The plan for WrestleMania VII was to do in the massive Los Angles Coliseum witch they clammed could hold over a 100,000 people. Instead the show would held at the much smaller Los Angeles Sports Arena. For years the WWF/WWE has claimed it was security issues surrounding heel champion Sgt. Slaughter. The real truth is they didn't sell nearly enough tickets. 1990 wasn't the strongest year for the WWF a lot people blame the Warrior for that. I blame that more on a lack of strong heels to challenge the Warrior and just other mistakes made by the promotion. But going into 1991 the WWF decided to put the belt back on Hogan. Honestly I think the WWF should have rolled the dice on turing Warrior or Hogan heel. Instead the choice to turn the returning Sgt. Slaughter heel changing him from a GI Joe come to life to an Iraqi trader. And if you don't understand why it was Iraq just google Desert Storm. A lot of people has trashed that hole story and I see why. It came off as tasteless and it just wasn't that good. But how does this card as whole stack up?
We open with a very patrick vision of the stars and stripes of the US flag shooting at us. Vince tells the main event we get an image of Slaughter burning a Hogan t-shirt and another vision of Hogan waving the flag. We than a get a stare down between the two men. Its a stripped down open compared to bast years I've some in the WWF pushed for that given what was really going on in the world at the time. The Mania logo has been modified to be red white and blue a nice touch and we see American Flag motif though out the arena. Will Nelson is the singer of American The Beautiful. Now I like Willie but he's looks ridicules here coming out in a Mania shirt one of those toy WWF title belts a hogan bandana and hit man shades. Of course Willie has a great voice and does a great job with the song. I just wish he didn't look like a model for the WWF Shop insert in the WWF Magazine. Gorilla Monsoon welcomes us to Star Spangled WrestleMania. He claims it will the greatest WM of all time of course Gorilla would say that about every Mania. Hacksaw Jim Duggan comes down to do commentary for the opening match. WHY? I know Jessie had left and Bobby Heenan was still working as a manger but you couldn't get Vince? You couldn't get someone who was well spoken? Did anyone consider Duggan a good talker? Duggan comes out dressed like Uncle Sam and I don't think Uncle Sam has ever looked worse. Duggan does a bunch of dumb faces and shakes his head like bobble head. They hype the two main event the career ending match and the WWF title match. Hacksaw won't just up and talks over Monsoon.
Backstage Sean Mooney is the the Rockers saying it's there biggest match in terms of size. Marty says they are all about defying the odds are reminds everyone they are tag team specialist. Sean points out Barbarian and Haku and members of the Heenan family. Shawn says they will put them away.
Haku and The Barbarian with Bobby Heenan vs the Rockers Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty- Shawn and Haku start us off. Shawn ducks under the locks up. Kick to the stomach by Haku and than a head lock. Shawn goes for a leap frog but gets caught in a bear hug. Haku tosses Shawn into a corner. Shawn goes for up and over but Haku catches him again. Shawn gets free and does a few leap frog and a drop down before hitting a flying shoulder block. Ground a pound punches by Shawn. Arm wringer by Michaels. Trust to the throat by Haku and than a head butt and forearms. Shawn ducks under a shot and makes the tag to Marty. Double team hip toss by the rockers than a double elbow drop. The Rockers kips up but get taken out by the Barbarian who is in the with and hits a double clothesline Double crescent kick on Haku than one for the Barbarian by the Rockers. Haku and Barbarian to the floor. Marty and Barbarian in the ring. Lock up and knee to the stomach by the Barbarian than a chop followed by the head butt puts Marty down. Marty to the apron. Marty slides under the legs. Sunset flip attempt by Jannetty but he can't get the big man over. Barbarian throws a downward punch but Marty moves. Drop kick to the back by Shawn as Marty gets a hurricanrana. Marty covers and gets two. Head butt by Barbarian and a tag Haku. Double team head butt by the heels. Chop by Haku Mary under the legs and the Rockers go for the Rana drop kick combo but the referee cuts Shawn. Barbarian in the ring and pulls Marty down onto ropes throat first. Back elbow by Haku and than a tag to Barbarian. Double kicks by the Heenan Family. Gorilla press slam by Barbarian. Cheap shot to Shaw to draw him in the ring and distract the refereeDouble team chokes by Haku who comes in without tagging. Crosssbody by Marty knock Haku down to get two. I think they messed up something and Haku just let the pin happen to not look have it be to obvious. Stomps to Marty by Haku than a couple of back breakers. Tag to Barbarian who covers and gets two. Clothesline by Barbarian. SHUT UP HACKSAW! He won't stop talking and he just repeats the same things over and over and over and over. "They need a tag… Those are some big guys… They are taking to long on that cover… Etc…" There is making a point and than there is not knowing when to shut the fuck up for two seconds Bear Hug by Barbarian. Marty starts to fade Mary whipped into the corner. Barbarian runs into a boot. Attempt at a second rope cross body by Marty but Barbarian catches him and hits a nice looking power slam. Barbarian to the top rope and misses a diving head butt. Both men are down. Tag to Haku Tag to Shaw. Big right hands by Shawn on Haku. Flying back elbow by Shawn. Corner punches by Shaw. Barbarian in the ring but Shawn sees him coming and hits a cross body. Nice spot. Shawn with a neck breaker on Haku gets two. Haku goes to the eyes. Sunset flip attempt by Shawn. Marty in with a clothesline to knock Haku over. Barbarian breaks up the pin. Double drop kick by the Rockers sends Barbarian to the floor. Double clothesline on Haku. Missile drop kick by Marty on Haku. Than a flying cross body by Shawn for the win. Very good big man vs little man match. The Heels knew to sell enough to make the Rockers look good but not over sell. Everything was pretty crisp from Shawn and Marty. The only know was Duggan doing commentary.
