WrestleMania VII

Legacy Review

WrestleMania VII

March 24, 1991 from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, except the two matches Heenan manages (this is Heenan's last show as a manager)

We're in the immediate post-Gulf War period and the show's theme is "Stars and Stripes Forever". It was originally supposed to be at the LA Coliseum but, depending on who you believe, they either didn't sell enough tickets or had major security problems. Probably both. Regardless, the Sports Arena is not a bad venue, if a bit smallish for WM, and the crowd is red hot all night long.

The Rockers def Haku & The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) in 10:33- Hacksaw Jim Duggan is on commentary for Heenan. The Rockers were supposed to come into this show as tag champs but the infamous broken rope match killed it. Shawn and Haku start. Shawn tries to juke but Haku gets him with a kick. He catches Shawn in a bear hug and dumps him in the corner. Shawn turns the jets on and gets Haku down with a shoulder tackle. The Rockers do their double elbow double team, but Barbarian comes in and murders them both with clotheslines. The Rockers duck a second one, and give Barbarian a superkick party. The heels regroup. Reset with Janetty and Barbarian. Janetty gets up on Barbarian's shoulders, then Shawn comes in and dropkicks Barbarian in the back to send Janetty flipping over him! After a tag Haku levels Janetty with a .8 Flair chop. Janetty mounts up to try the same spot as before, but the ref stops Shawn coming in and Barbarian drapes Janetty throat first over the top rope in a sick looking spot. Janetty goes face in peril. Double cross body with Haku! But Haku keeps him from tagging. Janetty is in mega selling mode. He gets a boot up in the corner on Barbarian, but tries a dive off the second rope and Barbarian catches him and twists it into a powerslam! Barbarian goes for a headbutt of the top rope, but Janetty dodges and gets the hot tag! Shawn starts the mounted punches on Haku, then sees Barbarian coming and twists into a reverse crossbody. Donnybrook! Janetty dropkicks Barbarian out of the ring. The Rockers hit Haku with the dropkick/crossbody combo off the top ropes for the 3! Absolutely tremendous speed vs power tag wrestling. This is one of the best openers, and one of the most underrated matches in Wrestlemania history. It's also the Rockers' last major match before their big breakup angle in the fall. ***3/4

The Texas Tornado def Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart) in 3:11- Tornado is coming off an IC title run the second half of '90 but the fuel in his push tank was just about empty. Bravo with the Suzuki-Gun as Tornado's getting in. He clotheslines Tornado over the top and out while he still has his robe on. Back in Tornado ducks a punch, hits an atomic drop and a clothesline. Bravo blocks the claw and hits an ugly inverted atomic drop. Side suplex! But Tornado kicks out! He catches Bravo off the 2nd rope with the claw. The discus punch finishes it. They got a lot of back and forth in for the time they got and kept the pace up. *

The British Bulldog def The Warlord (w/Slick) in 8:15- Simple setup for this match: Warlord said no one could break his full nelson. Bulldog said he could. Warlord gets the early edge. Shoulderblock standoff. Bulldog turns on the jets and gets Warlord down and out of the ring. Bulldog gets a crucifix but Warlord drops him. Bear hug. Bulldog powers out quickly. Warlord counters a dive and clotheslines Bulldog across the top rope. Forearm tradeoff. Warlord with a scoop belly to belly! Bulldog comes back but takes forever in chopping Warlord down. He goes for a piledriver, Warlord counters it, Bulldog counters the counter into a sunset flip, Warlord counters the counter of the counter by getting his knees down, but makes the mistake of posing so Bulldog get his legs up to counter all the previous counters for 2. Warlord gets a boot up in the corner. Full nelson! He doesn't lock it in all the way and Bulldog gets out. A shocked Warlord scoops him up for a powerslam, but Bulldog slips out and reverses it, nails his powerslam, and it's over. This is quite an underrated power match. Not really good, but nowhere near as bad as its reputation. Easily Warlord's best match, and the first hint in WWF that Bulldog might end up a pretty good singles wrestler. **1/2

