a double dropkick. The Gunns hit a back suplex into a neckbreaker combo that gets two. Vince McMahon mentions Men on a Mission’s heel turn for some reason. I know it was against the Smokin’ Gunns but it has no bearing on this match; you can tell how badly he wanted to push Mabel. The Gunns hit the Sidewinder but Yoko is distracting the referee. Owen blind tags Yoko, drop-toe holds Billy and Yokozuna drops a Hulkbuster leg. Billy rolls to the floor where Owen rams his back into the ringpost. Yoko applies a trapezius hold; he the holds Billy for Owen to missile dropkick. That goes as well as you would think and Yoko takes the dropkick. Bart receives the tag and press slams Owen. Yoko goes for a backdrop but Bart counters by slamming his head on the canvas. The Gunns hit perpendicular ropes but Owen pulls one of the ropes down sending Bart to the floor; Billy meanwhile runs right into a Yoko belly-to-belly suplex. Yoko squashes him with the Banzai drop; Bart interrupts the pin Yoko disposes of him and Owen tags in. He thinks Sharpshooter but decides Billy is dead so he just pins him for the titles. Owen finally wins a title in the WWF and goes way over the top on his celebration as only Owen can. 6/10 The high score is because I really like Owen so I was happy for him and the team works well, similar to Jeri-Show. Owen does the wrestling and running the mouth and Yokozuna saves his ass.
Bam Bam Bigelow recounts pushing Lawrence Taylor at the Royal Rumble and he is taking Taylor down. He tells Taylor that he is walking into Bam Bam’s world.
Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Mr. Bob Backlund submission match: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is the special guest referee and continues his streak of officiating Bret Hart WrestleMania matches. I think Bret was the first wrestler to have a video package on the Titantron instead of just a logo. This is the same as an “I Quit” match. Bret uses his knuckles to get the early advantage. Bret locks Backlund in the ropes and Piper shoves a microphone into Backlund’s face who says “no”. Backlund counters the Sharpshooter so Bret applies a figure-four. Backlund refuses to quit; Backlund reverses. Bret works the leg with a leg grapevine. Piper begins to get a little annoying with the microphone asking Bob Backlund every ten seconds if he wants to quit. I think he realizes it because he then asks Bret Hart, the one APPLYING the hold, if he wants to quit who laughs. Backlund finally escapes and goes to work on the arm. He applies a Fujiwara armbar into a chicken wing armlock. Excellent ring psychology, Bret works the leg for the Sharpshooter; Backlund works the arm for the cross-face chicken wing. Backlund applies a step-over armbar; Bret body slams his way out. Bret begins his comeback; backbreaker and driving elbow but Backlund makes the ropes to avoid the Sharpshooter. Bret posts himself and Backlund applies the cross-face chicken wing. Bret keeps his legs far forward so Backlund cannot trip him and grapevine the move on the canvas. Bret reverses the hold and takes Backlund down. Piper shoves the microphone in his face and he says “araguguagagh”, which I guess is “I quit” because the bell rings and Bret is the winner. 6.5/10 I enjoyed the psychology and style of this match but there are a lot of submission holds (obviously) so it can get tedious.
Jim Ross interviews Bob Backlund in the aisle who claims he saw a light.
Nick Turturro cannot find Pamela Anderson who is supposed to accompany Shawn Michaels to the ring for the WWF Title match. He says they are going to have to make some “celebrity changes”.
It takes Todd Pettengill two microphones for Diesel say he knows Shawn Michaels and why he is the WWF Champion.