Monsoon tells Hacksaw Bobby will take over commentary now. Duggan leaves thank god. Again why let Hacksaw do commentary. Backstage Mean Gene is with Regis Philibin, Alex Trebek, and Marla Maples. Marla is a talk show host but is most known for being Mrs. Donald Trump number 2. Gene claims they will make this one for the history books and says they are the celebrity co hosts. Regis talks about having all the wrestlers on the show and claims he's scare of Earthquake. Regis claims he heard Earthquake tipped over a pizza truck and ate everything inside. Gene hits on Marla like a crepe uncle would. Marla says she is excited and says she doesn't know what to except conducting an interview in the men's locker room. Gene claims he and Alex are good friends Alex thanks "Jim." They do some lam bit about Gene not understand the rules of Jeopardy . Well at least I know who these three people are. But still this is LA you couldn't find a few bigger celebs for this?
Dina Bravo with Jimmy Hart vs The Texas Tornado- Tornado is Kerry Von Erich and the Fink even calls him Texas Tornado Kerry Hart but pretty much everyone else called just Texas Tornado. Sadly by the time he went to the WWF Kerry wasn't the same great talent he had been in World Class. It was due to a combo of the loss of his brothers, the closing of World Class, his amputated foot and of course his drug habit. Dino jumps Tornado when he climbing into the ring. Tornado first Dino off with punches. Kerry passes to take off his robe and gets clothesline over the top rope. Chops on the floor an punches by Dino than he rams Tornado into the apron.. Back it he ring Kerry gets an atomic drop and than a clothesline. Punches in the corner by Tornado. Tornado goes for the Iron Claw but Dino blocks it. Chops by Dino drive Tornado back. Tornado runs into a boot. Bad looking atomic drop by Dino. I think Kerry though its was supposed to be a spine buster so he jumps higher than he should. Elbow drops by Bravo who covers and gets two. Tornado duck some clothesline. Awkward looking Side slam by Bravo. Gorilla claims that was the Dino's finisher even though it wasn't Dino covers and gets two. Dino argues with the referee. Dino into the second rope and hits a chop. Thrust to the throat by Dino. Kicks to the stomach by Dino. Bravo back to the second rope. Dino goes for a chop and Kerry locks on the claw. Sadly though Kerry was to far out so it was clear Dino was going to miss. Dino gets to the ropes. Tornado breaks the hold but than hits the spinning tornado punch for the win. Bad and boring match maybe years earlier these two could have had a real classic at Mania but not in 1991. Sadly Kerry's career is a series of What If's?
Sean Money is with the Warlord and Slick. Slick guarantee Warlord will Collar the British Bulldog. Slick claims it would take a pack of dogs to put down the Warlord. Warlord claims no one can escape his full nelson Slick says it's a dog eat dog world. Mean Gene with with Davey Boy Smith and his bulldog Winston. Mean Gene talks about every dog has his day and asks if this is Davey Boys? Davey says it is and claims there is no one he can't power slam. Bulldog claims Winston wants him to say there is no Bull in this British Bulldog. Two ok promos nothing spectacular.
The Warlord with Slick vs The British Bulldog with Winston- By this point Davey Boy Smith had trademarked the name British Bulldog and was gong under that. Lockup and Warlord tosses Bulldog back. Another oak up and Warlord with a knee to the stomach. Bulldog with a series of shoulder blocks and finally knocks Warlord down. Warlord to the floor. Slick fires up his man. Kick to the stomach and double sledge to the back by Warlord. Davey ducks under a clothesline and goes for a crucifix. Warlord falls back cursing Bulldog. Series of Elbow drops by Warlord. Big right hand by Warlord than bear hug picking Davey Boy up into the air. Bulldog gets free. Hotshot by Warlord and he covers to get two. Club to the back by Warlord. Exchange of forearms. Belly to belly suplex by the Warlord. Chin lock by Warlord. The crowd cheers Davey to his feet and his elbows free. Head butt by Davey Boy than a drop kick sends Warlord to the corner. Bulldog rams the head in the turn buckle. High cross body by Davey Boy gets two. Bulldog goes for pile driver. Warlord blocks and back body drops Bulldog. Sunset flip attempt by Bulldog. Warlord drops the knees for his own pin . Position reversed by Davey Boy gets two. Bulldog runs into a boot. Warlord locks in the full nelson. Monsoon says Warlord doesn't have the fingers locked. Davey won't quit. Davey finally powers free of the hold. Warlord goes for a power slam but Bulldog goes off the back. Running power slam by the Bulldog for the win. Pretty good match both guys were actually willing to sell for the other and were able to get the other up. Of course you knew given the promos it would come down to the full nelson and the power slam.
