WWF WrestleMania X (Version II)

Original Airdate: March 20, 1994

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Opening Match: Bret Hart v Owen Hart: Feeling out process to start, with Owen doing some ridiculously over the top gloating (in a good way) over even the smallest of advantages. Bret escapes a waistlock by dumping his baby brother to the outside, serving to bruise Owen's ego more than anything else, and the younger Hart reacts by slapping his older brother across the chops. Bret refuses to get rattled, and calmly outwrestles Owen on the mat, with the younger Hart forced to use the hair to take control. He tries a cross corner whip, but Bret avoids the collision, and rolls Owen up for two. He grounds Owen in an armbar, so Owen again resorts to a cheap escape, instead of wrestling his way out, like Bret has been doing. Criss cross ends in Bret hitting a monkeyflip, and he sends Owen over the top with a clothesline. Bret drags his little brother back inside, and a frustrated Owen starts shoving at him, so this time Bret slaps him across the face, and follows up with a schoolboy for two. Crucifix gets two, but another criss cross ends badly when Owen pops off a spinheel kick. The young Hart is quick to put the boots to his older brother, and he dumps Bret to the outside to ram into the post. He bring Bret right back in for a cross corner whip, and a backbreaker sets up a camel clutch. Bret escapes, so Owen plants him with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for two, then tries a 2^nd rope twisting bodypress, but Bret rolls through for two. Owen cuts him off by diving on with a reverse chinlock, but an attempt at a slam sees him get toppled for two. Owen with a vertical suplex, but Bret counters to a German suplex, so Owen reverses into a bridging version for two. Legdrop gets two, but another attempt at a vertical suplex is countered by the Hitman with an inside cradle for two. Tilt-a-whirl slam, but Owen counters with a well executed tombstone piledriver, and he goes up with a flying splash - only for Bret to roll out of the way! Owen tries to keep control, but Bret is ready with an inverted atomic drop, and a clothesline for two. Russian legsweep gets two, and a backbreaker sets up a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. The execution here has been flawless thus far. Owen fires back with a leg-feed enzuigiri, and tries to capitalize with the Sharpshooter, but Bret is able to block. Owen with a double-underhook cradle for two, but the force of the kick out sends him to the outside, so Bret dives with a plancha - hitting it, but also landing badly on his knee in the process. Bret has a noticeable limp now, which is a nice callback to the angle from the Royal Rumble. Inside, Owen is able to take control by swiping at the leg, and he goes to work on it - even going so far as to mock Bret's pain as he uses the post on the knee. Figure four looks to put the Hitman away, but Bret manages to reverse, and they're in the ropes. Unfortunately for the Hitman, the knee is too battered for him to capitalize, and Owen keeps hammering it in the corner. Bret pops off his own leg-feed enzuigiri to avoid another corkscrew legwhip, and a cross corner whip sends Owen chest-first into the buckles. Bret follows up with a habitual legdrop (nicely selling the leg on impact) for two, and a bulldog gets two. Piledriver connects, but the knee is so battered at this point, that by the time he's able to cover, it only gets two. He powers through a vertical superplex for two, but he's moving very slowly now, and Owen is able to fight off a sleeper attempt with a mulekick. That allows the Rocket to slap on the Sharpshooter, and Bret is far away from the ropes. Jerry Lawler enthusiastically cheering him on in the background is a great touch. Bret is able to muster a reversal, but Owen is in the ropes, and the knee gives out anyway. Bret tries a cross corner whip, but Owen reverses - only to hit boot on the follow-up charge. That allows Bret to try a victory roll, but Owen counters into a cradle, and he gets the pin at 20:21. That was quite the shocker, at the time. For a match that's over twenty years old, this totally holds up. It isn't state of the art, but it's just a perfectly worked, perfectly told, and totally timeless story. Tremendous psychology, exemplary selling, a memorable finish - this remains one of my all time favorite matches, and a masterpiece.  ***** (Original rating: *****)

