WrestleMania VI Review

WrestleMania 38 is now 16 days away and I decided as a hype for the event why not review every WrestleMania to date. Next up is WrestleMania VI (6) which was held in the Skydomer (Now called the Rogers Centre) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fun Fact: WWE superstar Edge in his teenage years was at this event and was even shown multiple times throughout this event

Who Commentated the event?
Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

Jesse Ventura is a great commentator and it sucks that this is his last PPV commentating with the WWE.

Match #1 Rick Martel vs Koko B. Ware

This is a weird match to have opening for WrestleMania as this was mainly a squash match made to make Rick Martel look strong. Martel is now sporting a Model gimmick and he plays this role perfectly throughout his career. I am not going to go too much in detail regarding this match just know that Rick Martel wins via submission in 3:51.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #2 Demolition (Ax and Smash) defeated The Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku) w/Bobby Heenan for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Before the match Mean Gene Okerand had an interview with Bobby Heenan and The Colossal Connection. This promo was filled with toilet humor jokes and Mean Gene even called the Colossal Connection the Colostomy Connection. Demolition cut there usual promo afterwords in an interview from Sean Mooney which was a lot better than that ridiculous Colossal Connection promo.

The Colossal Connection enter the ring first and just looking at Andre again it is just sad as he is looks hunched over. WWE made the right choice putting Andre in a tag team as he physically can no longer wrestle in singles matches. In a tag team Andre can take less damage in the match and why not pair him up with one of the legit toughest wrestlers in real life Haku.

So the match starts immediately as the Colossal Connection jump Demolition attacking them early. Once the ref gets both men to stop the match starts between Haku and Smash where both have a strength battle spot were both were aiming for a backslide pin. Smash wins the battle but Andre who gingerly walks into the ring breaks up the pin by kicking Smash. Smash is able to tag in Ax but Haku is able to recover and continue on offense by ramming Ax into Andre’s head. Andre was heavily leaning on the ropes and could not do a lot in this match due to how hurt he was. Andre would chop and headbutt Demolition at certain points of this match but did not really do much. So Ax hits a boot to the face of Haku and then tags Smash who goes to town attacking Haku. Smash hits him with a clothesline, back body drop, and a forearm. Demolition hit Andre with a double clothesline but he recovers in time to attack Ax. Andre then holds Smash as Haku was going to kick him but misses and accidentally hits Andre who gets tied up into the ropes. The crowd went crazy for this and Demolition is super over with the crowd. So we get to the finish of the match as when Andre is tied up Demolition turn there focus to Haku and they hit there finisher the Demolition Decapitation pinning Haku at 9:30. Demolition reclaim the tag team titles.

Post match Heenan decides to go into the ring yelling at Andre. Which is not a good thing to do especially to a giant. Heenan then slaps him and Andre grabs him by the throat and gives him his own slaps. Haku tries to attack Andre with a kick but he catches him. Andre slaps and attacks Haku getting them out of the ring. Then Andre fights to get on the cart that is transporting wrestlers to and from the ring. Andre successfully throws both out and gets brought to the backstage in the lockeroom. The crowd was going crazy cheering for Andre.

This was a very good match here. I am going to give Kudos to Haku as he took the majority of the offense from Demolition and made them look good. Andre was not the wrestler he was and Haku did a great job selling. The Right team won, i love the finish of the match and post match was a great send of to Andre in the ring as this was Andre the Giants last televised match with WWE. Great job by both teams.

My 5 Star Rating: (3/5)

Match #3 Earthquake w/Jimmy Hart vs Hercules

Not much to talk about in this match as this was a squash match to make Earthquake look strong. I like how the announcing crew put over Earthquake as a dangerous threat here and even stated he put 28 men to the hospital. Earthquake dominates almost the entire match and hits his Earthquake Splash for the win at 4:52. Post Match Earthquake once again hits his Earthquake Splash kayfabe injuring Hercules.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #4 Brutus Beefcake vs Mr. Perfect w/The Genius

Mr Perfect entered the ring in a chorus of boos while The Genius was announcing him into the ring. Mr Perfect was super over at this time as a heel and everybody wanted him to loose his undefeated streak. Brutus Beefcake had a nice pop as well when he entered the ring but he was nowhere near over as Mr Perfect was.