Mean Gene is with The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart. Hart claims they will be the next tag team champions. Saggs claims the time is now. Knobbs says they will crack the foundation. Ok promo if you enjoyed the Nasty Boys gimmick To me they were ok but never great. Sean Money is with the Hart Foundations. Jim Neidhart says they won't take the tag belts. Hart says the Nasty Boys are at the Bottom and are scum. Bret says the Nasty Boys don't have Hart. Bland promo
WWF Tag Team Championship The Hart Foundation Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart © vs The Nasty Boys Jerry Saggs and Brian Knobs with Jimmy Hart- They bring up the fact Jimmy Hart was the manager of the Hart Foundation back in the day. Hart and Saggs start us off. Lock up and Bret drives Saggs to the cover. The referee forces the breaks and Saggs with a cheap shot. Weak looking punches by Saggs. Bret ducks the clothesline an hits a thez press. Knobbs into the ring but Hart sees him coming and hits an atomic drop. Big punch sends Knobbs to the floor. Saggs out to the apron but Bret brings him back in the hard way. Wrist lock by Bret. Bret catches a kick and sweeps out the other one. Bret with a stomp to the inner thigh. Tag to Knobbs by Saggs. Tag to Neidhart. Lock up and Knobbs with rights. The Anvil revers the position and hits forearms. Hip toss by Neidhart. Shoulder tackle sends knobs to the floor. Saggs tries a cheap shot but Neidhart sees it coming and sends him out. The Anvil throws Knobbs around by the arm. Knobbs drives Neidhart to the Nasty Boy Corner. Saggs holds the gifts so Knobbs can land punches. Tag to Saggs. Forearms by Saggs. Saggs telegraphs the back body drop so Neidhart dumbs him over. Tag to Bret Hart. Right hands by Bret. Corner punches by Bret Hart. Side rushing leg sweep by Bret. Second ropes elbow drop by Bret. Knobbs into the ring but Bret sees him coming. Bret turn his attention back to Saggs allowing Knobbs to nail him in the back of the head. Clothesline by Saggs sends Bret to the floor. Neidhart checks on Bret. Suddenly Anvil starts chasing Jimmy Hart and we miss Knobs tossing Bret into the ring steps. Knobbs whips Bret into the corner hard. Back breaker by Saggs. Knee to the back by Saggs. Chin lock by Saggs on Bret. Cannon ball on the back by Saggs than back to the chin lock. Tag to Knobbs. Knobbs puts Bret Hart in the chin lock. Tag to Saggs. Elbow drop by Saggs. Neck breaker by Saggs gets two. Back to the chin lock by Saggs. Bret gets free and hits a neck breaker on Saggs. Tag to Knobbs who cuts off the tag. Elbow drops to Bret Hart's back and than back to the chin lock. THis is getting really boring. You want to work over the back and neck fine but mix it up a little. Bret gets to his feet and falls back taking out Knobbs. Saggs cuts off the tag. Double team corner splash misses. Bret makes the tag but the referee doesn't see it. Jimmy Hart tosses KNobbs the megaphone. Saggs hold Bret who ducks. Tag to Neidhart. House of fire time for Anvil who picks Knobbs up and tosses him at Saggs. Double clothesline by the Anvil . Anvil cover Knobbs and gets two. Power slam on Knobbs but Saggs breaks it up. Bret into the ring and drives Saggs out. Knobbs an Saggs run into each other. Hart Attack on Knobbs. The ref won't' count until Bret leaves the ring. Jimmy Hart tosses the Motor Cycle helmet he wore to the ring to Saggs. Saggs nails Anvil. Knobbs covers to steal the win and the titles. Ok match but the middles second really got boring as it was put Bret in chin lock wait. Tag new guy puts Bret in chin lock wait repeats over and over again. The finish is kind of creative I'm sure a lot of "Smart" fans thought once the mega phone back fired that The Harts would retain.
Post match The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart Celebrate. We get a video recapping the history Between the Model and Jake the Snake Roberts. We Jake getting blinded. The Martel slapping the blind Roberts but Roberts hitting the DDT on Brother Love. But he dampened eyes being exposed and "Damaged" look of them. We quickly cut to Roberts who is backstage it feels like a strange edit so maybe something was removed from the DDT. Roberts says a Snake always does it better in the dark.
Blindfold Match Rick Martel vs Jake The Snake Roberts- Months earlier Martel had sprayed Arrogance in the face of Jake blinding him for weeks. If you have never seen a blindfold match both men will wear hoods that are going to cover there heads. The idea is the crowd will lead them on. I can actually make out a eye hole on Jake's hood when it's being put on. Bobby Heenan claims he tried on one and it even makes it hard to breath. The walk around with Jake using the cheer to gage where he should go Martel spins around in a panic. Martel crawls around hoping to avoid Jake. Jake drops down and tries to grab at the feet. Martel trips over the back of Jake. Mart tells the advantage and nails Roberts. Martel goes for a back body drop but Jake just runs off to the side. Back square one. The touch by mistake. Martel runs in tot he ropes trying to get way. Martel kicks in front trying to catch Jake. Jake goes at a corner but Martel has already moved The are both reaching out and Martel gets what is going on first and hits a power slam. Martel goes an elbow drop by Jake has already moved out of the way. Martel goes after the referee but than he feels the shirt . Bobby says Martel should have put a shirt on after Jake had put a hood on. More just them moving around trying to find each other. Jake claps his hands and than moves off the side as Martel moves where Jake was. Jake with a wast clock but Martel is i the ropes. They break. Martel is on his hands crawl and reaches the corner with Damon's bag in it . Martel falls back in fear. Jake almost has Martel but the Model slips away. Head lock by Jake. Martel shoves him off and Jake falls to the floor. Bobby yells to Martel. Martel goes to the floor and gets a chair and start poking at the air with it. Jake is back in the ring. Martel backs up into the post and swings the chair at it hiring his hands. Jake drags Martel back into the ring. But Martel land s punch. Back breaker by Martel into the Boston Crab. Roberts powers out. Roberts finds Martel and hits the DDT. Jake can't find him for the pin but finally does for the win. I've hard a number of people talk about what a testament this match is to Jake's ability to work a crowd as the live crowd went insane during it. I also gotta give credit to Martel who did a great job selling his fear. But this match only really works if you in the live crowd able to cheer Jake on. On tape it just two guys walking around the ring arms stretched out. It really hasn't aged well.
Post match Jake takes the arrogance atomizer and destroys it. Jake gets Damon out of the bag and goes after Martel wit him. Martel gets out of the ring and goes to the back. Damon is really active and Jake has to moves quick make sure he doesn't go under the ring. Marla Maples is with the Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart. The Mountie does in to celebrate. The Nasty boys toss champaign around. Dino Bravo and Earthquake join in. Marla keeps trying to asks questions but no one will shut up. That was a fairly pointless segment. It was nothing new the Nasty Boys are Nasty.