Mixed Tag Team Match: Doink the Clown and Dink v Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon: Well, they can't all be five-star classics. Doink starts with Bigelow, and the Beast from the East knocks him around with shoulderblocks, and a dropkick. Bodyslam sets up a senton splash, but Doink dodges, and he cross corner whips Bam Bam. I never noticed as a kid, but it's really obvious to my adult eyes that this Doink is not the same guy from 1993. Tags all around, and Dink dodges some offense from Luna, and gives her a smack on the ass for good measure. Luna responds with a straddling ropechoke, but a second one misses, and Dink drops an elbow for two. Luna has enough of his shenanigans, and lays in with a kick, then delivers a bodyslam to set up a flying splash, but Dink dodges. Tags all around again, and Doink hits a charging Bigelow with a drop-toehold, but ends up getting clotheslined over the top. That brings Dink in, and he uses his size and speed to evade both heels - allowing Doink time to recover. He tries a sunset flip on Bigelow, but gets countered with a seated senton splash, but Bam Bam misses a charge in the corner. Doink capitalizes with a DDT, but the Whoopee Cushion misses, and Bigelow blasts him with a pair of clotheslines. Doink tries a saito suplex, but Bigelow topples him for two, and he goes up for the flying headbutt - finishing with it at 6:11. This was actually much better than you'd expect (or even than I remember) with all four working hard, and no resting. ** ¼ (Original rating: ¾*)

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Randy Savage v Crush: Savage takes advantage of the stipulations by attacking Crush in the aisle during the entrances, but an attempt at a piledriver on the floor is countered with an inverted atomic drop. Crush adds a tilt-a-whirl slam out there, and a press-drop across the guardrail finishes Macho at 0:46. So now, Randy's got sixty seconds to get into the ring, or the match is over. Who came up with that, I wonder? I mean, I've seen hundreds of falls count anywhere matches, and this is literally the only one where that's a rule. Mr. Fuji takes a cheap shot to try and keep Savage from beating the count, but Randy gets in at the last moment, and Crush goes right back to work. Tree of woe allows him to abuse the Macho Man in the corner, but using a handful of salt backfires, and Randy is able to pop off a series of jabs. Elbowsmash puts Crush down, and Savage comes off the top with a flying axehandle. Bodyslam sets up the Flying Elbowdrop, but that doesn't even warrant a cover. Even Vince is, like, WTF? Instead, Savage pushes him to the outside and pins him out there at 4:31. I'm pretty sure the inside of the ring qualifies as 'anywhere,' so I have no idea what they were going for there, from a kayfabe perspective. Crush beats the count with Fuji's aid, but Savage is right on him with a ropechoke - only to get backdropped over the top. Crush follows, but eats post, and Macho serves up a side of steps as well. He's a good host. Into the crowd, Crush lands a superkick, but a piledriver is countered with a backdrop on the floor! They brawl backstage, where Savage throws Crush into a metal door for the pin at 8:09. He heads back for the ring, but then decides he needs a little insurance policy first - going back to hang Crush upside-down from some scaffolding, and leaving him hanging for the win at 9:44. This would actually be Savage's last ever televised match in the WWF, a fact I never realized until recently. Like, seriously, he was with the WWF for over six more months, and they couldn't get him a single TV match in that time? No wonder he left! Not exactly a great final note to go out on, but at least HE wasn't the one left hanging upside-down backstage, I suppose. Some decent bumps from Savage here, though this probably would have been a lot better either as a straight match, or without the sixty second rule. * ¾ (Original rating: *)