The match starts with Perfect chopping Brutus Beefcake who than counters with a few punches of his own which led to Mr Perfect selling the move and he went out of the ring. So Perfect recoups and eventually comes back into the ring and Brutus Beefcake hits an atomic drop that sends Perfect out of the ring again. Mr. Perfect is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever sell a move ever. Now selling a move is the act of making wrestling look believable to the audience and make the opponent look strong. He does it again when whipped into the corner and he does this amazing flip to the outside of the ring. So The Genius relizing Pefect is getting dominated distracts the ref and hands him his scroll which is made out of steel for some reason. Perfect hits Beefcake in the head and he tries to pin him but Beefcake kicks out. So Mr Perfect does his usual moves and tries setting him up for the Perfectplex but Beefcake counters. Beefcake then stuns Mr. Perfect by giving him a double leg pickup and slingshoting him to the corner and Perfect’s head hits the ring post. Beefcake pins Mr. Perfect ending his perfect streak at 7:48

In the post match ended Beefcake was going to cut Mr Perfect’s hair but The Genius intervenes. Brutus then puts the sleeper on The Genius. Genius was desperately trying to escape it but could not. While knocked out Beefcake then cuts The Genius’s hair. By the way in real life this was an absolute horrible move as The Genius was never told that he was going to get his hair cut once the match ended. Which shame on WWE as I would be absolutely angry if this was me. The Genius was angry and he had a backstage fight with Brutus once both went back into the lockeroom.

This was not a good match. I was not a fan of Brutus Beefcake being the one to end Mr. Perfect’s perfect streak. I wish it was Bret Hart that would be the one to end Perfect’s streak in SummerSlam 1991 and also win the Intercontinental Championship (Whoops spoilers). But I guess it pays off being the real life best friend of Hulk Hogan. The ending of the match was super weird and could have been a lot smoother.

My 5 Star Rating: (2/5)

Match #5 Bad News Brown vs. Roddy Piper 

Oh dear where to begin with this whole match. Well first we get to this disgraceful promo where Mean Gene is interviewing Roddy Piper. Piper has half of his body painted black and well makes fun of Bad News Brown’s appearance especially with his eyes, mouth, nostrils, ears, and oh its just so uncomfortable watching. Apparently Piper did this in order for storyline wise to get into the head of Bad News Brown before the match began, but yeah this whole promo was offensive and super creepy.

Now we get to the match and Oh dear. Piper wrestles the entire match painted half black and yeah this would never fly today. I am not going to discuss this match further as it ends in a brawl but a weird part of the match is when piper grabs this Micheal Jackson glove that looked like it had diamonds on it and he hits Bad News Brown multiple times. I rewatched the build up to this match and this glove was never mentioned in the build. I son’t even think Piper in other matches used this glove. Also how was this not a DQ as the ref clearly saw what piper did. So both Bad News and Piper brawl on the outside of the ring and get counted out at 6:48.

This match was a set up for the feud to continue on for the future and continue the feud in future PPV’s. Of course that match would never take place as both men had heat backstage and they would refuse to loose to each other which kind of explains the double count out. This match was super uncomfortable to watch and there really is not much to say but disgust.

This match and that creepy promo Roddy Piper did earlier is not on Peacock where the WWE Network is now on. I don’t blame them for cutting that from the event. That promo and Piper being painted half black kind of paints him as being racist. It didn’t help that in that same promo picking and making fun of the way Bad News Brown looks while Roddy Piper himself is painted have black. This would have an insane amount of backlash if this was done today and they made the right choice cutting this from the PPV.

