What the World Was Watching: WWF March to WrestleMania IX

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are commentators for this USA Network special that aired at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 28. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show was recorded in Fayetteville, North Carolina on March 7.

Opening Contest: Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) (12-1) beats Randy Savage (1-0) after a belly-to-belly suplex at 6:37:

Savage gets a lot of crowd support to take down the number one contender to the WWF title. Unfortunately, it does not give Savage an edge as Yokozuna squashes him. All Savage manages to do is avoid a corner avalanche and do a flying double axe handle. When he tries a second one, Fuji uses the Japanese flag to knock Savage off the top rope and Yokozuna plants Savage with a belly-to-belly suplex for his biggest singles win to this point in his career. Rating: *½

After the bell, Savage gets some of his heat back by avoiding Yokozuna’s sit-down splash off the second rope and knocking the big man to the floor with a knee lift. WWF officials pour out of the locker room to prevent Yokozuna from getting back into the ring.

There is a replay of Lex Luger’s debut at The Royal Rumble. Gene Okerlund narrates highlights of Luger knocking out opponents with his forearm.

Mr. Perfect (9-0) pins Skinner (2-2-1) with the Perfectplex at 5:24:

A desperate Skinner pulls out all of the stops to try to win, attacking Perfect before the bell and then taking off his belt to clothesline and whip the former two-time Intercontinental champion. McMahon argues that Luger and Heenan paid Skinner off to hurt Perfect before WrestleMania. Heenan later confirms that. There is a fun moment where Skinner is taking a beating from Perfect and yells “C’mon Curt!” as if the blows he is taking are not hurting him. Skinner makes a last desperate bid to win by hitting Perfect in the face with his alligator claw but you cannot backdrop Perfect and when Skinner tries he gets Perfectplexed and beaten in what would be his last televised match. Rating: *½

Slick addresses the crowd and thanks the crowd for supporting Kamala. He preaches about the need to keep Kamala away from Kim Chee, getting a big “Amen!” from the crowd before introducing Kamala. Kamala does not come out until Slick goes backstage.

Kamala (w/Slick) (8-1) defeats Kim Chee (1-0) after a splash to the back at 2:10:

A poor match ends the feud between these two as Kamala is reluctant to hit his former handler until he takes a few slaps. After that he goes wild with chops and kicks before hitting a splash to the back. It takes him 20 seconds to put Kim Chee in a pinning position, though, so that is going to be a problem when he faces Bam Bam Bigelow.

When the match is over Kamala hits Kim Chee several times with his hat. Slick dances around in the hat and puts it on Kamala’s head, who dances to the crowd’s delight.

There is a quick recap of the Money Incorporated-Mega-Maniacs feud.

Non-Title Match: Money Incorporated (WWF Tag Team Champions) (4-1) beat Jerry Sabin & Reno Riggins when Ted DiBiase submits Riggins with the Million Dollar Dream at 2:56:

Sabin was best known to fans of Jim Crockett Promotions as the Italian Stallion. Trained by Dusty Rhodes, Gene Anderson, and Ole Anderson, he started his career in 1984, working as an enhancement worker for Crockett, Memphis, and Mid-South. He would keep doing enhancement work for WCW until 1992 but did make one appearance for the WWF in 1990. By the time of this squash the Stallion had founded the Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF) in Charlotte, North Carolina with fellow enhancement worker George South. It would get a lot of coverage in Bill Apter’s magazines and eventually be a vehicle for sending talent to the WWF.

Before the match, IRS says that the Mega-Maniacs odds of winning at WrestleMania are not good. Riggins’ tights for this squash are ridiculous, with foil-like tassels hanging off his kneepads and trunks. The crowd chants “Irwin!” and that is all the heat that Money Incorporated get for their easy win tonight.

Gene Okerlund interviews the Mega-Maniacs and Jimmy Hart. Brutus Beefcake talks about Hulk Hogan dropping Atlas-5 rockets on his face to test his new mask. Hart puts over the merchandise opportunities that the Mega-Maniacs will have after they beat Money Incorporated for the Tag Team titles. Hogan closes by talking about pulling sharks out of the Pacific Ocean by his bare hands and throwing them in a pool in Caesar’s Palace. He will also throw his fans in the pool but they will not be eaten because Hogan is going to put the Tag Team titles across their mouths. All the Mega-Maniac promos for this feud have been akin to Hogan’s promo at WrestleMania IV but they are out of place in 1993. It did not help that this promo was given too much time.

There is a recap of Tatanka’s wins over Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels.

Tatanka (9-0) pins George South after the Papoose to Go at 3:16:

South was trained by Rusty Roberts, beginning his career in 1984 in Florida. He acquired a reputation as a reliable enhancement talent that could make other stars look good, providing him steady employment for Crockett Promotions in the late 1980s and the WWF from 1988-1990. As noted above, South was worked in the Carolinas at this time as a trainer and owner of the PWF with the Italian Stallion, who he was feuding with.

Tatanka answers South’s knife-edge chops with those of his own. He goes into his comeback after being taken the buckle and chalks up another win before WrestleMania.

After the match, Shawn Michaels comes to ringside. He gets on the house mic and guarantees that Tatanka will not beat him at WrestleMania. As Michaels walks out, Tatanka grabs the microphone and challenges Michaels to an immediate title match. Michaels teases answering the challenge before thinking better of it and going to the locker room.