Jimmy Snuka vs The Undertaker with Paul Bearer- Well this match would be remembered for one the streak of Jimmy Snuka being shoeless ended here as Superfly was wearing a pair of boots. The Undertaker had debuted back at Survivor Series we get shots of kids who I think the WWF wanted to look scared they all just look bored out of there minds. Stare down to start an fit goes way to long finally for no other reason than to start the match Snuka turns his back and gets nailed by Undertaker. Kicks to the stomach by Undertaker and punch. Snuka's head rammed in the turnbuckle. Undertaker rakes the eyes across the ropes. FLying clothesline by Undertaker drops Snuka. Undertaker tears at the face. Taker chokes Superfly in the corner. Snuka revers a whip but than runs into a hip attack. Snuka to the floor. Undertaker brings Snuka back in the ring with a suplex. Elbow drop by Undertaker misses. Head butt and chops by Snuka. Undertaker shakes them off. Taker ducks a attempt flying moves os some kind and Snuka himself on the ropes and than falls to the floor. Snuka goes for a spring board press while coming into the ring but Taker catches him. Tombstone pile driver by Undertaker to win the match. Pure squash mach as Snuka got almost nothing in. This was back when Undertaker was a amazing unmatched performer so he looked awesome here. They try to sell it as a big win for Undertaker but by this time Snuka was a jobber to the stars.
We get a video highlighting the history between Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior. Savage attack Warrior on SNME. Sherri trying to tempt Warrior into giving Savage a title shot and Warrior rejecting her. Sherri and Savage costing the Warrior the WWF championship at the Royal Rumble. Gorilla talks about how this is unprecedented and the loser's career is over. Bobby points out at the crowd and we get a shot of Miss Elizabeth in the crowd. Bobby rants that she is hoping Savage losses. I don't think they should have show Elizabeth since the second you saw her you knew she was going to play a role in this match. I do find it strange we don't any interviews from Savage or the Warrior prior to this.
Career Ending Match Macho King Randy Savage with Queen Sherri vs The Ultimate Warrior- Back at the Royal Rumble Savage had attacked Warrior repeatedly finally breaking the scepter over his head costing him the WWF championship. They bill as a first time ever match. They might be true there had plenty of loser leaves town matches but I can't recall any retirement matches prior to this. The King and Queen are carried on a caravan. The Warrior actually walks to the ring instead of his usual run and Heenan points it out and asks why? Gorilla points out this is a different ballgame. Warrior has the WWF a picture of the WWF championship on his true with Means Much More Than This. I really liked at it was a message to the fans. This match is the most important I will ever have. Both men take time to play to the crowd. Savage tries to jump Warrior he sees it coming. Lockup an d they go into the ropes. Savage pints a finger in Warriors face and Warrior slaps it away. Lock up and Warrior throw Savage down. Knee to the gut but Savage and than he goes to the eyes. Headlock by Savage. Savage goes for a shoulder tackle but he's the one that goes down. Sherri distract the Warrior and Savage nails Warrior from behind. Clothesline by Warrior drops Savage. Double hand ed choke by Warrior he picks Savage up and throw him down. Atomic drops by the Warrior. Warrior picks Savage up again by the throat. Sherri into the ring but Warrior tosses Savage into her. Sherri to the floor. Savage tied up in the ropes and Warrior stomps. punch to the gut by Warrior. Heenan says the referee is being more linnet given the stipulation for the match. Monsoon says he's never seen Savage or Warrior so Deliberate both comments help to add to the tension of this match. Savage kicks Warrior on back body drop and drop Warrior with a clothesline Savage to the top rope and goes for a cross body. Warrior catch him. Warrior puts Savage down on is feet so he slap him. Savage bails out to the floor. Savage tosses a chair in the ring. The referee gets it first but Savage nails Warrior from behind. Big right hand by Warrior drops Savage. Henan says this has to be the greatest match for either man. Again a good line adding to the drama of this match. Warrior whips Savage int he corner and stomps on the chest. They keep cutting back to Elizabeth who does look worried but I don't' think they need to be doing it as often as they are. Savage dropped by more right hands. Warrior goes for a corner splash but Savage moves. Warrior to the floor and Sherri slaps him. Savage off the top rope and nails a double ax to the floor. Sheri with a knee lift to the Warrior. Warrior shoves her down but this gives Savage a chance to attack him again.Warrior sent into the post. Sherri with a kick to the chest.
Savage print Warrior back into ring and power slams Warrior and gets two. Neck breaker by Savage counted into a back slide that gets two. Savage spits at the Warrior and drops to the floor. Sherri up on the apron to distract the Warrior this time is wise to the plan and catches Savage kicks and hits a clothesline. Warrior hits the ropes and goes for the flying shoulder tackle. Sadly Savage wasn't standing up yet so it just looks like Warrior decide to plant himself face first of some reason. Savage covers and gets two.Sleeper by the Macho King. The ref never checks Warrior's arm so I think he just keeps signally the warrior isn't out. Warrior up to this feet and gets free. Shoulder block by the Warrior. Savage ducks a clothesline. Double clothesline and both men are down. Sherri is into the ring trying to wake Savage up. Sherri into the ring as Warrior gets small package. FInally the referee turns around and its only two. Warrior yells at the referee. Flying knee to the back by Savage and Warrior hits the referee. Savage holds Warrior. Sherri takes her shoe off and climbs to the top rope. Warrior moves and Sherri nails Savage. Great face by Sherri reacting to what she did in shock and fear when she sees she's alone with the Warrior. Sherri to the floor but Warrior follows. Earlier in the match Monsoon had pointed out how much of a problem Sherri had been for the Warrior. Sherri back in the ring. Warrior has Sherri. School boy by Savage that only gets two. Savage sends Warrior into corner face first. Savage drops Warrior face first on the top rope. Than he goes it again with that leaping spot he does. Clothesline to the back of the head by Savage. Power slam by Savage and he cover and gets two. Savage to the top rope. Elbow drop. Savage back up top and a second elbow drop. And a third. Savage up again for the fourth and than a fifth. Heenan says we have a winner. Savage finally covers and Warrior get his shoulder up drawing a huge pop. Normally I would upset about killing a move like that. But remember how they booked the Warrior he had been the Ultimate Challenge to Hogan. His only losses had been due to Heenan holding down his feet and Savage breaking the sector over his head. Given what was on the line it made sense Savage would want to make sure by doing the elbow that many times. Plus Warrior doesn't kick out and pop right up. He barely rolls his shoulder on a lazy cover and than his to summon the power of the Warriors.
