As DiBiase celebrates his victory in the ring, we pan to the back, where the Macho Man is still obsessively stalking around outside of Liz's dressing room.



Jesse says, "There you see love, McMahon!" That's a funny line. I do wish this portrayal of the Savage/Liz dynamic was less true to life from all of the stories though; it always adds an element of discomfort to hear about how controlling he apparently actually was.

Mean Gene, at the podium in the arena, brings Miss Elizabeth out to "Pomp and Circumstance." She comes out, looking pensive as always. Gene asks the big question: "Are you going to be in the corner of Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania V? Or are you going to be in the corner of the Macho Man?" "Gene, this is the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life, because I care for both men. This is a decision I never thought I'd have to make. I just hoped it would never come down to this."

Gene, having received no actual answer, asks again: "Are you going to be in Hulk Hogan's corner at WrestleMania V?" Elizabeth swallows hard and says, "No. No I'm not." The crowd boos. As a Macho Man fan, I remember celebrating this moment, too young of a fan to realize that I was being slow-rolled. Macho races out to the podium, crowing about how Elizabeth is going to be in the champion's corner at Mania, and will leave with the champion. Gene says he wants to hear it from her directly. Savage keeps breaking in and filibustering instead of letting her talk. Finally Gene is able to get enough of a break to ask her if she's going to be in the Macho Man's corner. Elizabeth: "No."



Savage makes as if he's going to strike her. Enter Hogan. "Let me tell you something, Macho Man: there's two reasons, there's two reasons brother, why I don't take your head off right now. The first reason is, I've got more respect for my manager than that. And the second reason is, Macho Man, I'm gonna wait until WrestleMania V to take your head off, and I'm going to take back what's mine, the WWF Championship."



Hogan marches off angrily to the sounds of "Real American." Savage goes pacing around like a lunatic, being talked down by Pat Patterson, while Liz is left alone on the podium looking upset.

Mean Gene is with the Brainbusters and Bobby Heenan backstage. They cut a pretty generic promo about how they're the best team in wrestling before heading off to the ring.



Next Gene is with Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. Standard Rockers promo; they were energetic and likable on the mic even if they didn't say much of anything.

The Brainbusters (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Rockers

The Busters ambush the Rockers before the opening bell to gain an early advantage. Tully Blanchard rolls up Marty Jannetty for a pin attempt while the referee is still trying to get control and get Arn Anderson out of the ring. Amidst this chaos, Shawn Michaels climbs to the top and hits a cross-body to wipe Tully out. All four men fighting, the Rockers get the better of Heenan's men and knock them to the outside.

Arn re-enters aggressively, hitting Michaels from the apron, but he makes an ill-advised trip to the top and gets tossed off the top turnbuckle by Michaels. Michaels with a Boston crab, drawing Tully back in, which draws Jannetty back in. Double superkick by the Rockers knocks the Brainbusters back out of the ring. Tully to the apron, Shawn suplexes him into the ring from there. Series of right hands by Michaels, who throws Blanchard across the ring and then hits a flying headscissor. Tully tags Arn. Michaels with a drop toe-hold on Arn. Arn regains his feet, kicks Michaels in the gut, and steers him toward the Brainbuster corner.

Arn tags Tully. Tully sends Michaels off the ropes. Heenan jumps up and runs interference, pulling the top rope way down and causing Michaels to spill out over it to the floor.



Jannetty protests to the referee about what just happened, only opening up more of a distraction to allow Indiana's favorite Bobby to put the boots to Michaels. The referee seems to catch this next bit of interference, as he tosses Heenan out of the match. The Brainbusters are pissed, but they'll go it alone after the commercial.

Back from break, Jannetty levels an elbow into Tully's throat. He goes for an atomic drop, but Tully makes a blind tag while he's up in the air, allowing Arn Anderson the opening for a big blindside clothesline.



The Brainbusters isolate Marty. He temporarily turns the tables with a surprise sunset flip, but it doesn't get the pinfall nor does it enable him to make the hot tag to Michaels. Marty executes a backslide that gets a near-fall, but his ensuing attempt at a tag again fails, as Tully narrowly keeps him from getting to the corner. Tag in to Arn Anderson, who hits the trademark spinebuster. Michaels breaks up the ensuing pin attempt. Arn goes for a splash, Marty gets the knees up, and finally we see the hot tag to Shawn.

Shawn enters and knocks the Brainbusters' heads together. He goes for a suplex on Anderson, Tully tries a sunset flip off the top, Michaels stays up and tries to resist going down into the pin, Arn levels Michaels and causes him to go down hard, and I temporarily thought that was going to create the winning pin attempt before Marty runs in and makes the save.



This devolves into more four-way brawling on the outside of the ring, the referee and camera angle conspicuously make it obvious that this one is headed for double countout, and...yep, we have a draw.



Result: Double Countout

While that type of finish is always dissatisfying, I can't really fault them for choosing to protect both teams at this point. The Brainbusters were headed toward the titles, but not for another six months or so, and that decision might not have been officially made yet. This was a good match.