My 5 Star Rating: (0.5/5)

Match #6 The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) vs. The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov)

Not going to go long with this match as it was a 19 second squash match. Before the match began, Nikolai Volkoff sang the Soviet National Anthem. The Hart Foundation jumped them and attacked Volkoff throwing him out of the ring and hitting there finisher the Hart Attack on Zhukov. Nothing to see here but it makes the Hart Foundation look strong.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #7 Tito Santana vs. The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan)

The match starts with Tito immediately hitting a crossbody to try to end it early but The Barbarian kicks out. The two lock up and Barbarian takes over on offense by hitting a picture perfect big boot. Barbarian then goes for a walking the ropes elbow drop but Tito rolls out of the way. Tito gets control using his speed to hit a few drop kicks and hitting his flying forearm finisher. He goes for the pin but Bobby Heenan puts The Barbarian’s foot on the ropes and the ref stops the count. Tito tries to rollup The Barbarian but he counters by having Tito face hit the top of the ropes which had to of hurt. Now for the finish of the match as Barbarian went to the top of the rope and hits the flying clothesline. Tito had a rough landing from the clothesline and it looked like it hurt as he landed on his head. Barbarian pins Tito and wins the match at 4:33.

This was good match. Better than what I thought it was going to be. This is easily the one of the most underrated matchup throughout the first few WrestleMania’s. Tito did a fantastic job selling for The Barbarian in this matchup. Barbarian also looked very well in this matchup as well. Well done by both participants here.

My 5 Star Rating: (3/5)

Match #8 Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Macho King Randy Savage and Queen Sherri in a mixed tag team match.

Macho and Sherri entered the ring first looking fantastic. Sherri looked like Queen from Snow White and it was fantastic. Macho as well looked like a million bucks with what he was wearing. So both Sapphire and Dusty Rhodes come to the ring with Miss Elizabeth to a big pop. Miss Elizabeth looked fantastic as well with the dress she was wearing.

Of course this was a mixed tag team match and in this match stipulation the Men have to wrestle each other and the women have to wrestle each other. The match started with both Dusty Rhodes and Macho King Randy Savage. Dusty immediately starts elbowing Macho and Sherri decides to try cheap shot Dusty. Uhh ref you remember the rules right. You know what i’m not going to both as the mixed tag match rules gets broken many times in this match in front of the ref. Sapphire grabs here hair as a result and tags in. Ok I will get this out of the way now Sapphire is so green (Raw and unexperienced) in this match up. She was awful in this matchup. Her offense is terrible on Sherri and gives one of the slowest airplane spins that I have ever seen. So Sapphire tags out (Thank goodness) and Dusty comes into the ring along with Macho. Dusty manages to hold Macho so Sapphire can slap him which she does. So Savage takes over as Sherri once again attacks Dusty and it gives Macho time to recover and knee him in the back which gets Dusty out of the ring. Macho hits his classic double ax handle from the top of the turnbuckle to the outside of the ring. Macho then throws Sapphire to the floor and brings Dusty in the ring. Sapphire distracts the ref and Savage uses his scepter on Dusty Rhodes. Sherri then hits a splash on he top rope but only gets a 2 count on Dusty Rhodes. Why was this pin able to be counted? You know what again like I said I am not going to bother questioning the many times the rules were broken. So Dusty recovers and beats up Savage on the corner of the ring. Sherri jumps on Dusty’s back and Sapphire gives an awful snapmare suplex Sapphire throws Sherri out of the ring and Miss Elizabeth decides to immediately throw her back into the ring. Sherri argues with Elizabeth for a few minutes then Elizabeth grabs Sherri’s hair and pushes her. Sapphire then rolls up Sherri and wins the match via pin fall at 7:52.