Warrior starts to fire up and shakes the ropes. Warrior shakes the ropes and starting to land big punches. Clotheslines by Warrior. Warrior singles for the Gorilla press we cut back Liz who looks nervous . Gorilla press slam and a big splash by the Warrior. Savage kicks at two. Now eve more drama as the very move that pinned Hulk Hogan couldn't put Savage away here. Warrior looks to the sky in confession. Gorillas says he's asking his gods for an answer. The Warrior starts to leave the ring. Savage is still down but start to get up. Savage nails the Warrior not he apron. Savage has Sherri hold Warrior on the guard rail. Savage to the top. Warrior shoves Sherri aside. Savage hits the guard rail from the top. Warrior looks to the sky a new fire in his eyes. Warrior screams now I know. In the ring a flying shoulder tackle by the Warrior knocks Savage to the floor. Warrior gets Macho King and stand him up in the ring and hits another one. Savage back to the floor. Warrior gets him again. Flying shoulder number three. Warrior puts his foot on Savage and gets the win Dear god this match is freaking awesome. It does have some rough parts that one big both early on but other wise it's a classic. Warrior and Savage were both at there best. I love how they changed things up to sell how important this match was. Heenan and Monsoon did a great job adding tension.I would say this was easily one of my ten favorite matches as kid and it still stands up.
Post match Warrior gets his ring coat and celebrates standing on the turnbuckle soaking int he cheer of the Warriors. Warriors takes second to pose on Savage like well a Warrior standing over a defeated foe in a battle. Warrior leaves. Sherri is up set and start to yell at Savage who is still down on the ground. Heenan says Savage survived longer than anyone he knows would have. Sherri kicks at Savage who still down. Sherri drives Savage's face into the mat. Elizabeth jumps the rails and runs into the ring. Elizabeth grabs Sherri and tosses her out of the ring. Elizabeth goes to check on Savage but he bats her away not know who it is. Savage stand up and sees its Elizabeth. Savage looks confused. Heenan and Monsoon point out he has no idea who attacked him. Liz is starting to cry. Savage and Elizabeth hug drawing a huge pop that is on par with many of he biggest pops I have heard for any title shot. Savage picks her up on his shoulder like he did at Mania 4. We actually get shots of people crying out of happiness. Elizabeth goes to hold the rips for Savage but he insist on doing it for her. This was a really well done moment turing Savage face again afar a long heel stint. I Plus I think almost everyone getting a little choked up watching this reunion. Of course this also set the stage for there on screen wedding at SummerSlam with would led to Savage's return to the ring later that year.
Bobby and Monsoon hype up the rat of the card. Gorilla points out the IC title match is a big one for Heenan. Bobby says in LA they know how to handle Law and Order. Heenan takes another shot t Bossman's mother. They talk about the WWF title match and how Hogan has to pin Slaughter. Bobby reminds up Macho King is history. Gorilla talks the reunion with Elizabeth. Heenan "I'd rather have some money that a skirt."
They toss back to Regis who is The Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Beater hands Undertaker some measuring tape. Taker start to me sure Regis. Regis tosses to Alex who is Mr. Fuji and Demolition. Smash and Crush snap at Alex when he says Mr. Fuji instead of Master Fuji. Alex talks about Jeopardy. Smash says Master Fuji has all the answers. Alex tosses back to Regis. Regis is with Tenruy and Kitao. They don't speak english so the don't' replay to Regis question. Finally the respond to Toyota. Finally Tenruy and Kitao say Kathy Lee who is Regis co-host . ALex is with Jake Robert and Damon. Alex admits he's scare of snakes. Jake clams Damon is a big fan and watches Jeopardy all the time. Alex runs off and Jake says Damon will have to settle for the home version. Bobby admits he was the one that set up those interviews and laughs. Yeah pretty pointless segment built around dumb humor.
Demolition Smash and Crus with Mr. Fuji vs Tenruy and Kitao- By this point Ax was out of the WWF and Crush had taken his spot. Tenryu and Kitao are stars from Japan. Demolition jumps on when the Japanese stars are taking off there jacket and rope. Kitao island and Crush land big right hand. Kitao reveres a whip and hits a jumping knee. Kitao with forearms. Smash in an snails him from behind. This allow Crush to get the advance. Fuji nails Kitao with the cane in the back. Tag to Smash. Double clubs to back to Demolition. Back droop suplex by Smash. Tag to Crush. Crush with a sledge hammier off the top rope. Power slam by Crush. Tag to Smash. Punch to the face by Smash. Kitao gets choked on the ropes. Tag to Crush. Punch to the ribs the Crush than a head butt. Tag to Smash. Clothesline out of the corner by Kitao. Tag to Tenryu. Chops by Tenruy and drop kick to Crush. Scoop slam by Tenryu. Tenryu misses a back drop elbow. Smash tags in Crush. Back breaker by Crush. Tag to Smash. Back drop suplex by Smash. Deception set up for . Kitao in and stops it. Kitao sent to the floor. Decapitation set of again. Kitao knocks Crush down. Enziguri to the back of Smash's head by Tenryu. Power bomb by Tenruy for the win. What a waste of the match. I know Demolition was on there last legs at this point but your at WrestleMania why not do the big match with LOD even if if is Crush instead of Ax. I am all for brining in talent from other countries to spice things up but Tenryu and Kitao just feel so plane here. They never mention witch company they are from. They don't really hype up there careers outside of talking Kitao's past in Sumo.