Okerlund does the WrestleMania IX Report. WWF Champion Bret Hart reminds Yokozuna that he will be facing “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.” Crush does some spear fishing in Hawaii, warning Doink that he is going to get revenge. The Steiner Brothers urge the Headshrinkers to save their prayers.

The Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson beat the Beverly Brothers & Little Louie when Jackson pins Louie with a flying body press at 9:56:

Jackson was a Canadian little person wrestler who was trained by Sky Low Low and Little Brutus. He worked various NWA territories during the 1980s as well as Carlos Colon’s World Wrestling Council (WWC) promotion in Puerto Rico. He previously worked in the WWF from 1982-1984 with his brother, Little Beaver.

Louie was trained by Little Beaver, Lord Littlebrook, and Sky Low Low. He started his career in 1972 and worked for the then-WWWF from 1972-1976. Like Jackson, he also made appearances in different NWA territories.

The WWF will not let the long running clashes between the Bushwhackers and the Beverlys end. What makes this encounter tolerable is what Jackson and Louie do. Heenan has a funny joke that Louie is Hillbilly Jim after Jim has stopped working out. Jackson is the star of the match as the crowd loves everything he does, whether that is joining the Bushwhackers in biting the heels rear ends, getting inadvertently thrown onto Louie for pins by the referee, or running on Blake’s chest during an armbar spot. There is a big pop for the finish when the Bushwhackers put Jackson on the top rope so he can do a flying body press to Louie. Rating: **

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (6-0-1) defeats Bam Bam Bigelow (14-0) via count out at 7:43 shown:

The story of the match is that Bigelow dishes out everything he can think of to the Undertaker and it is not enough. The Undertaker survives being taken to the ring steps, whipped into the ring steps, and some of Bigelow’s falling headbutts and slams. Bigelow’s flying headbutt misses and the Undertaker follows up with a chokeslam, causing Bigelow to elect to fight another day and retreat to the locker room. The Undertaker’s slow style did not make for great matches but he worked a bit quicker than usual to match Bigelow. The finish irritated fans but the WWF needs to keep Bigelow strong for later so it was the right call. Rating: **

After the match, Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Wippleman walk out and the Undertaker begins walking toward them. To prevent a confrontation, a lot of WWF officials pour out of the locker room and Bearer urges the Undertaker to stay away.

The Last Word: The WWF’s heart was in the right place for this show as it gave attention to almost every WrestleMania match. The event had a hot crowd and that enhanced an average set of matches. And average is the best way to describe how the company feels at present as nothing about this year’s WrestleMania is commanding interest like the previous year’s edition.

Here is a summary of the WWF’s house show action a week before WrestleMania, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Sacramento, California – Arco Arena – March 26, 1993 (4,200): Skinner beat Koko B. Ware…Typhoon defeated Repo Man…The Nasty Boys wrestled the Headshrinkers to a double disqualification…El Matador defeated the Tonga Kid (substituting for Terry Taylor)…Crush beat Papa Shango (substituting for Shawn Michaels)…Randy Savage wrestled Giant Gonzalez to a double disqualification…Bret Hart & Mr. Perfect beat Razor Ramon & Lex Luger.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Pittsburgh Civic Arena – March 26, 1993 (9,000): The Brooklyn Brawler beat Jim Powers (substituting for Owen Hart) after a neckbreaker at 10:37…Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Kamala via count out when Kamala chased an interfering Kim Chee to the locker room at 9:30…Bob Backlund pinned Damien Demento with an inside cradle at 10:21…The Undertaker defeated Yokozuna via disqualification when Yokozuna used the salt bucket as a weapon at 3:45…Tatanka beat Doink the Clown via disqualification after getting sprayed in the eyes at 12:15. Doink attacked Tatanka earlier on the show, forcing them to wrestle later in the evening…Virgil pinned Reno Riggins (substituting for Papa Shango) with a crucifix at 7:08…The Stiener Brothers beat the Beverly Brothers when Scott pinned Blake after the Frankensteiner at 13:15.

Backstage News*: The Department of Justice has subpoenaed several more ex-WWF wrestlers over the weekend in New York. What they are being asked about has not been released.

-Jim Ross had Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Shawn Michaels as guests on his WSB radio show in Atlanta that is sponsored by WCW. McMahon announced on the program, which aired Sunday night, that Ross was joining the WWF’s broadcasting team. Ross added that his radio show would air the last hour of WrestleMania. WCW has been trying to get Ross to give up the WSB show as part of his release and have him refuse to do another wrestling radio show on the station for the next five years. Ross wants to keep the show while working for the WWF. Even though Ross has not secured a WCW release, he is going to argue that WCW removed him from its payroll and that allows him to start working for the WWF next Sunday.

-Matches between Randy Savage and Giant Gonzalez on some house shows this week were poorly received.

-In injury news, Razor Ramon’s knee got worse as he is now suffering from a staph infection. He was limping for tag team matches that headlined “A” towns with Lex Luger against Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect. It is expected that he will still wrestle at WrestleMania. Shawn Michaels and Ted DiBiase have recovered from their injuries.

-In talent relations news, Mike Shaw and the Harris Brothers have been offered contracts.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 5.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for April 3!

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