WWF Heavyweight Championship Diesel (w/Pamela Anderson) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/Sid & Jennie McCarthy): Jonathan Taylor Thomas is the timekeeper; Nick Turturro is the ring announcer. Diesel backdrops Shawn to the floor and celebrates in the ring with Pam. Shawn runs the ropes but runs right into a sledge from Diesel. Shawn tries to work the arm but Diesel tosses him around the ring including an incredibly high backdrop. Shawn gets sent into the turnbuckle and to the floor. He lands on one of the fifty thousand photographers that have been surrounding the ring for the whole show presumably for Lawrence Taylor’s match; Shawn gets a little testy as he did a lot back then and tosses the photographer out of the way. Sid tries to distract Diesel and it does not work. Shawn however manages Diesel in the corner and tries turnbuckle punches but Diesel keeps tossing him off. Diesel, I think, botches a press-slam but does reverse a suplex. Shawn winds up on the floor again. Shawn slides through Diesel’s legs to get in the ring and tries a sunset flip but Diesel choke lifts Shawn and crotches him on the top rope. Shawn avoids he big boot and Diesel gets hung up on the top rope. Shawn Cactus clotheslines him over the top but skins-the-cat back in. Shawn cross-body blocks Diesel from the top to the floor and adds a baseball slide. The photographers cause more problems and Diesel goes into the steel post. Shawn Superfly splashes Diesel from the apron to the floor. Shawn works the ribs and leg. He applies a second rope bulldog for two. The pace has slowed considerably odd for a Shawn match; Shawn wakes up a little and hits a rebound off the second turnbuckle back elbow. Shawn hits the flying elbow off the top to Diesel’s back. Shawn tries for a DDT but Diesel kind of hits a backdrop. They repeat the awkward spot with the same result. Shawn applies a sleeper hold. This match does not seem to be “Kliqing”. Diesel comes back and rams Shawn into the corner. He begins to build momentum with a series of corner clotheslines and Snake Eyes. Shawn flops over the buckle and gets punched off the apron. Diesel punches away at Shawn. Earl Hebner jumps to the floor to prevent Sid from getting involved and inadvertently twists his ankle. That is a unique referee bump. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music but the referee is still on the floor. Sid gets the referee in the ring but Diesel kicks out. Sid cuts one of the turnbuckle pads off. Shawn was headed for it but Diesel back suplexes Shawn before he could utilize it. Shawn comes off the ropes but Diesel catches him and drops Shawn into a sidewalk slam. Diesel slingshots Shawn into the corner but he misses the exposed turnbuckle, I think he was supposed to hit it but he was too far away. Diesel hits the big boot and a Jackknife for kind of an anti-climactic three. Post-match Diesel celebrates with all of the celebrities. 4.5/10 There was… I can’t quite put my finger on it, something missing. They would repair those issues at In Your House 7 (full review, click here). For a WrestleMania semi-main event and considering the parties involved; it was a disappointing match.
Shawn Michaels and Sid complain about the referee on the floor after the Sweet Chin Music.
I believe Salt-n-Pepa sing here prior to the main event but the WrestleMania Anthology DVD cuts it off and goes right into the main event ring announcements handled by Vince McMahon.
Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Ted Dibiase): Taylor brings his All-Pro team of Ken Norton Jr., Chris Spielman, Rickey Jackson, Carl Banks, Reggie White, and Steve McMichael to the ring to counter Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Corporation of King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, Irwin R. Schyster, Kama, and Nikolai Volkoff. The WWF appoint Pat Patterson as the referee to help Lawrence along. The football players knock the Million Dollar Corporation off the apron before Bam Bam and LT arrive. The two teams surround the ring like lumberjacks. Taylor hits a knee strike and clotheslines Bigelow over the top. LT hits a bulldog, forearms Bam Bam and hip tosses him to the floor. Bigelow finally gets the advantage and boots LT on the canvas but Taylor keeps trying to fire back making it actually look like a fight. Bam Bam slams LT but misses a falling head-butt. Bigelow rams LT into the corner but Taylor keeps fighting out bordering on no-selling Bam Bam’s offense. Bigelow locks in a Boston Crab but LT falls out of it so it becomes a single leglock. Taylor makes the rope. Bigelow applies half of an STF, the ST not the F; Taylor makes the ropes again. Bigelow applies a side headlock but LT back suplexes out. Bam Bam hits the moonsault but hurts his knee on the landing so cannot cover. I think LT forgot to roll out of the way. Bigelow tries a pin but LT kicks out. LT hits a Jackknife, sort of looked more like a gut wrench suplex; Bam Bam kicks out. Bigelow hits a double leg enziguri. Bam Bam hits the top rope diving head-butt. LT kicks out, that was Bam Bam’s finisher. That I do not like; LT can win but protect the finishers on a non-wrestler. LT begins to comeback with a series of forearms and tackles he adds a second rope forearm smash for three. Post-match Dibiase yells at Bigelow as he is leaving. 3/10 Bam Bam’s did his best to carry LT to a decent match. LT messed up a lot and did not know how to sell correctly. I know it was his first time; do not make it the WrestleMania main event if you do not want to hear criticism.
OVERALL 2.5/10 Not the best WrestleMania and possibly one of the worst. I have always liked Bam Bam Bigelow and he did an excellent job of helping someone who has never wrestled before to a passable match. All of the sentiments by all of the heels and Jerry Lawler on commentary about Bam Bam working his whole life to finally main event WrestleMania and Taylor, a non-wrestler, wrestling his ONLY match in a WrestleMania main event were echoed by 90% of wrestling fans. The Kilq was firmly in charge at this point so their guys were prominently displayed (except the main event).