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart) def The Hart Foundation (c) in 12:10- The Nastys jumped over from WCW in December of '90 and for some reason Vince took an instant shine to them. They still had a long way to go, judging by the completely apathetic crowd reaction on their entrance. The Nastys got this title shot by winning a battle royale on weekly TV. Bret and Saggs start. Saggs gets a cheap shot in on a corner break, but it's all Bret after that. Bret even fights off both heels when Knobbs runs in. Knobbs wants Anvil. Anvil no sells some shots in the corner and shoulderblocks Knobbs out of the ring. Knobbs manages to power Anvil into the heel corner, but Anvil counters a backdrop and tags. Bret schools Saggs again, until another Knobbs run in ends with Bret taking a shot in the back of the head and going FIP. The match....slowwwwwwwwwwwwwws.......down. Bret tries his best but it's almost nothing but rest holds from the Nasys. Saggs gets a neckbreaker for 2. Eventually Bret gets a neckbreaker of his own but Knobbs cuts the tag off. After more resting Bret dodges a double team and gets to the corner but Hebner doesn't see the tag. While Anvil and Hebner argue the Nastys get the megaphone, but Knobbs nails Saggs with it and Bret finally gets the real tag. Anvil slams Knobbs into Saggs. Donnybrook! The Nastys crash into each other. Hart Attack on Knobbs! But Hebner for some reason decides to get Bret out instead of counting, allowing Hart to get his motorcycle helmet in. Saggs wallops Anvil with it, drapes Knobbs over, and we have a major upset and new champions. The crowd is in stunned silence. Jimmy Hart's celebration is amazing. This was pretty good when the Harts were in control, less so when the Nastys were (though to be fair the Nastys did sell well for the Harts). The whole reason for the title change was Bret's long-delayed singles push was finally about to begin for real. **1/4 

Blindfold Match: Jake "The Snake" Roberts def "The Model" Rick Martel in 8:34- Back in the fall before Survivor Series Martel attacked Roberts with his Arrogance cologne and "blinded" him in one eye. What better way to get revenge on a guy that half blinded you than challenging him to a match where you're both blinded! Right? This is a weird one. Lots of fumbling around and Roberts using the crowd (who are into the whole thing) to try to find Martel. Silly spot where Martel whips Roberts then tries for a blind backdrop but Roberts is a mile away. They bump butts in the middle of the ring and wildly charge, missing each other. Martel gets a slam and goes for an elbow but again misses wildly. Roberts claps to try to lure Martel in, but ends up falling outside after they collide. Martel follows, manages to get a chair, pokes in the air a bit, then backs into the post, thinks it's Roberts, and hits it with the chair. Back in, Martel manages a backbreaker and puts the Boston Crab on but Roberts powers out. Next contact results in a DDT outta nowhere, and we're done. An interesting experiment, and one that's probably for the best it hasn't been repeated. **

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka in 4:21- The streak begins! Taker gets a bit of a pop on his intro. He was getting over in a hurry and (likely despite plans) would be a face by this time next year. Long staredown. Taker ambushes Snuka when his back is turned and goes through his (at the time) limited offense. As Taker himself said in his interview with Austin, his job wasn't to have 4+ star matches, it was to get the character over. And he did. He does whip out the flying clothesline. Big suplex from the apron back into the ring. Taker misses an elbow and Snuka gets some token offense in, all no sold. Taker catches Snuka off the top rope, hits the Tombstone, and it's over. 1-0. There looked to be a lot of communication issues in this match as Taker had to reposition or reset Snuka on several occasions, including the finish. *1/4

