WrestleMania XI
Date: 2 April 1995
Location: Hartford Civic Center; Hartford, CT
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
The most forgettable WrestleMania of all time...
It's been ten years since the first granddaddy of them all, and we open the show with a recap of all the celebrities who have appeared before. Oh, and some wrestling happened too, maybe.
Despite advertising Fishbone to sing America the Beautiful (which always seemed like an odd choice), a Special Olympian called Kathy Huey sings it instead and does a mighty fine job. Without much more fanfare, we're right into the action for our opening match.
The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog) def. The Blu Twins (6:37)
Firstly, Luger and Bulldog's mash-up entrance music is AWESOME. Seriously epic work by Jim Johnston there. We get a pretty hot start to this one, as the heels attempt a sneak attack but get cut off for STEREO SLAMS by the Allied Powers. All four men awkwardly collide together in a pretty scary moment. Bulldog then takes charge, hitting some neat power offense (delayed vertical suplex) for our first near fall of the evening. Bulldog even manages to take both of the Blu Twins down at once with a double clothesline, and it's a strong start for the babyfaces to begin. The Blu Twins eventually find their rhythm, working some heat on Bulldog and do the switcheroo thing to keep themselves on top. After Jacob misses an elbow drop though, the momentum shifts and Bulldog tags in Luger, who gets a decent pop from the crowd in Hartford. Luger should finish off the forearm smash, but Uncle Zebekiah works the distraction and the Blu Twins switch again. Whichever Blu the ref thinks is legal now works Luger into the corner, but Bulldog makes a blind tag and gets the pin off a sunset flip. This was pretty bad and there were a lot of awkward spots, which I'm mainly attributing to the Blu Twins being rubbish. I'm not sure they ever appear om PPV under this gimmick again. ¾*
It's probably worth mentioning that there's tons of photographers at ringside for this show, which is constantly obstructing the talent and causing issues. Jim Ross is also in the aisle for post-match interviews, which mostly consist of him chasing the losers out of the arena as the quickly head to the back.
Backstage, Nicholas Turturro of NYPD Blue is meant to update us on the whereabouts of Pamela Anderson, but the audio totally fails in a pretty big production flub. I imagine Vince went pretty ballistic about that.
Intercontinental Championship: Razor Ramon def. Jeff Jarrett (c) via DQ (13:33)
Razor is bringing The 1-2-3 Kid out with him for this match to help neutralise The Roadie. Razor and 1-2-3 clear the ring on arrival, as the crowd go typically wild for Razor's entrance. Really fast-paced start to this one, with Jarrett trying to use his pace and agility to out-flank Razor, mostly unsuccessfully. After being hurled to the outside, Jarrett works his way back in, but Razor foils the heels' efforts to play the numbers game and sends Jarrett hurtling into Roadie. Razor then gets Jarrett up for the Razor's Edge, but Roadie interferes again to pull Jarrett to safety. Jarrett tries to bail on the match but gets stopped by 1-2-3 Kid in the process and is sent back into the ring, kicking out of a schoolboy attempt by Razor. Jarrett manages to switch the momentum with the help of Roadie, but Razor fights back and wallops Roadie into the post from the apron, before full sending Jarrett over the rope on top of his protege. Jarrett gets back in a hits a swinging neckbreaker to take control. This is pretty back and forth, as Razor takes hold once again, before quickly relinquishing control back to Jarrett, who slows the pace with a chin lock. Razor fights out but gets clotheslined for two, and Jarrett applies a sleeper to try and force a submission. Razor back suplexes Jarrett out of this and then both men are down for a bit. They both get to their feet and have a striking contest, which Razor gets a near fall out of before hitting a fall away slam. That gets a near fall as well, at which point 1-2-3 Kid tries to intervene on behalf of Razor, but Jarrett kicks him hard into the guardrail. After a missed elbow drop from Razor, Jarrett manages to lock in the figure-four leg lock, which Razor ultimately reverses. Jarrett gets out of it, but Razor takes him up to the top rope and delivers the big back suplex. Razor gives the signal for the Razor's Edge and gets Jarrett in position for it, at which point Roadie enters and takes our Razor to cause the DQ. This results in a huge melee, as Kid gets involved and all four men brawl until the geeks and the referees tear them apart. Kid actually goes pretty wild here and busts Jarrett's nose with a roundhouse. I'd argue the action here was stronger than the Rumble match, but the finish is a bit of a let down. These guys had very decent chemistry though and this was one of the stronger matches on the show. ***
We try to go backstage again, and this time we can hear Turturro who reveals that Pamela Anderson is nowhere to be found! I'm sure she can't have got far.