WWF Women's Title Match: Alundra Blayze v Leilani Kai: Kai wrestled in the title match at the first WrestleMania as well, which always made her seem ancient to me as a kid. In reality, she was only thirty four at the time (only a mere four years older than Blayze), but the promotion had changed so much since 1985 that it seemed like she was from a different era entirely. Compare that to today, where there are a good handful of guys who worked both WrestleMania 23 and WrestleMania 33, and it isn't strange or even notable. Kai clotheslines her down right away, but misses a charge in the corner, and gets sunset cradled for two. Criss cross allows Alundra a sunset flip for two, but Kai drops her with a two-handed chokeslam, followed by a bodyslam for two. Blayze fires back with a rana for two, so Kai puts her through the wringer with a pair of no-release snapmares, and a trip over the top. Back in, Kai hits a hairwhip slam, and a butterfly suplex gets two. Blayze fires back with a clothesline, and a spinkick leads to a vertical suplex for two. Alundra with her own two-alarm no-release snapmare, and the bridging German suplex retains at 3:26. Kai may not have been as old as she looked, but she was moving horribly here. ½* (Original rating: ¾*)

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Quebecers v Men on a Mission: The champs sneak attack, and isolate Mabel, but he shrugs them off with a double-clothesline, and the dust settles on Pierre and Mo to start. Mo hits a bodypress for two, and then tags out to Mabel for a drop-toehold/legdrop combo. You can guess which guy hit what part. Tandem elbowdrop gets two, but Jacques comes in to put the boots to Mo, and the champs cut the ring in half on him. To this day, I have to take my (mountie) hat off to the Quebecers for their neat double teams. Mo is able to hit Pierre with a somersault senton during a criss cross, but Jacques cuts off the tag, and Pierre comes off the top with a flying legdrop - only to miss! That's enough for the real tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Mabel misses an avalanche, allowing the champs to deliver a tandem vertical suplex, but the Quebec Crash only gets two! The champs keep doubling up on Mabel, but he runs them into each other, and plants a spinheel kick on Pierre to allow the tag to Mo. MOM look to finish with their tandem stacked splash in the corner, but the champs are able to bail before getting pinned, and they're counted out in the process at 7:43. Much better than it had any right to be, as the Quebecers carried things nicely with their tandem stuff, and the match didn't overstay its welcome. The finish sucked though, unfortunately. ** ½ (Original rating: *)

WWF Title Match: Yokozuna v Lex Luger: Mr. Perfect acts as the special guest referee for this one, with Donnie Wahlberg as the guest ring announcer, and Rhonda Shear as the guest timekeeper. Yoko tries to talk down to him at the bell, but Lex isn't having it, and slugs away. He starts throwing clotheslines, but can't knock the champion down, and ends up on his ass. Yokozuna tries an elbowdrop, but Lex dodges, and a right hand knocks the big man to the outside. Luger follows for a pair of smashes into the steps, and he hits a flying bodypress for two on the way back in! Elbowdrop connects for two, but Yoko topples him for two during a bodyslam attempt, and the champ stomps him down. Yokozuna exposes a top turnbuckle, but Lex gets him off track by starting to fight back, so Yoko slows things down with a nervehold. After an extended period of time, Luger fights free, but runs into a shoulderblock during a criss cross, and it's right back to the hold. This thing is just dying with these extended restholds. Yoko dumps his challenger to the outside to try for a countout, but Luger beats it, so Yokozuna wallops him with a chop, and goes to the nervehold again. Dear lord. And, it's not like we're talking about just a quickie to catch a breather - they're literally each minutes long. And, to make matters worse, Luger's selling of it is basically just sitting there, and looking bored. Well, I feel him on that one, at least. Lex finally escapes for real, but runs into a belly-to-belly suplex, and Yoko looks badly winded here. How do you blow up after spending the bulk of the match resting? Yokozuna tries using the exposed turnbuckle, but Lex reverses, and he drills the champion with clotheslines. Bodyslam hits, and a jumping forearm smash knocks Yokozuna out, but here comes Jim Cornette. Luger takes him out, so Mr. Fuji hops in, but Lex deals with him as well. With the manager's neutralized, Luger covers, but Perfect doesn't want to count with the bodies littering the ring. He tries to clear the ring, but Luger is understandably frustrated since he has the match all but won, and tries to get Perfect to count. He makes the mistake of getting physical with the referee, however, and we have a disqualification at 14:40. WrestleMania IX karma, baby! This is pretty much the sole blemish on this show, as it's overlong, lacked the energy of the SummerSlam encounter, and featured a terrible finish on top of things. But, at least it served a purpose from an angle development perspective (and set the stage for the main event), as opposed to some pointless undercard stinker. -* (Original rating: -* ½)