Career Ending Match: The Ultimate Warrior def "Macho King" Randy Savage (w/Sensational Queen Sherri) in 20:47- Savage made repeated demands of Warrior for a title shot and all were rebuffed, even when Savage had Sherri offer her body up on a platter, so Savage cost Warrior the title at the Rumble. An enraged Warrior demanded this stipulation. Before the match Heenan spots Elizabeth in the crowd. For the first and only time ever to sell the stakes, Warrior WALKS to the ring. Heenan: "Is that THE Ultimate Warrior? Then why isn't he running 150 miles an hour like that insane fool usually does?" Warrior's also taken some ring gear lessons from his old rival Rick Rude: drawings of him and Savage are on both his coat and kneepads, and the back of his trunks say "It means much more than this" with a picture of the WWF title belt. Cautious start. Between the wrestlers' work and commentary I've never seen a match of this type with the stakes sold so well as this one is. Savage gets an advantage but bounces off a shoulderblock. Sherri tries to distract Warrior, but he quickly recovers and throws Savage around like a rag doll. He throws Savage into Sherri! Warrior catches Savage coming off the top rope....and puts him right back down on his feet then slaps him. Mind games! Savage does his classic heel bit of throwing a chair in the ring then ambushing off the distraction, but Warrior was ready for it. Savage dodges a dive in the corner and Warrior flies over the turnbuckles and out. Savage double ax handle off the top to the floor. Sherri gets her shots in. Warrior counters a neckbreaker into a backslide for 2. Another Sherri distraction, and this time Warrior catches Savage coming in. Savage dodges a flying tackle. Double clothesline! Warrior gets a small package but Sherri has Hebner distracted, and Savage gets out at 2. Savage with a high knee, and Warrior falls on top of Hebner. With the ref down Sherri comes off the top rope with the Shoe of Extreme Pointiness +2 but Warrior dodges and Savage gets it. But there's no ref. Warrior decides to chase Sherri instead. Dude, you had your chance, she offered herself willingly. Savage takes advantage and gets a roll up for 2. Savage softens up Warrior a little more and then goes into full murder death kill mode. Savage elbow off the top! Two elbows! Three elbows! FOUR elbows! FIVE ELBOWS! Warrior's chest must be a mass of goo. BUT HE BARELY KICKS OUT! Warrior gets to the ropes and Warriors up. Gorilla press! Big splash! SAVAGE KICKS OUT! We're used to guys kicking out of finishers all the time nowadays, but this was unprecedented back then. Warrior starts to talk to his "gods", wondering if he should walk away (aided by a fantastic job from Monsoon on commentary to explain what's happening). He starts to walk and Savage ambushes him. He goes for the double ax handle off the top to the floor again, but Warrior dodges and he eats guardrail. Warrior: "NOW I KNOW!" Warrior hits, one, two, THREE flying tackles, with Savage flying out of the ring on each one. He drags Savage's carcass to the middle of the ring and pins him with one foot. What a match. And a bit ironic, as this would actually be Warrior's peak as a main event player. His career was almost all downhill from here, while Savage would win the WWF title again in another classic with Ric Flair at WM 8, one of my favorite matches of all time. ****1/2

But it's not over. After the match, Sherri goes nuts on Savage for losing. Elizabeth comes out of the crowd to save him and they reunite in one of the most classic Wrestlemania moments of all time. Not a dry eye in the house. Except Heenan, of course.

Intermission time in the arena means promo time on TV. Still haven't found that segment from the original broadcast where Vince and the Bushwackers make fun of NFL instant replay. I remember it being funny in a cheesy way.

Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao def Demolition (w/Mr. Fuji) in 4:44- This is the very short lived Smash and Crush version of Demolition following Ax's departure from WWF. They've even lost the awesome Rick Derringer theme and have generic heel music instead. Kitao was a former sumo turned pro wrestler, Tenryu is a future All Japan Triple Crown and IWGP Heavyweight champion. This match is part of WWF's alliance with the short lived SWS promotion in Japan. They even ran a few joint shows in the Tokyo Dome. The Demos pull the Suzuki-Gun attack before the bell. Kitao comes back on Crush and no sells shots from Smash. Fuji gets a cane shot in on him. Kitao is face in peril for a while, and his inexperience shows with some very mediocre selling. Finally he gets a clothesline out of the corner and tags. Tenryu gets a good run until he misses a back elbow off the top rope. Kitao stops the Decapitation Device and pushes Crush off the top rope to the floor. An enzuguri and power bomb from Tenryu finish it. This was Demolition's last match before being disbanded. Smash would take on the infamous Repo Man gimmick, while Crush would take some repackaging time off and come back as a babyface Hawaiian surfer dude. 3/4*

WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Big Boss Ban def Mr. Perfect (c) (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 10:46- Lord Alfred Hayes is replacing Heenan on commentary. This all started with Heenan insulting Boss Man's momma, and Boss Man working his way through the Heenan Family (or what was left of it at this point, with Heenan almost done with managing) to get revenge. Perfect is the last one left. Perfect throws his towel at Boss Man. Boss Man wipes his ass with it and throws it back. Boss Man spits. Perfect slaps, and bails. Boss Man follows and slaps him back, with Perfect doing a 360 sell on the floor. Back in he swings Perfect around by his hair. Good speed sequence where Boss Man keeps up with Perfect every step of the way. Classic Perfect double bump off the turnbuckle. Boss Mann pulls out a belt and whips Perfect with it right in front of the ref. Perfect gets a hold of it, wraps it around his fist, and gives Boss Man a gut punch with it. Abdominal stretch. Heenan tries to get the timekeeper to ring the bell. Neck snap. Perfect goes for the Perfectplex but Boss Man counters it into a small package for 2. REVERSE neck snap! That was sick looking. Perfect tries a dive off the top but Boss Man gets his boot up. Perfect 360 sells a buckle shot. Boss Man pulls Perfect's crotch into the post. A Boss Man uppercut in the corner sends Perfect flying 360 degrees over the top and out. Boss Man goes after Heenan. Perfect pushes him into the stairs. Heenan kicks Boss Man while he's down. Andre the Giant makes his way to ringside. Perfect takes the top turnbuckle pad off and it looks like rams Boss Man into it but the cameras are all on Andre. Andre has the IC title belt. Perfect tries to get it, Andre whacks him in the head with it. Boss Man slowly crawls over and covers Perfect but it's just a long 2 count. Haku and the Barbarian run in for the blatant DQ. Perfect does a 360 sell of an Andre punch on the floor. Boss Man and Andre fight off the heels. They were working their way to a really good match, but once Andre came out it was all about him. Plus the cheap DQ finish, which I understand they didn't want to take the belt off Perfect yet (right call), and Boss Man couldn't lose with the way the feud was set up. **3/4

Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) def Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in 3:14- Quake was wallowing in midcard hell following his feud with Hogan while Valentine was in full JTTS mode by this point. Quake hits the powerslam early, that's usually the setup for the Earthquake splash. Valentine dodges a corner charge and lays in with chops and elbows. Quake won't go down. Finally after an elbow off the 2nd rope he does. Valentine tries to put on the figure four but Hart distracts him. Quake gets him from behind. The big elbow drop is followed by the Earthquake splash and the 3. Quake would move into a new program with Jake Roberts that started when he squashed and killed Damien. 1/2*

The Legion of Doom def Power & Glory (w/Slick) in :59- This came out of the #1 contender's battle royale, where LOD eliminated P&G, then P&G pulled LOD out and gave the Nasty Boys the win, so LOD are super pissed off here. More than usual. You wouldn't like them when they're angry. P&G try to ambush at the start. Hawk counters with a double clothesline. All four guys are fighting. Animal catches Roma coming off the top rope and turns it into a powerslam. LOD hits the Decapitation Device and good night. Like with the Harts at WM 6, a quick squash to establish the new #1 contenders/next champions. LOD had only been in WWF a few months but were already super duper mega over. NR

Virgil (w/Roddy Piper) def "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase by countout in 7:41- Virgil ended years of servitude to DiBiase by turning on him at the Rumble, morally assisted by Piper. Piper's on a crutch after a motorcycle accident (which I can never remember if it was real or storyline). Virgil spends most of the match fighting as a boxer rather than a wrestler, bouncing around and sticking and moving. DiBiase jaws with Piper. Virgil catches him from behind and cleans his clock with punches. DiBiase rolls out several times to regroup. He and Piper get arguing on the outside. Virgil flips him back in, then clotheslines him right back out. DiBiase makes the ref tell Virgil to open up his fists. Virgil then wins a basic wrestling sequence and DiBiase is really hot. DiBiase gets a drop toe hold and slams Virgil's face into the mat, finally getting some control. A piledriver gets 2. DiBiase throws Virgil out in front of Piper, then pushes Piper. In retaliation Piper uses his crutch to pull the top rope down on him. DiBiase clocks Piper but doesn't get back in before the 10 and is counted out. DiBiase goes nuts on Virgil, slapping on the Million Dollar Dream. Piper hits him in the back with his crutch to break it up. Sensational Sherri runs into the ring and grabs the crutch. DiBiase uses the distraction to take down Piper and he and Sherri work on Piper's injured knee. After chasing the heels off Virgil tells Piper to use the power of positivity to stand back up. Their rematch at Summerslam is much better. **