The Undertaker def. King Kong Bundy (6:40)
It's occurred to me that there's been literally NO BUILD for this since Royal Rumble. Bundy gets surprisingly little in here as Undertaker thwarts the initial surprise attack and gives Bundy a wallop off the Old School ropewalk. A lot of the action actually happens on the outside here, as Undertaker/Bearer and DiBiase/Kama play pass-the-urn, which ends up with Kama stealing it and threatening to melt it down. Back in the ring, Bundy has a control period and seems to have it won, but his AVALANCHE does not bring Undertaker down, and the latter promptly finishes his opponent, anticlimactically, with a flying clothesline. I guess even a chokeslam wasn't possible with someone as rotund as Bundy. It should come as no surprise that this was, in fact, very bad. I'm not sure HBK or Bret could have squeezed a decent match out of Bundy at this point, so what else do you expect. Unfortunately, this interminable feud will continue. ¼*
More backstage shenanigans now, as Nicholas Turturro continues the search for Pamela Anderson, only to find Bob Backlund playing chess with a kid. I suppose it could have been worse.
Following a promo for IN YOUR HOUSE, Owen Hart makes his way to the ring to reveal his tag team partner for the title match against The Smoking Gunns. Owen looks pretty smug as he introduces a man who beat his brother Bret for the WWF Championship, like Owen always wanted to. That pretty much narrows it down, as Yokozuna makes his return to partner with Owen.
World Tag Team Championships: Owen Hart & Yokozuna def. The Smoking Gunns (c) (9:42)
Yoko is looking THICC and is rocking a beard now. Owen and Billy get into a shoving match to begin. Bart is in now and initially overpowers Owen until he manages to get a thumb in the eye. He tags in Yoko, who immediately slams the crap out of Bart, but misses an elbow drop and can't capitalise. Yoko tags Owen back in and initially takes control with the arm until The Gunns double team and hit a leg sweep before stereo dropkicking Yokozuna through the ropes in a nice bump. The Gunns are all over Owen now with a flurry of offense, but can't get the pinfall of a side slam leg drop combo due to a Yoko distraction. Yoko tags himself back in and sticks Billy with a stiff leg drop that gets some "oohs" from the crowd. Billy rolls out of the ring off this, only for Owen to launch him into the post and continue the punishment. Back in the ring and Yoko dominates Billy, until he ducks a drop kick from Owen and tags Bart back in to give the babyfaces hope. This gets cut off, however, and Yoko hits a devastating belly-to-belly on Billy to halt the Gunns momentum. A Banzai Drop (splat) looks like it will end things until Bart intervenes, but Yoko tags Owen back in and he gets the pin on Billy (despite teasing a Shsrpshooter) to win his first title in the WWF. And he sure celebrates like he's the king of the world. I thought this was decent enough but there's no way on earth the Gunns were winning this once Yoko was announced. You don't book him to lose in his first match back. **½
Some hype for the main event now, as Todd Pettengill interviews Bam Bam Bigelow backstage. He's confident he's got Lawrence Taylor beat later tonight.
Before the I Quit Match, Howard Finkel introduces our special guest referee: Roddy Piper! After the awful match with Lawler at KOTR 1994, it feels like even the fans are not that excited to see him. You'd have thought they would build this up to but I can't remember them ever mentioning Piper.