My Rating: ***1/4
Meltzer Rating: N/A

And finally we are at the point in the show that everyone has been waiting for, The Red Rooster vs. The Brooklyn Brawler. We see the best Rooster-related segment ever (thanks to Bobby Heenan), when Heenan issued a fake apology, baited Rooster into a handshake, slapped him, and the Brawler was on the spot to attack Rooster from behind and beat him down.

After a quick promo by the Brooklyn Brawler and Bobby Heenan, Mean Gene is with the Red Rooster, who cuts a terrible promo but one that doesn't justify a full transcript. He says, "He is nobody. I am somebody! I'm the Red Rooster!" Then he somehow says "I am somebody" like five more times before ending the promo. I can't believe that catchphrase didn't turn him into a main-event guy.

The Brooklyn Brawler (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Red Rooster

Brawler throws fists right from the opening bell, then claws at Rooster's face. Brawler reverses a corner whip, but Rooster turns around and hits a dropkick. And a hip-toss. Surprise small package by the Rooster, and that gets the three-count. This match was significantly shorter than the pre-match build.



Result: Red Rooster via pinfall

Rooster challenges Heenan to get into the ring. Heenan slowly goes in, taking long enough to enable the Brawler to attack from behind. Heenan and the Brawler put the boots to the Rooster, but the Rooster launches a comeback and clears them both out, holding the ring.

My Rating: 0*
Meltzer Rating: N/A

They tease an interview with Randy Savage after the break. After the break, Mean Gene is in the locker room of a raging Randy Savage. Gene recaps the fact that Elizabeth said she wouldn't be in either Savage's or Hogan's corner at WrestleMania. Savage just throws a huge tantrum, flinging things onto the ground, but never actually gives us a promo (unless screaming, "I'M THE CHAMPION, I DON'T NEED HER" while throwing things counts).



On that note, Vince signs the show off and sends it to closing credits.

Thoughts on the show

I was pretty happy with it. Honestly, the Liz stuff at the center of it is pretty weak (even though it has stuck in my memory all these years later), but the DiBiase/Blazer and Brainbusters/Rockers matches both delivered nicely; I was entertained.

Cool writeup.

Also had no idea that The Fly II was a thing.

This was one of the five SNMEs I remember vividly from when they first aired, along with the Hogan/Orndorff cage match episode, the formation of the Megapowers, the one where Andre had a "heart attack" due to Damian, and the Genius' win over Hogan and destruction of Hogan's belt backstage.

Definitely one of the upper-echelon episodes, with good matches and memorable angle progression.

Two important things in wrestling history happened on March 24. One of them was Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage burying the entire WCW heel roster in the infamous Tower of Doom match, one of the ultimate examples in wrestling being so over-the-top awful that it breaks through and becomes entertaining again. But I already wrote that whole event up.

The other big event in wrestling history on March 24 was WrestleMania VII in 1991.

This is a good event. At a runtime of 3 hours and 30 minutes, it's also a big damn undertaking for a single-day live blog, and there will certainly be intermissions. But for now, let's get to work.

Blindfold match is underrated
Doesn't this also have a match with Rockers vs. Barbarian and Haku (I think Haku) that's pretty sweet?

Man, I really don't agree about the blindfold match based on prior viewings, but fingers crossed that this is the viewing that changes my mind.

I do believe that Rockers match is the opener, yeah. I don't remember it well.

WRESTLEMANIA VII - MARCH 24, 1991

The Era
The sitting President is George H.W. Bush. Apparently the sitting president is always George H.W. Bush. Say what you will about him, but he presided over a strong era in pro wrestling. Eventually there will be a writeup with a different POTUS.



The reigning Super Bowl Champions are the New York Giants, having dealt the Buffalo Bills their first of four consecutive Super Bowl defeats when Scott Norwood pushed the potential game-winning field goal wide right. (Spot the cameo in the image below of a future WrestleMania main-eventer.) For a long time, this was the only Super Bowl I ever saw that wasn't a complete blowout. Took until the Denver-Green Bay Super Bowl seven years later to get another exciting one.



The #1 song on Billboard was "One More Try" by Timmy T. I thought I had zero recollection of this song, but I fired up this YT and the chorus does ring familiar.



The #1 movie in America was The Silence of the Lambs, one of the GOAT thrillers.

The Wrestling Background for This Show

The unscrupulous Vincent Kennedy McMahon saw the U.S. go to war in Iraq, and decided to capitalize on it with a tasteless angle in which long-time American patriot Sgt. Slaughter became an Iraqi sympathizer and took sides against the United States in the war. Mind you, for whatever reason I'm never actually personally bothered by this angle, but objectively speaking, those who are totally have the right side of it.

In any case, Sgt. Slaughter won the WWF Title from the Ultimate Warrior at Royal Rumble with a significant amount of help from Macho King Randy Savage, who came out and screwed the Warrior at every turn during the title match. Hulk Hogan won the Rumble, which I believe did not come with the explicit promise of a WrestleMania title shot at the time, but in any case he won and got the title shot, vowing to get the WWF Title back for America. Savage and Warrior agreed to meet in a retirement match to set up the big #2 match on the show.