Mean Gene is with the Big Bossman. Bossman talks abut the intercontinental title being on the line. He talks about the months of insults at his mother. Bossman brags about mowing down all the family members except for Perfect. Bossman says it will be the perfect example Crime Does Not Pay. Sean Mooney is with Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan. Bobby talks about the LAPD talks about the Rodney King beating but never says it. Bobby talks about Perfect dishing out there own version of justice to "Barney Fifth." Perfect says he's won't' be on his back letting Bossman taking free shots at him. Perfect says he has all the tools and he's Perfect. Two great promos.
Intercontinental Championship Mr. Perfect © with Bobby Heenan vs The Big Bossman- For months Heenan had insulted the Bossman's mother leading to this feud. Alfred Hayes is on commentary for this match since Heenan is with Perfect. Why couldn't you bring Alfred out for the open instead of Duggan? Perfect tosses his towel at Bossman who catches it uses it whip his butt and tosses it at Perfect. Bossman spits at Perfect. Slap to the face by Perfect. Perfect bails out and Boss man goes after him slaps him again. Perfect spins around in the air selling the slap Back in the ring Bossman with a giant swing using the hair. Right hand by Bossman. Perfect revers the whip. Bossman slides out of there ring and gets rich back in and kicks Perfect and nails a clothesline. Perfect is tossed over the top rope. Back in the ring. Bossman goes for a running shoulder in the corner but Perfect moves and Bossman hits hard. Chops by Perfect. Bossman revers the whip and Perfect hits hard, Perfect hung up on the middle rope and Bossman canon balls onto him. Bossman pulls off his belt. Bossman straps Perfect right in front of the referee. Bossman drops the belt and yells at Heenan. Perfect wraps the belt around his fist and nail Bossman again this is in front of the referee. Kicks to the side by Perfect. Exchange of sticks. Bossman whipped into the corner back first. Chin lock Perfect and he uses the ropes. Abdominal stretch by Perfect. Bossman starts to fade. Heenan is demanding the bell to ring. Perfect drops the hold and hits a great looking dropkick. Bossman kicks at two. Rolling neck snap by Mr. Perfect. Perfect plex counted into a small package that get the Big Bossman two. Rolling neck breaker by Perfect gets two. Mr. Perfect to the top rope but he jumps right into the foot of Bossman. Bossman rams Perfects' head into the turnbuckle. Beal by Bossman. Bossman crotches Perfect on the ring post. Big upper cut y Bossman sends Perfect to the floor. Bossman goes after Heenan this lets Perfect toss Bossman into the ring side steps head first. Heenan puts the boots to Bossman. Andre the Giant comes down to ringside. Heenan panics. Perfect takes a turnbuckle pad off. Andre had grabbed the IC title belt. Bossman rammed into the top turn buckle that is exposed. But they are showing Andre so we miss the shot. Perfect is upset Andre has his belt. Andre nails Perfect with the belt. Both men are down. Andre starts going after Heenan again. Bossman is up. Bossman covers and Mr. Perfect kicks at two. Haku and Barbarian in the ring and attack Bossman causing the DQ. Pretty good match. Perfect was an amazing seller and made everything Bossman did look great. My only real knock is once Andre came down the match stopped being about the two men in it. Bossman fights off Haku and Barbarian. Andre nails Perfect. Andrew with some shots to Haku and Barbarian.
Earthquake makes his entrances as Alfred departs. Oakerland is with Donald Trump. Gene reminds us Trump's building hosted Mania IV and V. Trump calls it a fantastic day. They tease Mania could return o Atlantic City. Gene brings over Chuck Norris. Norris puts over how great the athletes the wrestlers are and talks being a fan. Norris mentions having worked out with Hogan and having done movies with other wrestlers. Gene talks to Henry Winkler. Henry says he is happy the Warrior won. Lao Friengo walks into the shot. Lou calls the WWF super heroes comes to life and how much his kids enjoy it.
Earthquake with Jimmy Hart vs Greg Valentine- Lock up and Earthquake crush Valentine in the corner. Power slam by Earthquake. Cover and Hammer kicks at two. Head butt by Earthquake. Valentine then avoid a corner splash and hits some chops and elbows.Earthquake goes for a back body drop but Hammer hits an elbow. than a club to the back. Jabs by the Hammer and an over hand chop. Clothesline by Hammer but Earthquake won't got down. Elbow off the second rope finally knocks down the big man. Elbow drop by Valentine. Head butt to the stomach by Valentine. Figure four but Hammer can't get it on. Hart onto the apron to distract Valentine. Earthquake with a big show than an elbow drop of his own. Earthquake Splash for the win. Ok little squash match nothing to special. A second earthquake attempt but Valentine rolls out of the ring.
Sean Money is with LOD. Mooney as if tonight will be a night of reckoning for Power and Glory. Animal says that right. Animal talks about Power and Glory costing them the title shot vs the Harts. Animal says they are going down. Animal warns the Nasty Boys they are coming after them. Hawk says when they are done it will be Sour and Gory instead of Power and Glory. Typical strange but awesome LOD promo.
Power and Glory Paul Roma and Hercules with Slick vs The Legion of Doom Animal and Hawk- Power and Glory interference in a tournament cost LOD a chance to get a title shot. So this was there chance for revenge. Power and Glory jump LOD when they are taking off the shoulder pads. Animal sent to the floor. Roma and Hercules pounds on Hawk. Hawk ducks the double clot liens and hits one of his own. ANimal back in. Roma goes to they eyes of Animal while Hawk and Hercules fight to the floor. Roma off the top but Animal catch him for a power slam. Dooms Day Device by LOD for the win. Total Squash all about making LOD look good.