Not a terrible match but it was still a fun match to watch. I wish that this match was Macho vs Dusty alone as both were fantastic wrestlers. Sapphire was terrible wrestling in this match. Queen Sherri was great in this match and imagine if she would be able to wrestle with the women’s talent today. She would have been more known for here wrestling than as a manager because she was a tough and great worker in the ring. This match would have been better if they toned down the nonsense comedy stuff.

My 5 Star Rating: (2.5/5)

Match #9 The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) w/Mr. Fuji vs. The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty)

The Orient Express enter the ring first and this is actually there first match in the company. Hoe Mr.Fuji acquired him is a interesting one. Mr Fuji decided to split the Tag Team Powers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian) and sold there contracts separately. Heenan gets The Barbarian and Slick gets The Warlord. Fuji then used the money to bring in The Orient Express from Japan as his new tag teams. It makes a lot of sense story wise and I wish they would use this tactic in todays era of Wrestling to explain the splitting of tag teams via the brand split. It would be an understandable reason why they break up tag teams instead of doing it just randomly for no reason. The Rockers enter the ring in yellow outfits and they look so awsome.

The match starts with off with both Marty Jannetty and Tanaka in the ring. Jannetty immedietly takes over on offense giving Tanaka a bodyslam. Sato then runs in to help Tanaka but The Rockers saw and double teamed him. The Orient Express retreat to the outside of the ring and the Rockers both dive out of the ring. The Rockers hit nice fast moves throughout this match. Tanaka then enters the ring and while whipping Marty, Fuji gets involved using his cane to pull the ropes. Marty recovers and when he enters the ring he has this amazing counter when Tanaka tries to backdrop Jannetty and tags in Shawn Michaels. Both then hit a double superkick on Tanaka. Tanaka realizing he was in trouble then tags in Sato who immediately hets hit with a neckbreaker in the ring. The Orient Express then take over as Tanaka hits him with a flying forearm while the ref was distracted by Fuji. Sato tries pinning Shawn but he kicks out. Sato tags in Tanaka who then immediately gets clotheslined bu Shawn. Michaels than tagged Jannetty who went crazy hitting move after move. Fuji then hits Jannetty with the cane in front of the ref but no DQ. So Jannetty for some reason chases Fuji and he gets white salt/dust thrown in his face by Sato. Jannetty sells this well and even took a nasty bump over the barricade crashing into the front row of fans. Jennetty then gets counted out a bit too quickly from the ref and the Orient Express win the match at 7:38.

This was an okay match. The finish was alright but I wish the Orient Express pinned The Rockers to make them look good as they were a newly debuting tag team. I love how Marty sold the salt/dust spot at the end of the match. This also continues the feud between the two so pretty solid.

My 5 Star Rating: (2.5/5)

Match #10 Jim Duggan vs Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart and Earthquake)

It was very ballsy to have Hacksaw come out with the America flag as this event took place in Canada. Especially as Hacksaw was facing against Dino Bravo who was a very big star in Canada and even owned a wrestling company in Canada at one point. Plus Earthquake who is in the corner of Dino Bravo was also Canadian. So Hacksaw started this match strong and even hits an atomic drop to Bravo. Bravo then eventually counters after Duggan tried to do his 3 point stance finishing clothesline. Bravo then had a long rest spot and elbow drop spot in this match. Duggan then comes back and hits many clotheslines of his own to bravo. Finish of the match Earthquake distracts the ref and Jimmy Hart slides Jim Duggan’s 2×4 to Dino Bravo. Jim Duggan catches them in the act and he hits Bravo with the 2×4 and pins him winning the match in 4:15.

The match was awful but at least post match it made Earthquake look strong. So Earthquake immediately attacks Duggan hitting many elbow drops and Earthquake Splashes on Duggan. The Post match is the only reason why I did not give this matchup a (.5/5) rating.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #11 Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) vs Jake Roberts for the Million Dollar Championship

Before this match took place Jake Roberts as always cuts an amazing promo. If a wrestler wants to get in the industry and learn how to cut a promo just watch Jake Roberts promo’s. He was one of if not the best promo cutters in the wrestling business.