Adam Bomb v Earthquake: Manager Harvey Wippleman has a confrontation with ring announcer Howard Finkel during the introductions, which leads to Bomb getting physical with Finkel, which in turn leads to Earthquake attacking with a belly-to-belly suplex. He adds a scoop powerslam, and the Earthquake Splash finishes at a brisk 0:32. This was rushed due to time constraints, as I'm guessing the previous match ran long. I bet whoever was supposed to give the go home signal must have fallen asleep at the controls, like most everyone else watching that debacle. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Razor Ramon v Shawn Michaels: I'm guessing some of you may have heard of this one, yes? Reversal sequence starts us off, ending in Ramon hitting a chokeslam, and a criss cross ends in Michaels returning fire with a swinging neckbreaker. He tries following up with a turnbuckle smash, but Ramon reverses - only for a charge to end in the Bad Guy taking a bump to the outside, where Diesel lays him out with a clothesline! The referee catches him, however, and Big Daddy Cool is ejected. With Diesel gone, Ramon corner whips Michaels into a flip on the turnbuckles, and a clothesline sends HBK over the top. Razor follows out to pull up the floor mats, but Shawn goes to the eyes before he can do anything with it, and they head back in. Ramon wins a criss cross, and tries for the Razor's Edge, but Michaels counters by backdropping him over the top - right onto that exposed concrete! Shawn drags the ladder down the aisle, but Razor slugs it away from him before he can get it inside. Ramon picks it up, but Shawn thinks fast - using a baseball slide to send the ladder crashing into the champion! Michaels adds a smash into the steps, and he gets the ladder inside for the first time - using it to bash the Bad Guy in the stomach with! Again, but Razor is still crawling around, so Michaels ups the ante by slamming the ladder down across the Bad Guy's back! He STILL won't take the hint, so Shawn ups the ante again by pitching the ladder at a vertical Ramon, and that's seemingly enough to finally stifle him. Shawn climbs, but Razor pulls his tights down to stop him from reaching the gold, and Michaels is forced to abandon his climb attempt. He hits Razor with a flying elbowdrop off of the ladder instead, and a bodyslam sets up the iconic flying splash off the ladder! The camera angle on that one was just perfect. Shawn climbs, but a battered Razor is able to tip the ladder over, and Michaels takes a bump across the top rope. The crowd doesn't quite know what to make of all this, but they know they like it. Criss cross ends in a double knockout spot, and both men are left looking up at the lights. Shawn is up first, and tries whipping Ramon into a corner leaning ladder, but Razor reverses, and HBK takes a bump into the ladder, and over the top! Ramon follows to the outside, chasing Michaels around the ring with ladder shots, and he sends HBK flying into it with a catapult out there! Back in, Ramon bashes Shawn with the ladder again - triggering another over the top bump from the challenger. With the ring clear, Razor decides to make his first climb attempt of the match, but a tenacious Michaels comes off the top rope with a flying axehandle to knock him off - only for the ladder to tip over in the process, and land right on Michaels! Unbelievable timing here. Both guys stagger up, and end up climbing opposite sides of the ladder, leading to a slugfest at the top! Razor manages to win by slamming Shawn down, but the ladder tips in the process, and Ramon crashes to the canvas. He dusts himself off for another climb, but Shawn has recovered enough to dropkick him off - the ladder left teetering ominously at center ring. Shawn crawls over and give it a shove to tip it onto Ramon, then blasts the Bad Guy with a Superkick! The ladder is bent and beat up by this point, but this isn't like today's versions of these matches, where they have a dozen of them scattered around the ring. I'm not even sure if they had a backup on hand. Shawn with a piledriver, and he climbs up onto the top rope while leaning against the ladder, then rides it down into a splash on Ramon! Shawn makes another climb, and he very nearly pulls it off this time, before Ramon manages to tip the ladder over - Michaels falling into the ropes, and ending up tied up in them! That's a complex spot to pull off there. With Shawn tied up, Razor makes another climb, and despite Michaels' desperate attempt to free himself, he can't stop the Bad Guy from victory at 18:49! Unbelievable! This one might seem tame to newer fans who grew up in the era of Money in the Bank and TLC, but without this, those don't exist. This is, without a doubt, one of the most influential matches in wrestling history, and though the bumps aren't quite as big or crazy as more modern versions, the storytelling and psychology are generally far superior. Most modern ladder matches are basically little more than spot fests. This actually used the high spots and bumps as tools to tell a story, as opposed to being the story. A total game changer. It's rare enough to see one match that could be called a bonafide masterpiece, but two in the same afternoon? ***** (Original rating: *****)