We get a video recapping the history with Ted DiBiase and Virgil with the various times Virgil had dome something such as clean DiBiasies feet to get paid. We get the Royal Rumble where DiBiase demanded Virgil wrap the million dollar belt around his waste only for Virgil to nail him with it. Roddy Piper distracting Haku who DiBiase had hired so Virgil could get a win. Virgil costing DiBiase a match via count out to a jobber on Superstars.
The MIllion Dollar Championship Ted DiBiase © vs Virgil with Roddy Piper- After DiBiase manservant/bodyguard Virgil had turned on DiBiase at Roddy Piper's encouragement to stand up as a man. Piper gets his own entrance and comes out on a crutch since he had been injured in a motorcycle accident. Although that could be kayfab reason and in reality Piper had simply needed a hip replacement after years of wear and tear. Virgil doesn't get ring music with really confuses me they couldn't' find something for him? Or maybe the had audio problems. Ring of the bell and Virgil circles around like a boxer. DiBiase yells at Piper. Jab by Virgil than a few more before big cross. DiBiase weakly kicks and misses. Virgil blocks a right hand and lands one of his own. And again and few more jabs by Virgil and another right hand and DiBiase goes to the floor. Dibiase splash misses and Virgil lands smote more punches. DiBiase back to the floor. DiBiase still more worried about Piper and gets brought int he hard way by Virgil. Clotheslines by Virgil than a second one sends DiBiase over the top to the floor. Virgil tosses the Million Dollar man back in the ring. DiBiase get a kick an a clothesline. DiBiase runs into a back elbow from Virgil that gets two. DiBiase back to the floor. DiBiase demands the referee make Virgil pen his hand. Lock up and a go behind takedown by Virgil. Drop toe hold takedown by DiBiase and he rams Virgil's face into the canvas than into the turnbuckle. Chops by DiBiase. Back elbow by the Million Dollar Man. Clotheslines by DiBiase drops Virgil. Pile driver by DiBiase get two. Vertical suplex by DiBiase gets two. Gut wrench suplex by DiBiase. Virgil tossed to the floor. DiBiase to the floor and he chops Virgil a few times. DiBiase shoves Piper down. Back in the ring DiBiase hits a power slam. They go for a spot where Piper is supposed to use his crutch to pull down the ropes But its clear DiBiase tossed himself over it. DiBiase nails Pier again and a third time. DiBiase is counted out. Its an ok match. THey clearly wanted Virgil to do a boxing style gimmick base on his look and move set the problem is that got real repetive with him mostly throwing punches. Piper begin hurt limited anything he could do. But hell I've seen much worse.
Post match DiBiase goes nuts and nails Virgil when he is checking Piper. Million Dollar dram slapped on. Piper is back to his fee and gets into the ring. Piper nail DiBiase with the crutch. Sherri Martel runs out and takes the crutch from Piper letting DiBiase nail him in back. DiBiase works over the bad leg of Piper. DiBiase bulls off the brace Piper has on sand keeps hitting him with the crutch. Virgil gets up and gets the crutch driving off the Million Dollar Man and Sherri. The refs try to help Piper up but he refuses it. Piper tries to stand but fails over. Virgil encores Piper do do like he told him and get up. Piper stand without help and embraces Virgil. I thin there hoping it would come off big heroic moment with Piper standing on his own but it just doesn't get over. I think they should have waited to have Sherri join up with DiBiase on a later show given she just had been with Savage.
Sean Mooney tosses to a video recapping the lead up to the WWF tittle match. We get footage of Slaughter and Adnan burning a Hulk Rules Shirt. Adnan speaks in some linage I assume is supped to be Iraqi. Mooney asks for a translation. Slaughter calls the Hulkamanic the Pukeamanic. Slaughter says he is the new ruler of the WWF and that Hogan is playing by his rules now. Slaughter says there is nothing Hogan can do about it. We get more footage over Slaughter beating down Jim Duggan with a chair and Hogan trying to make the save but Slaughter laying him out. Slaughter says we will see Hogan laying on his face and on his back 1 2 3. Slaughter says he could be DQ'ed in this battle. Slaughter points out he could be counted out since Hogan would win the battle but not the war. Its an ok promo. The only problem is by the time this aired the whole Hogan can't win the belt on a count out or DQ thing had been drilled into our heads.
The Mountie with Jimmy Hart vs Tito Santana- Sadly the Mountie hadn't gotten his trademark I'm the Mountie song yet. For those that don't know The Mountie is long time tag wrestler Jaques Rouge with a new gimmick. Lockup and Tito gets a head lock. The Mountie goes for a leap frog as Tito goes for a high cross body and hit hard. THe Mountie to the floor. Jimmy Hart goes to his client. Tito out of the ring and give The Mountie and Jimmy the Double Noggin Knocker. The Mountie pitched back in the ring. Atomic drop by Tito than a big right and. Tito is trying to drag the Mountie to the center of the ring but The Mountie has grabbed onto the ring skirt. The referee forces Tito to break. Tito shoves the ref aside. Hart gives Mountie the stun stick and Tito takes it to the stomach. A cheap win for the Mountie. Very short match. Its to bad given the talent of the two guys involved. We couldn't' have cut some stuff out to give these two more time?
Mean Gene is with Hulk Hogan. Gene asks about Slaughters comment that he would still be WWF champion and still laughter after WrestleMania 7. Hogan says it was not laughing matter when Slaughter burned the Hogan banner and says Slaughter wants to burn the dreams of all the Hulkamanics. Hogan swears that will never happen. Hogan says this a new kind of war and he's the new Hogan of 1991. Hogan promises to he will be WWF champion. Gene shows footage of Slaughter attacking Hogan during a match with Adnan and the Slaughter putting HOgan in the camel couch with the General taunting HOgan with the belt. Gene asks if Hogan's the same man after that. Hogan says he's not the same man saying know he's felt what Slaughter means but the new rules. Hogan says to remain the champion Slaughter will have to tear his heart out. Its your classic Hogan promo.