So both enter the ring and the crows was very energetic in this match. They hated Ted DiBiase and loved Jake Roberts so much. The match starts and both lock up with Jake attempting the DDT but DiBiase escapes. Jake then gets control by putting Dibiase in an armbar. So Ted gets out of the armbar and throws Jake into the turnbuckle. Jake Roberts is now out of the ring. Dibiase then rams Jake’s shoulder i the ring post and the crowd looked a bit bored and did the wave. So back in the ring DiBiase hits a piledriver and tries pinning Jake but he kicks out at 2. DiBiase locks in the Million Dollar Dream and Jake fights out of it and starts his comeback. He hits a clothesline and an atomic drop to Dibiase. Next Jake gives DiBiase a back body drop which the crowd went crazy for. Jake hits his short armed clothesline which was the setup for the DDT but thanks to Virgil Jake got distracted and slammed Virgil out of the ring. DiBiase once again puts the Million Dollar Dream on the floor but Jake drove Ted in the ring post which is smart. Virgil realizing the count was close rolled DiBiase into the ring and helped him win the match at 11:50 via countout.

Post Match the fans were going crazy as Jake Roberts attacked Virgil throwing him out of the ring so he could hit the DDT on DiBiase. I wish the DDT is a more devastating finishing move in current wrestling today. The DDT is just a normal move that everybody hits but it is still a cool looking devastating move. I think it would be cool if Jake Roberts in AEW would get another client and teach him on how to hit the DDT and use it as a finishing move in matches. Jake hands money to the crowd and puts a bill in Ted DiBiase’s mouth. But Jake brought Damien out and my goodness this python was humongous. Roberts then chased both Virgil and Ted DiBiase with Damian around his neck to the lockeroom.

Not bad match It started well and ended well but it was a bit boring mid match. I would of had Jake Roberts win this match as this match was the blow off. But I give it a thumbs up.

My 5 Star Rating: (2.5/5)

Match #12 Big Boss Man vs. Akeem (w/Slick)

Both Akeem and Big Boss Man were once in a tag team called the Twin Towers. They split after Big Boss Man refused to take DiBiase’s bribes to do his dirty work thus turning Bossman into a face and getting a WrestleMania match between the two

Akeem and Slick cut a promo first. This was an awful promo and Slick sounded unconvincing. Then Akeem starts talking and two things I have to say. First I think this is the only time I can remember Akeem (in this gimmick) ever speaking in a promo. Second what he actually said was ridiculous. He basically said that two things don’t last long one involves dogs chasing cars and law enforcement officers that don’t take the money. This promo was just awful. But at least Boss Man cut a solid promo on Akeem and Slick. He basically said he does not need the two and is proud to be an American.

Ok while both enter the ring Ted DiBiase comes out of nowhere and attacks Bossman. Then after a few shots throws Big Boss Man into the ring. So the match finally starts and this was a surprisingly quick one. Akeem gives a cheap shot to Big Boss Man and gives him a few splashes in the corner. But Boss Man comes back hitting an atomic drop, clothesline, and hits the Bossman Slam. Boss Man pins Akeem and wins the match in 1:49. Not much to say this was a squash match.

This is Akeem’s last WWE PPV with the WWE as he would leave a few months after as he had little to no tv time with the company after this match. He would return in the gimmick battle royal in WrestleMania X-Seven as the One Man Gang.

My 5 Star Rating: (0.5/5)

Match #13 Rick Rude w/Bobby Heenan vs. Jimmy Snuka

I am not going to go long with this match up as this match was a bathroom break match for when the main event comes up next match. Not much to say but it was a very awkward match. Rude wins with the Rude Awakening and wins the match in 3:29. It was a match to have rude look strong but this was a very awkward match. Shame on Jimmy Snuka for no selling Rick Rude’s finisher as he immediately gets up once he has been pinned for 3 secounds. No celebration for Rude as he just walks to the back. This was a waste of time.