The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) def Tito Santana in 1:21- A basic start leads to Santana nailing Mountie with the flying gordita while Mountie was in the middle of a leapfrog, but Mountie falls out of the ring. He and Hart take a double noggin knocker. While Santana is fighting to get him back in Hart slips Mountie the cattle prod, Santana takes it in the gut, and it's done. This feels like it was cut down due to the show running long. 1/4*

With Wrestlemania in LA the guest celebrities for the main event are back. Alex Trebek is the guest ring announcer, Marla Maples is the guest timekeeper, and Regis Philbin jumps into commentary.

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan def Sgt. Slaughter (c) (w/General Adnan) in 20:26- And here we have one of the most controversial feuds in WWF history: American turncoat and Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter vs All-American Hulk Hogan. An interesting twist in this tale is how Slaughter became one of the most hardcore wrestlers ever seen in WWF up to this point. Hardcore for 1991 anyway. That played huge in this match. All night long commentary had been floating the prospect of Slaughter deliberately getting DQ'd or counted out to keep the title, and Slaughter even mentions it in his prematch promo. Hogan chases Slaughter around the ring while he's still got the belt and his entrance gear on. After Slaughter slowly gets ready there's a very cautious start. Long lockup sequence where Hogan pushes Hebner out of the way twice and finally throws Slaughter across the ring. Slaughter takes a huge bump off a shoulderblock and ends up outside. Hogan chases. Adnan hits Hogan in the back, Hogan no sells. Slaughter grabs a chair and hits Hogan with it. Another no sell. Slaughter takes a page out of the Flair playbook by begging off, then taking control with an eye poke. After a bit of a beating Hogan rolls away from an elbow and pops back up. Hogan beats Slaughter from pillar to post for America. Literally to post, as Slaughter takes several headfirst shots into the top turnbuckle and even ring post. But even after all that he slips out at 2 on a cover. Hogan goes up to the second rope. Adnan grabs his foot, but Hogan shoos him away because he's a spot too early. Slaughter catches Hogan coming off but Hogan no sells it and rakes the eyes. Hogan goes all the way up to the top, but now it's time for Adnan's interference. He grabs Hogan's boot and Slaughter gives him the Flair throw. Slaughter clotheslines him out and posts him. Chairshot. Slaughter then takes a TV cable and chokes Hogan with it. Back in Slaughter works the back, then hooks in a Boston Crab. They're right next to the ropes, but stubborn Hogan tries to power out then finally grabs a rope to get out. Slaughter's got Hogan down for a pin but Adnan's distracting Hebner! That's the kind of efficiency that kept the Iraqi army toe to toe with the US. Twice. I wonder if Adnan knew Baghdad Bob? Slaughter goes out to get another chair and nails Hogan in the face with it. Hogan clearly and obviously blades on camera. But he does a good job, and starts bleeding as much as you'll ever see in a pre-Attitude Era WWF match. Camel clutch! Hogan powers out, but Slaughter uses the position to push Hogan face first into the buckles. He gets the Iraqi flag, drapes it over Hogan, and covers for the pin. Hogan Hulks Up, tears the flag up, and it's 3 punches/big boot/legdrop/good night. I know this match generally doesn't get well rated, but I've always liked it. Slaughter was a great bumper, Hogan was motivated, the layout was good, and the added hardcore touches and blood were something you rarely saw in this WWF era. ***

Overall show thoughts: This is still one of my personal favorite Wrestlemanias (a bit nostalgia fueled as this was also my first real exposure to wrestling) and it still stands up today. Is the card to big? Sure. But it's well paced, with the more important matches sprinkled around the squashes in a way that makes sense, and most of the top matches deliver to one degree or another. It was also the closing of an era in a lot of ways, the last WM where Hulkamania was really still HULKAMANIA. By the time 8 rolled around the Hogan act had really started to get stale, and the general downturn in business and thinner roster would start to take its toll for a few years.
OVERALL GRADE: B+