Personal Memory of This Show

My local video store picked up Golden Era VHS tapes up until SummerSlam '89, and then they just stopped getting new ones. I really don't remember when I finally saw this event in its entirety...for a long time, I only got whatever recap clips they showed on Superstars. I was still quite a few years away from ever getting to actually watch a PPV live.

I do remember not being very invested in much about this card. Hogan was of marginal interest at best to me, I don't believe I was all that personally hyped about Savage-Warrior going in...the one thing I do remember is that I knew, just ****ing knew, that they were for some weird reason going to put the Nasty Boys over the Hart Foundation for the Tag Team Titles, and as a big Hart Foundation mark I was very irritated about that.

After opening credits, we pan through a bit of the arena, and quickly pass by...



Wait, is that the same guy from the Billionaire Ted skits?



I dunno, perhaps not.

It bears mentioning that we're in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, relocated from the LA Coliseum due to "bomb threats." Given how many fewer seats there are in the LA Sports Arena, I wonder where the significant overflow crowd went. I can only guess that they were left to literally hang from the rafters.

Willie Nelson is along for his rendition of America the Beautiful. I dig it, but the crowd seems to boo the **** out of it? Or is this some sort of "boo-urns" that I'm not understanding?

Gorilla Monsoon welcomes us to the show by himself, but introduces as his commentary partner for the opening match...Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Definitely don't remember this.



Duggan is asked for predictions on the big two matches tonight, and of course predicts the Warrior and Hogan to be the winners.

Sean Mooney is backstage with The Rockers, who cut a passable but wholly unmemorable white-meat babyface promo.

Their opponents, Haku and the Barbarian, get the "currently in the ring" jobber entrance. They're accompanied by Bobby Heenan.

The Rockers vs. Haku & The Barbarian (w/ Bobby Heenan)

Michaels and Haku to start. Haku asserts the power advantage early with a side headlock, releases Michaels into the ropes, but he catches Michaels into a bearhug on the way back. He sets him down, ramming him into one corner and then the other. Michaels keeps things moving, leapfrogs the big man a couple of times before hitting a flying shoulderblock.

Haku back in control quickly, but Michaels stuns him and then tags Jannetty, who enters to help Shawn out with some double-teaming. I already miss Jesse Ventura, who could always be counted on to rage about the Rockers and their "illegal double-teams." Barbarian doesn't seem terribly fond of what the Rockers are doing here either though, so he steps in and decapitates them both at the same time with a big double clothesline.

As the Rockers regain their feet, they duck running attacks by both Haku and Barbarian, then hit a double superkick to knock Barbarian from the ring. Heenan huddles his men up out on the floor to give them a moment to regroup.

Match resets at Jannetty vs. Barbarian. Barbarian goes to work with kicks and punches, beating Jannetty out to the apron. Jannetty fights back with a punch, slides in behind Barbarian, tries a sunset flip and can't get Barbarian over, but he does duck Barbarian's downward punch. Barbarian picks him up as if to powerbomb him, but Shawn Michaels just strolls in illegally and dropkicks Barbarian from behind. Again, paging Jesse. Jannetty goes for a late cover; Haku breaks it up.

Barbarian tags Haku in. Double headbutt by Heenan's men. Haku (note: I have twice typed "Meng" and had to correct, due to the familiarity of the tag team combo) picks Marty up for a possible powerbomb, and then amidst a ref distraction, Barbarian comes in for the assist and pulls Jannetty down hard into the top rope for a stun gun.



"Devastation! Devastating move. ... I think...he's hurt." Brilliant commentary by Hacksaw.

Haku does some preening to the crowd before going back to work, but it doesn't apparently disadvantage him; he hits Marty with a stiff back elbow and then tags Barbarian in. "Powerslam and a beauty" by Barbarian (it was actually a press slam), and the heat segment is definitely on.

Haku and Jannetty have a sloppy mid-ring collision on dueling cross-bodies, which seems to only irritate Haku; he goes right back on offense, hitting a backbreaker that he holds onto and then doubles up on. Barbarian enters with a clothesline that totally misses but gets sold, then slaps on a bearhug for a while. Jannetty seems to create an opening for a tag when he gets his boots up on a Barbarian corner charge, but Jannetty climbs the ropes and jumps straight into a hard powerslam. Barbarian's luck in coming off the ropes is no better however, as he misses on a top-rope headbutt. The hot tag to Shawn Michaels is made.

Michaels brings the fire to Haku, mounting him in the corner and then jumping off onto Barbarian. Swinging neckbreaker by Michaels on Haku gets a two-count, but Haku finally breaks the momentum with an eye-gouge. Michaels attempts a sunset flip, Jannetty illegally clotheslines Haku down, the referee actually starts counting for some reason, but to no avail. Both Rockers climbs the ropes...Jannetty with a missile dropkick, Michaels waits and hits a cross-body, and that's enough to get the three-count.



Very fun, high-energy opener to get this thing going.

Result: The Rockers via pinfall
Rating: ***1/4

Monsoon mentions that Heenan is just going to head over and join in on commentary now. Slight upgrade on Jim Duggan...