My 5 Star Rating: (0.5/5)

Match #14 The Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan in a Winner Takes All Match for the Intercontinental and WWE Championships.

It is now time for the main event and this main event was one of the biggest talking points at the time. Easily the most hyped feud of that year. Want to know the craziest fact. This was not the original plan for WrestleMania VI. The original main event was going to be Hulk Hogan vs Zeus. Now Zeus is the main villain of the No Holds Barred movie that Hulk Hogan was in. Vince McMahon believed the movie was going to be a hit and had a long term feud set in place between Hogan and Zeus that was planned to go all the way to WrestleMania. Now luckily it never happened as Zeus and Vince could not come to an agreement on a new contract extension. On a side note No Holds Barred was an absolutely terrible movie and it was full of nonsense.

So both wrestlers enter the ring and my goodness the crowd was super hyped up for this match it was insane. I love how Ventura when Warrior entered the ring saying that it was a mistake for him to run in and Warrior should conserve his energy entering this big match. So both Hogan and Warrior i the ring and they have a long stare down. The crowd was super crazy throughout this match. Both wrestlers started with a test of strength breaking out of lockups equally. Next they did the criss-cross in the ring which led to a slam from Hogan. Repeat the same criss-cross and now Warrior hits a slam. The story is being told brilliantly in the beginning of the match as both these guys are similar power wise. Warrior clotheslines Hogan out of the ring which the we see a rarity of Hogan selling that his knee was injured. Warrior brings him back into the ring and things get nasty as Hogan rakes the eyes (There goes the selling of Hogan’s knee injury). Hulk then hits a clothesline of his own and does his ten punching spot. Hogan then hits a suplex to Warrior and does a chin lock. Warrior breaks out and both hogan and him hit a double clothesline resulting in both on the mat. Warrior then puts Hogan in a Bearhug and it was a while before Hogan fought out of it. Hulk fights out of the bear hug and while Warrior was running the ropes Hogan evades Warrior’s shoulder block and accidentally hits the ref. Hogan hits Warrior goes to pin him but no ref. So Warrior goes back hits a suplex on Hogan and same thing no ref to count it. The ref recovers once Warrior goes to cover Hogan again but a two count. It was at this point it was obvious the commentators had to shout because the crowd was going crazy. Warrior gets hit with a headbutt from Hulk Hogan and he recovers by giving Hogan a Gorilla Press slam. Which was very impressive to do although it looked a bit botched. Warrior goes for his splash but Hulk Hogan kicks out and starts to Hulk up. He does his usual spots and every punch amazes Hulk. Next comes the finger point and I thought that Warrior was screwed. Punches from Hulk Hogan into a big boot. Hogan goes for the leg drop that missed and Warrior hit the big splash for the pin. The Ultimate Warrior wins the match and becomes the new double champion in 24:51.

By the way Hogan kicks out at 3.5 was not the planned ending to the match. Hogan yet again went into business for himself. Also Hogan gets the championship belt and gives it to The Ultimate Warrior in a passing of the torch moment. This was a fantastic matchup. The right man won here and I would have given this match 5 stars but Hogan through his shenanigans and the botched Gorilla Press Slam I have to give it 4.5 stars out of 5. Fantastic match by both wrestlers here.

My 5 Star Rating: (4.5/5)

This was a good WrestleMania but I think last years WrestleMania was a bit better. There are postive parts to the show including the Main Event between Warrior-Hogan, Santana-Barbarian was underrated, Demolition-Colossal Connection, and the way they built up Earthquake in this pay per view. But there were things I was not a fan of like all the Squash matches (Excluding Earthquackes), They got the opening match wrong, the disgraceful Piper-Bad News part of the show, the whole bad booking with Mr.Perfect, the nonsense Dusty/Sapphire-Macho/Sherri match, and etc. The event was still a thumbs up show for me.

Im going to give WrestleMania VI a C+