Bret Hart def. Bob Backlund in an I Quit Match (9:40)
Hot start from Bret, who takes the fight right to Backlund before trying for a Sharpshooter within about 30 seconds. Bret hits Backlund with an elbow next as Roddy begins the match-long, annoying habit of just shoving a mic in people's faces like he's force feeding them an ice cream. A lot more roughing up of Backlund ensues, but he won't quit just yet. Bret now turns to a figure four in his attempts to make Backlund submit, as Lawler accuses him of stealing from Jarrett. Nice touch. Backlund reverses that, but Bret gets out if it and is right back on the leg. Eventually Backlund does mount a comeback, raking Bret's eyes and working the arm to set up for the Chicken Wing. When that fails, he puts a Hammerlock on Hitman instead. Bret manages to get Backlund up for a slam to break his momentum and hits a flurry of moves before actually locking in the Sharpshooter. For some reason though, rope breaks are a thing in this match and Piper gets Bret off Backlund once the latter makes it to the rope. Lame. Backlund manages to hurl Bret into the turnbuckle now and locks in the Chicken Wing, as Bret looks helpless. Piper asks him if he quits but he says no. Finally, the move nobody could get out of is reversed by Bret, who then locks his own Chicken Wing in. Finally, Backlund submits. I wasn't a fan of their match at Survivor Series and this one was even worse: at least it wasn't that long. Bret calls this his worst match on PPV and I can't think of a way to correct him. This was just stodgy, lifeless and boring. At least the Backlund main event push pretty much died here. *
A bunch of fanfare now before our first main event, as Turturro and the kid we saw earlier arrive to make the introductions. Diesel was also interviewed backstage and promised victory over HBK tonight.
Before the match can get started, we solve the Pamela Anderson mystery, as she enters with Diesel, not Shawn, who satisfies himself with Jenny McCarthy of MTV fame. Pam is looking pretty sensational here, I can't lie.
WWF Championship: Diesel (c) def. Shawn Michaels (20:36)
After an initial skirmish before the bell, the match gets started in earnest, as HBK tries for shock and awe but gets whipped hard into the post by Diesel and does his customary over-the-top bump. All Shawn's attempts to get some momentum early on are thwarted, as Diesel just rag dolls him around the ring and uses his size to assert dominance. In a pretty hilarious moment, Shawn gets dropped out of the ring on top of one of the legion of photographers and then strops by throwing him out the way. That experiment hasn't worked. Back in the ring and it's more of the same: Shawn bumping around like a madman to put over his buddy as much as possible (while, sneakily, making it all about him). After some distraction by Sid, Shawn finally gets a foothold in the match with an eye rake and then slides under the ropes into the ring for a sunset flip type manoeuvre. Diesel blocks this though and crotches Shawn on the rope. Ouch! Shawn wrestles back some control and sends Diesel to the outside, before skinning the cat, as is his trademark now following the Rumble. Shawn then flies to the outside with a plancha and has some more fun pushing photographers out of the way. I hope Bill Apter came out of this okay. Shawn shoves Diesel into the steps and focuses on the ribs, continuing the assault back in the ring. Shawn hits a bulldog for two, which might actually be the first near fall here. An elbow drop brings another two count, but an ambitious attempt at suplexing Diesel fails and the big man is back on top. Shawn goes for a sleeper after jumping on Diesel's back and gets him down, but Diesel powers out and backs Shawn into the corner to break it. Some clotheslines and a snake eyes follows. Shawn is in trouble here and eventually begs off to the outside, after Diesel exposes his naked ass to the audience. The ref then tries to get in the middle of things as Sid looks to involve himself and injures his ankle like a dumbass. Shawn takes advantage and hits Diesel with Sweet Chin Music, but the ref is slow to get back in and make the pin, so Diesel kicks out. Sid then whips a knife out (erm, should he of all people be walking around with one of those) and cuts off the turnbuckle cover. This doesn't work out so well though, as Shawn ends up flying into the corner instead of Diesel. After a big boot, Diesel powers up Shawn for the Jackknife and pins him to retain the title, before inviting every celebrity into the ring for a big celebration and fireworks. This was easily the match of the night and moved at a lovely pace, rarely getting boring, but there wasn't much drama around Shawn winning and it felt like they were holding something back. Their second match on PPV a little over a year from now is much better. ***½
Backstage, Shawn and Sid arrive and are mad as hell, promising that it is not over! Well, it wouldn't be for one guy anyway. Shawn blames the referee for busting his ankle and we'll see how it all shakes out on RAW the next night. Clue: it doesn't go so well for Shawn.
It's main event time and we get special, pro football style entrances for Bigelow's and Taylor's entourage. There was also a Salt 'n' Pepa performance but that is cut from the Netflix version of the show.