The celebrities comes out together to fill the "guest roles" than again given WWE booking today Marla would have been in a divas match. While Alex and Regis were in a eight man tag of some kind. So maybe I should be happy with what I'm getting here.
World Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Championship Sgt. Slaughter © with General Adnan vs Hulk Hogan- Slaughter had turned on America in late 1990 and was a sympathizer of Iraq. Hogan had won the won the Royal Rumble giving him the title shot at WrestleMania 7. Slaughter on the floor. Hogan gives chase. The ref gets control. Slaughter stalls slowly taking off the belt and his jackets. The referee holds Hogan back. They circle around each other. More stalling from Sgt. Slaughter. Lockup and they are into the ropes fighting for position. Into the corner the referee forces the break. Hogan tosses Earl Hebner aside back to the lock up. The referee forces another break and Hogan shoves him again. Locks up and this time Hogan shoves Slaughter down. Slaughter class it was a hair pull. Ok I have to laugh because by 91 Hogan had more hair than Slaughter did. Lock up and Hogan gets a head lock. Collision on the shoulder block neither man goes down. Second shoulder block and this time Slaughter goes down. Slaughter to the floor. Hogan gives chase and he punches and chops at Slaughter. The General nails HOgan in the back. Hogan no sells it and goes after Adan. Slaughter nails with a chair and again Hogan no sells its.. Slaughter backs up in fear. Hogan tosses Slaughter back in the ring. Slaughter begs for Mercy and than pokes Hogan in the eyes. Punches by Slaughter and than he starts to ram Hogan's head in the turn buckle. Back elbow by Slaughter knocks Hogan down. Knee drop by Sgt. Slaughter. Hogan moves out of the way on a elbow drop. Hogan with punches. Clothesline by Hogan whips out Slaughter. Adnan onto the apron and Hogan nail him. Running elbow in the corner by Hogan. Atomic drop by Hogan. Slaughter to the floor. HOgan out after him and scratches Slaughter before sending him back in the ring. Clothesline by Hogan gets two. Hogan sends Slaughter hard int the buckle. Back body drop by Hogan. Slaughter whipped into the corner hard and hits his head on the ring post. Running knee to the back by Hogan. Catapult by Hogan and Slaughter hits the post again. Hogan with ground and pound punches on the champion. Chops by Hogan. Running corner clothesline by Hogan. Corner punches by Hogan. Hogan runs Slaughter across the ring into the cover. Hogan covers and gets two. Hogan climbs up the pores. Adnan goes to grab his foot and than just lets go. Hogan coms off and Slaughter nail him in the stomach. But Hogan no sells it and goes to the eyes Power slam by Hogan than elbow drops. Hogan up to the top rope. Adnan grabs the foot and Slaughter power slams Hogan off the top. Clothesline by Slaughter sends Hogan over the top to the floor. Hogan sent into the ring post shoulder first. Slaughter gets a chair and hits Hogan in the back in front of the referee and he does it again. First these chair shots look super weak. Second this is when Bobby and Gorilla should be pointing out the "can't win the title on a DQ thing." That would also explain why the referee isn't' DQ'ing.
Slaughter gets a TV cable and see it to choke Hogan. Finally Bobby mentions the DQ thing. Slaughter sends Hogan back into the ring. Forearm to the back by Sgt. . Slaughter than double ax. Punches to the back by Slaughter followed up by a back breaker that gets two. Stomps to the back by Slaughter. Slaughter goes for a boston crab. They are right next to the ropes and Regis points out Hogan should go for them. Finally HOgan gets the ropes. Slaughter thinks Hogan quit and and celebrates. Knee drops to the back by Slaughter. Slaughter to the top rope. Big stomp off the rope to the back by Slaughter. Slaughter pins but Adnan is distracting the referee… Did he not know who he was managing because this spot makes no sense. Why would the heel manager do that when his guy is about to win? Finally the referee sees it and Hogan kicks at two.Slaughter gets another chair. This time Adnan distract the referee so I guess he jumped the gun. Chair shot to the head by Slaughter get two. Hogan is bleeding from the chair who as Slaughter pounding at the cut. Clothesline by Slaughter knocks Hogan down again. Camel clutch by Slaughter. Slaughter lets it go to cannon ball and stomp on Hogan before locking it back in. Hogan powers to his knees and stands up Slaughter uses it as a chance to send Hogan into the turnbuckle face first. Hogan is down again. Slaughter has the Iraq flag and covers Hogan with before the pin. 1 and 2 Hogan kicks out with power. Hogan tears up the Iraq flag. Hulk UP! Right hands by Hogan. Big Boot and the Led Drop for the win and title victory! Its an ok match but great. We had a long period where Hogan no sells everything and than a long period of Slaughter in control. I wold have liked a little more balance. The General was awful as a manger and I felt he took away from the drama instead of adding to it.
Post match Gorilla points out Hogan's made history as the first man to win the WWF title three times. Regis talks about what a great comeback it was and how it was a thrill . Hogan puts the belt on and than gets the US flag to wave. Gorilla claims the war is now official over. I know he didn't mean any harm and it very well could have been a line given to him but i find that line tasteless but that's just me. Hogan celebrates with this posting routine. Hogan leaves the ring carrying old glory as we end the show.
Over all I feel WrestleMania VII is a little underrated. Its not a awful by any means. The first half comes across very well but the second half just has to man short squash matches that feel more like they belong on free TV than the biggest PPV of the year. I wold rather they drop some of them and give more time to others. I wish they would have done some type of injury angle with Hogan to add more drama rather than the "only win the title by pin or submission." A huge knock though is commentary. And I'm not just talking about when Duggan was on it. Monsoon makes numerous mistakes with names and moves it just gets annoying. Heenan is ok but he repeats a few to many jokes. Mainly the old "What… I can't hear you.." one when talking about how loud it was. Still recommend but not a priory to see.
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