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Yokozuna v Bret Hart: Roddy Piper is the special guest referee for this, with Burt Reynolds as the guest ring announcer, and Jeanie Garth as the guest timekeeper. What do you think the likelihood of Burt and Mark Wahlberg discussing this show on the set of Boogie Nights is? 'Hey, yeah kid, I met your brother this one time at this wrestling thing in New York.' Bret is still limping from the opener, but Yoko doesn't show any mercy, attacking before the bell. He hammers the Hitman, and a bodyslam connects, but Bret brings the fight to the monster with right hands. Dropkick connects, but a second one doesn't, and Yoko stomps his challenger. Headbutt sets up a splash, but Hart rolls out of the way, and starts throwing rights to try and rattle the champion. Headbutt of his own manages to knock the big man off of his feet, but it knocks Hart down as well, and Bret doesn't have a follow-up. Criss cross sees Bret launch another attack with right hands, and this time manages to actually put him down for two - Cornette pulling referee Piper out to stop the count! Off of some punches? Roddy isn't some tame normal official, however, and he knocks Cornette out, but the save has allowed Yokozuna to recover, and he chokes the Hitman on the mat. Legdrop hits, and Yoko tosses Hart over the top to the outside to try for the countout. Piper is kinda fast on his count, but Hart still beats it inside, so Yokozuna goes for the kill with an avalanche - only to miss! That allows Hart to dive with a 2^nd rope flying bulldog, but it only gets two. 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop gets two, and a hangman's clothesline is worth two. 2^nd rope flying clothesline, but Yokozuna catches him in a belly-to-belly suplex, and it's time for the Banzi Drop! He drags Hart into the corner to finish off, but ends up slipping off the ropes, and Bret dives on top for the pin at 10:33! Not either mans finest hour from a workrate perspective, but Bret had already given us enough on that front tonight anyway. Overall, it all totally works though, and the victory celebration after the bell still remains one of my all time favorite moments in wrestling history. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

BUExperience: You know, it’s kind of weird, because this one used to almost universally make everyone’s short list of best WrestleMania’s, but then somewhere over the last decade or so, it started slipping down the list, and today doesn’t seem to draw the same giddy enthusiasm it once did.

Well, that’s not the case with me.

It’s still got an almost unheard of two five-star matches on it – one of which is a total revolutionary game changer. Two matches at that level was crazy enough in 1994, and even today is far from an ordinary occurrence. It’s also got a great atmosphere, great storytelling, and still resonates on an emotional level, even all of these years later. I mean, how often do you get a show that not only hits it out of the park in the ring, but also in almost every other aspect of the production? And, yes, obviously there are some glaring negatives, but they’re easy to overlook because they’re so drastically outweighed by the enormous positives. It’s a sentimental favorite, and for my money, the best WrestleMania of all time – bar none.

I don’t think it would be veering into hyperbole to go as far as to say that this is not only the best WrestleMania, but also the best show this promotion has ever produced, and perhaps the best show in the history of the entire art form.

*****