Lawrence Taylor def. Bam Bam Bigelow (11:45)
Stare down to begin, as physically, Taylor looks more than a match for Bigelow. Bam Bam shoves him in a call back to the Rumble, and we're away. LT responds with a slap to Bigelow and then powers him out of the ring. Bigelow tries to recover, but LT bulldogs him for two and then hits a bunch of forearm smashes. These form about 90% of his offense but they look good and stiff. A fracas nearly breaks out between the Million Dollar Corporation and the Pro Team on the outside, after which Bigelow takes some control. After grinding him down, Bigelow can't keep the momentum and LT powers back. Bigelow's experience is too much, however, which results in LT getting caught in a Boston Crab. Bigelow transitions to a leg lock but LT makes it to the rope. Bigelow tries for more submissions but can't keep Taylor down, and the latter hits a decent-looking suplex as both men are down. Bigelow eventually makes it up and connects with the moonsault, but hurts his knee in the process. That's a pretty obvious attempt to protect Bigelow in defeat. LT hits a wild looking suplex for two, before Bigelow takes control again and gets a near fall off a flying headbutt. Bigelow gets in the referee's face now, losing focus. LT recovers and hits a bunch more forearm smashes, finishing with one from the second rope to pin Bigelow and win the match. This was fine but as a WrestleMania main event, totally forgettable. LT did a good job overall but he couldn't do much in there and some of his stuff looked actively clumsy. I suppose it could have been worse. **
Post-match, Bigelow is chastised up the aisle by DiBiase, while Lawrence Taylor celebrates in the ring with the pros and his son. The show ends pretty abruptly there without any wrap-up or highlights, as we usually see at WrestleMania.
Overall
Is this the worst WrestleMania? No, there's a few highlights on the card and it's a much easier sit than II, IV or IX. Unfortunately, it is probably the least memorable WM event of all time, with nothing on the show really meaning anything: there was one title change, Bigelow leaves the company before the end of 1995 anyway, the Sid/Shawn deal doesn't happen until RAW and we almost never go back and reflect on the show again. From the production side of things, there's a bunch of errors and issues too. The show could just as easily be any other PPV: it doesn't feel like WrestleMania. 4/10.
Date: 2 April 1995
Location: Hartford Civic Center; Hartford, CT
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
The most forgettable WrestleMania of all time...
It's been ten years since the first granddaddy of them all, and we open the show with a recap of all the celebrities who have appeared before. Oh, and some wrestling happened too, maybe.
Despite advertising Fishbone to sing America the Beautiful (which always seemed like an odd choice), a Special Olympian called Kathy Huey sings it instead and does a mighty fine job. Without much more fanfare, we're right into the action for our opening match.
The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog) def. The Blu Twins (6:37)
Firstly, Luger and Bulldog's mash-up entrance music is AWESOME. Seriously epic work by Jim Johnston there. We get a pretty hot start to this one, as the heels attempt a sneak attack but get cut off for STEREO SLAMS by the Allied Powers. All four men awkwardly collide together in a pretty scary moment. Bulldog then takes charge, hitting some neat power offense (delayed vertical suplex) for our first near fall of the evening. Bulldog even manages to take both of the Blu Twins down at once with a double clothesline, and it's a strong start for the babyfaces to begin. The Blu Twins eventually find their rhythm, working some heat on Bulldog and do the switcheroo thing to keep themselves on top. After Jacob misses an elbow drop though, the momentum shifts and Bulldog tags in Luger, who gets a decent pop from the crowd in Hartford. Luger should finish off the forearm smash, but Uncle Zebekiah works the distraction and the Blu Twins switch again. Whichever Blu the ref thinks is legal now works Luger into the corner, but Bulldog makes a blind tag and gets the pin off a sunset flip. This was pretty bad and there were a lot of awkward spots, which I'm mainly attributing to the Blu Twins being rubbish. I'm not sure they ever appear om PPV under this gimmick again. ¾*
It's probably worth mentioning that there's tons of photographers at ringside for this show, which is constantly obstructing the talent and causing issues. Jim Ross is also in the aisle for post-match interviews, which mostly consist of him chasing the losers out of the arena as the quickly head to the back.
Backstage, Nicholas Turturro of NYPD Blue is meant to update us on the whereabouts of Pamela Anderson, but the audio totally fails in a pretty big production flub. I imagine Vince went pretty ballistic about that.
