WrestleMania VI
April 1, 1990 - SkyDome, Toronto, Ontario
- Our long national nightmare is over! Trump Plaza is a distant bad memory, and we make our first visit to one of the all-time great WWF towns in Toronto. We say hello to the awesome Mania theme they would use for the next three years, but a sad goodbye to Jesse Ventura, doing his last WWF PPV. They had the good sense to go back to actual professional singers to open the show this year, as Robert Goulet does a nice rendition of O Canada.
Koko B. Ware vs. Rick Martel *1/4
Dubbing update: Koko must have switched to his last WWF theme by this point, as "Piledriver" is dubbed in (along with an obvious Fink overdub, although I give him credit for syncing it so nicely with the video). They still haven't quite figured out how to open Mania yet. Good energy from the opening bell, then slows down a bunch when Martel goes on offence. Martel didn't really show me as much as I was expecting here -- without the high-energy face comeback he seems very ordinary, although he worked the crowd well. Crowd is electric already, popping for every little thing.
Tag team titles: Colossal Connection [c] vs. Demolition *1/2
Screw the dubbing, I have the uncut match on my computer and I'm watching it as God and Rick Derringer intended. Haku works the entire match for the champs, as Andre can't do ANYTHING besides stand on the apron and lay in a weak-looking shot now and then. Nothing exciting until the finish, where the Demos get Andre tied in the ropes, and then give Haku Demolition Decapitation for the win and the titles to blow the roof off the place in what was pretty much their last hurrah at the top of the tag team division. I seriously can't believe they were still trotting Andre out there, it's embarrassing and sad. That being said, Andre deserved a nice sendoff from the fans, and he got it as Heenan committed suicide on international TV by berating and then slapping the Giant for costing them the belts. Andre riding off alone into the sunset to a thunderous ovation was a very cool moment.
Earthquake vs. Hercules DUD
They had to rebrand Earthquake by taking the "Canadian" out of his name in preparation for this show, just in case he might have gotten cheered north of the border. Not much more than a squash here.
Mr. Perfect vs. Brutus Beefcake **1/2
So Perfect, who many thought was in line for a title run of some kind just a few months before, ended up wrestling the champ's good buddy on the big show instead. And losing. This was supposed to lead to Beefcake getting a shot at Perfect's IC title that he would win shortly after Mania at Summerslam, but of course the boating accident put an unfortunate end to that. Perfect has the Sell-o-Meter turned up to 11 here, flying over the top on a simple right hand early, then a big flip on a whip to the buckle. I liked the story they told here, with Perfect dominating the last half of the match but too cocky to put Beefcake away, leading to a slingshot to the buckle out of nowhere for a fluke Beefcake win and another huge pop.
Roddy Piper vs. Bad News Brown 1/4*
Piper really should've stayed retired, Royal Rumble 92 and his IC title match with Bret Hart were really the only high points to his career after coming back. This is certainly no exception, with the half-black stunt, a very dull exhibition of brawling and a non-finish. Crowd was the only thing decent about this, solidly behind Piper.
Hart Foundation vs. Bolsheviks DUD
God, those carts are moving slow. No idea why they didn't want to do a normal match, especially with the most talented team on the roster. At least they saved us from the long version of the anthem.
- Hey, WrestleMania VII at the LA Coliseum! Can't wait to see that.
Tito Santana vs. Barbarian *
Poor Chico is still in his Strike Force gear, just can't let go. He had maybe the best bump of the entire show, taking the clothesline off the top nearly on his head. Otherwise, pretty generic match.
Mixed tag: Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri vs. Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire -**
I have never seen this match in it's entirety, and I really didn't want to start now. Dubbing update: As if they couldn't make this match any worse, "Common Man" is replaced by one of the worst pieces of crap I've ever heard, even worse than WM4 replacing "Jesus Christ Superstar" with "Jesus Christ This is Awful". Jesse goes off on one of his hilarious rants as the faces are announced as weighing 465, saying that means Dusty must only weigh 200 and that he'd buy 565 way before 465. Speaking of Jesse, remember how hard he cheered for Savage against Hogan? That is NOTHING compared to how hard he goes off on Rhodes and Sapphire here. As for the actual match, the less said about this, the better, it is just atrocious, particularly when Sapphire is in. Poor Sherri is reduced to selling for Sapphire tapping her gently with her hip. Easily the low point of Savage's career, but he would of course have better days ahead.
- Intermission time, as we get duelling interviews from Hogan and the Warrior, both basically claiming to be Jesus Christ offering to save the other. Unreal.
Orient Express vs. Rockers **1/4
Akio Sato is Pat Tanaka's partner in the Express here, instead of Paul Diamond, who teamed with Tanaka as Badd Company in the AWA, as the masked Kato. The Rockers continued their proud tradition of getting trashed the night before WrestleMania, as they looked a step slow, something even Gorilla noted, and sloppy, with a blown double dropkick and a pretty suspect double backdrop. Still one of the high points as far as wrestling goes tonight.
Dino Bravo vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan DUD
Duggan doesn't seem to realize that he crossed the border as he tries to start a "USA" chant before the match and fails miserably. About as bad as you'd expect with these two.
Million Dollar Belt: Ted DiBiase vs. Jake Roberts **1/2
Jake cuts one of the best face promos I've ever heard before the match. As is still the case at SkyDome, I'm thinking the crowd is way into the action, but no, it's just the idiot fans doing the ****ing wave. Nice exhibition of mat wrestling (although a bit slow in the middle) that could've done with a better finish.
Big Bossman vs. Akeem 1/4*
THE TWIN TOWERS EXPLODE! Dubbing update: What, you don't have "Jive Soul Bro" OR "Hard Time"? Unbelievable. Bossman's Corporate Ministry-era theme really doesn't fit the face character. Bossman had trimmed down and was pretty good at this point of his career; Akeem, sadly, was not. Mercifully short.
- And now, the moment we've all been waiting for -- DDP's WrestleMania debut! Oh, and Rhythm and Blues and the Bushwhackers come out and do stuff I couldn't give a **** about. Valentine with a jet-black dye job pretending to play the guitar is just sad.
Ravishing Rick Rude vs. Jimmy Snuka **
Rude out with a new, more serious look as he prepares for his move up the card. Dubbing update: WTF, they have to dub over Superfly's music? That thing was so generic that I can't imagine having to pay any money for it. I liked this match, nice back-and-forth action.
Title for title: WWF champion Hulk Hogan vs. Intercontinental champion Ultimate Warrior ***1/2
You can pretty much point to this match as being the end of the golden age of wrestling. Warrior runs down to the ring like an idiot and blows himself up before the match even starts, which Jesse astutely points out. Anticipation for this is off the charts. I don't think I've ever seen a crowd split down the middle as much as this one, every move by both guys greeted with huge cheers. The crowd, in fact, really made this match, as it was really rudimentary and would be considered pretty boring in any other context. I mean, you've got the extended test of strength, a bear hug, a long headlock spot in the middle. The charisma of these two guys was enough to keep the crowd into it all the way through to the dueling hulk-ups and the unpredictable finish. I still have Hogan/Savage as being better, switch the crowds around and there's absolutely no comparison.
Overall: 5.25/10
This is an interesting contrast with the previous year. Wrestling-wise, V was unquestionably better. Everything else-wise, VI was miles ahead. I give a very slight edge to VI overall, but it still wasn't a terrific show by any means.
Ratings so far:
III - 9.5
VI - 5.25
V - 5.0
I - 4.5
2 - 3.5
IV - 3.0