Intercontinental Championship: Razor Ramon def. Jeff Jarrett (c) via DQ (13:33)
Razor is bringing The 1-2-3 Kid out with him for this match to help neutralise The Roadie. Razor and 1-2-3 clear the ring on arrival, as the crowd go typically wild for Razor's entrance. Really fast-paced start to this one, with Jarrett trying to use his pace and agility to out-flank Razor, mostly unsuccessfully. After being hurled to the outside, Jarrett works his way back in, but Razor foils the heels' efforts to play the numbers game and sends Jarrett hurtling into Roadie. Razor then gets Jarrett up for the Razor's Edge, but Roadie interferes again to pull Jarrett to safety. Jarrett tries to bail on the match but gets stopped by 1-2-3 Kid in the process and is sent back into the ring, kicking out of a schoolboy attempt by Razor. Jarrett manages to switch the momentum with the help of Roadie, but Razor fights back and wallops Roadie into the post from the apron, before full sending Jarrett over the rope on top of his protege. Jarrett gets back in a hits a swinging neckbreaker to take control. This is pretty back and forth, as Razor takes hold once again, before quickly relinquishing control back to Jarrett, who slows the pace with a chin lock. Razor fights out but gets clotheslined for two, and Jarrett applies a sleeper to try and force a submission. Razor back suplexes Jarrett out of this and then both men are down for a bit. They both get to their feet and have a striking contest, which Razor gets a near fall out of before hitting a fall away slam. That gets a near fall as well, at which point 1-2-3 Kid tries to intervene on behalf of Razor, but Jarrett kicks him hard into the guardrail. After a missed elbow drop from Razor, Jarrett manages to lock in the figure-four leg lock, which Razor ultimately reverses. Jarrett gets out of it, but Razor takes him up to the top rope and delivers the big back suplex. Razor gives the signal for the Razor's Edge and gets Jarrett in position for it, at which point Roadie enters and takes our Razor to cause the DQ. This results in a huge melee, as Kid gets involved and all four men brawl until the geeks and the referees tear them apart. Kid actually goes pretty wild here and busts Jarrett's nose with a roundhouse. I'd argue the action here was stronger than the Rumble match, but the finish is a bit of a let down. These guys had very decent chemistry though and this was one of the stronger matches on the show. ***
We try to go backstage again, and this time we can hear Turturro who reveals that Pamela Anderson is nowhere to be found! I'm sure she can't have got far.
The Undertaker def. King Kong Bundy (6:40)
It's occurred to me that there's been literally NO BUILD for this since Royal Rumble. Bundy gets surprisingly little in here as Undertaker thwarts the initial surprise attack and gives Bundy a wallop off the Old School ropewalk. A lot of the action actually happens on the outside here, as Undertaker/Bearer and DiBiase/Kama play pass-the-urn, which ends up with Kama stealing it and threatening to melt it down. Back in the ring, Bundy has a control period and seems to have it won, but his AVALANCHE does not bring Undertaker down, and the latter promptly finishes his opponent, anticlimactically, with a flying clothesline. I guess even a chokeslam wasn't possible with someone as rotund as Bundy. It should come as no surprise that this was, in fact, very bad. I'm not sure HBK or Bret could have squeezed a decent match out of Bundy at this point, so what else do you expect. Unfortunately, this interminable feud will continue. ¼*
More backstage shenanigans now, as Nicholas Turturro continues the search for Pamela Anderson, only to find Bob Backlund playing chess with a kid. I suppose it could have been worse.
Following a promo for IN YOUR HOUSE, Owen Hart makes his way to the ring to reveal his tag team partner for the title match against The Smoking Gunns. Owen looks pretty smug as he introduces a man who beat his brother Bret for the WWF Championship, like Owen always wanted to. That pretty much narrows it down, as Yokozuna makes his return to partner with Owen.
World Tag Team Championships: Owen Hart & Yokozuna def. The Smoking Gunns (c) (9:42)
Yoko is looking THICC and is rocking a beard now. Owen and Billy get into a shoving match to begin. Bart is in now and initially overpowers Owen until he manages to get a thumb in the eye. He tags in Yoko, who immediately slams the crap out of Bart, but misses an elbow drop and can't capitalise. Yoko tags Owen back in and initially takes control with the arm until The Gunns double team and hit a leg sweep before stereo dropkicking Yokozuna through the ropes in a nice bump. The Gunns are all over Owen now with a flurry of offense, but can't get the pinfall of a side slam leg drop combo due to a Yoko distraction. Yoko tags himself back in and sticks Billy with a stiff leg drop that gets some "oohs" from the crowd. Billy rolls out of the ring off this, only for Owen to launch him into the post and continue the punishment. Back in the ring and Yoko dominates Billy, until he ducks a drop kick from Owen and tags Bart back in to give the babyfaces hope. This gets cut off, however, and Yoko hits a devastating belly-to-belly on Billy to halt the Gunns momentum. A Banzai Drop (splat) looks like it will end things until Bart intervenes, but Yoko tags Owen back in and he gets the pin on Billy (despite teasing a Shsrpshooter) to win his first title in the WWF. And he sure celebrates like he's the king of the world. I thought this was decent enough but there's no way on earth the Gunns were winning this once Yoko was announced. You don't book him to lose in his first match back. **½
Some hype for the main event now, as Todd Pettengill interviews Bam Bam Bigelow backstage. He's confident he's got Lawrence Taylor beat later tonight.
Before the I Quit Match, Howard Finkel introduces our special guest referee: Roddy Piper! After the awful match with Lawler at KOTR 1994, it feels like even the fans are not that excited to see him. You'd have thought they would build this up to but I can't remember them ever mentioning Piper.
Bret Hart def. Bob Backlund in an I Quit Match (9:40)
Hot start from Bret, who takes the fight right to Backlund before trying for a Sharpshooter within about 30 seconds. Bret hits Backlund with an elbow next as Roddy begins the match-long, annoying habit of just shoving a mic in people's faces like he's force feeding them an ice cream. A lot more roughing up of Backlund ensues, but he won't quit just yet. Bret now turns to a figure four in his attempts to make Backlund submit, as Lawler accuses him of stealing from Jarrett. Nice touch. Backlund reverses that, but Bret gets out if it and is right back on the leg. Eventually Backlund does mount a comeback, raking Bret's eyes and working the arm to set up for the Chicken Wing. When that fails, he puts a Hammerlock on Hitman instead. Bret manages to get Backlund up for a slam to break his momentum and hits a flurry of moves before actually locking in the Sharpshooter. For some reason though, rope breaks are a thing in this match and Piper gets Bret off Backlund once the latter makes it to the rope. Lame. Backlund manages to hurl Bret into the turnbuckle now and locks in the Chicken Wing, as Bret looks helpless. Piper asks him if he quits but he says no. Finally, the move nobody could get out of is reversed by Bret, who then locks his own Chicken Wing in. Finally, Backlund submits. I wasn't a fan of their match at Survivor Series and this one was even worse: at least it wasn't that long. Bret calls this his worst match on PPV and I can't think of a way to correct him. This was just stodgy, lifeless and boring. At least the Backlund main event push pretty much died here. *
A bunch of fanfare now before our first main event, as Turturro and the kid we saw earlier arrive to make the introductions. Diesel was also interviewed backstage and promised victory over HBK tonight.
Before the match can get started, we solve the Pamela Anderson mystery, as she enters with Diesel, not Shawn, who satisfies himself with Jenny McCarthy of MTV fame. Pam is looking pretty sensational here, I can't lie.
WWF Championship: Diesel (c) def. Shawn Michaels (20:36)
After an initial skirmish before the bell, the match gets started in earnest, as HBK tries for shock and awe but gets whipped hard into the post by Diesel and does his customary over-the-top bump. All Shawn's attempts to get some momentum early on are thwarted, as Diesel just rag dolls him around the ring and uses his size to assert dominance. In a pretty hilarious moment, Shawn gets dropped out of the ring on top of one of the legion of photographers and then strops by throwing him out the way. That experiment hasn't worked. Back in the ring and it's more of the same: Shawn bumping around like a madman to put over his buddy as much as possible (while, sneakily, making it all about him). After some distraction by Sid, Shawn finally gets a foothold in the match with an eye rake and then slides under the ropes into the ring for a sunset flip type manoeuvre. Diesel blocks this though and crotches Shawn on the rope. Ouch! Shawn wrestles back some control and sends Diesel to the outside, before skinning the cat, as is his trademark now following the Rumble. Shawn then flies to the outside with a plancha and has some more fun pushing photographers out of the way. I hope Bill Apter came out of this okay. Shawn shoves Diesel into the steps and focuses on the ribs, continuing the assault back in the ring. Shawn hits a bulldog for two, which might actually be the first near fall here. An elbow drop brings another two count, but an ambitious attempt at suplexing Diesel fails and the big man is back on top. Shawn goes for a sleeper after jumping on Diesel's back and gets him down, but Diesel powers out and backs Shawn into the corner to break it. Some clotheslines and a snake eyes follows. Shawn is in trouble here and eventually begs off to the outside, after Diesel exposes his naked ass to the audience. The ref then tries to get in the middle of things as Sid looks to involve himself and injures his ankle like a dumbass. Shawn takes advantage and hits Diesel with Sweet Chin Music, but the ref is slow to get back in and make the pin, so Diesel kicks out. Sid then whips a knife out (erm, should he of all people be walking around with one of those) and cuts off the turnbuckle cover. This doesn't work out so well though, as Shawn ends up flying into the corner instead of Diesel. After a big boot, Diesel powers up Shawn for the Jackknife and pins him to retain the title, before inviting every celebrity into the ring for a big celebration and fireworks. This was easily the match of the night and moved at a lovely pace, rarely getting boring, but there wasn't much drama around Shawn winning and it felt like they were holding something back. Their second match on PPV a little over a year from now is much better. ***½
Backstage, Shawn and Sid arrive and are mad as hell, promising that it is not over! Well, it wouldn't be for one guy anyway. Shawn blames the referee for busting his ankle and we'll see how it all shakes out on RAW the next night. Clue: it doesn't go so well for Shawn.
It's main event time and we get special, pro football style entrances for Bigelow's and Taylor's entourage. There was also a Salt 'n' Pepa performance but that is cut from the Netflix version of the show.
Lawrence Taylor def. Bam Bam Bigelow (11:45)
Stare down to begin, as physically, Taylor looks more than a match for Bigelow. Bam Bam shoves him in a call back to the Rumble, and we're away. LT responds with a slap to Bigelow and then powers him out of the ring. Bigelow tries to recover, but LT bulldogs him for two and then hits a bunch of forearm smashes. These form about 90% of his offense but they look good and stiff. A fracas nearly breaks out between the Million Dollar Corporation and the Pro Team on the outside, after which Bigelow takes some control. After grinding him down, Bigelow can't keep the momentum and LT powers back. Bigelow's experience is too much, however, which results in LT getting caught in a Boston Crab. Bigelow transitions to a leg lock but LT makes it to the rope. Bigelow tries for more submissions but can't keep Taylor down, and the latter hits a decent-looking suplex as both men are down. Bigelow eventually makes it up and connects with the moonsault, but hurts his knee in the process. That's a pretty obvious attempt to protect Bigelow in defeat. LT hits a wild looking suplex for two, before Bigelow takes control again and gets a near fall off a flying headbutt. Bigelow gets in the referee's face now, losing focus. LT recovers and hits a bunch more forearm smashes, finishing with one from the second rope to pin Bigelow and win the match. This was fine but as a WrestleMania main event, totally forgettable. LT did a good job overall but he couldn't do much in there and some of his stuff looked actively clumsy. I suppose it could have been worse. **
Post-match, Bigelow is chastised up the aisle by DiBiase, while Lawrence Taylor celebrates in the ring with the pros and his son. The show ends pretty abruptly there without any wrap-up or highlights, as we usually see at WrestleMania.
Overall
Is this the worst WrestleMania? No, there's a few highlights on the card and it's a much easier sit than II, IV or IX. Unfortunately, it is probably the least memorable WM event of all time, with nothing on the show really meaning anything: there was one title change, Bigelow leaves the company before the end of 1995 anyway, the Sid/Shawn deal doesn't happen until RAW and we almost never go back and reflect on the show again. From the production side of things, there's a bunch of errors and issues too. The show could just as easily be any other PPV: it doesn't feel like WrestleMania. 4/10.
