The coverage of the grandest stage continues as PWP’s Eron Ramadanov lays out in his opinion, a very underrated event; WrestleMania 7.
Superstars and Stripes forever was the slogan for WrestleMania 7 and it fits perfectly. Before I watched the show on the WWE Network, I tried to remember any matches from this card, but the only one that came to mind right away was the retirement match between Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage. Other than that match, there aren’t really any “classics” from WrestleMania 7, but as an overall show, I feel is very underrated and almost forgotten by wrestling fans new and old.
With WrestleMania 7 coming from the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, it was jam-packed with wrestling fans from all over, as well as celebrities such as Willie Nelson (who sang the National Anthem), Donald Trump, Chuck Norris, Henry Winkler, and more. But WWE also had Alex Trebek, Regis Philbin and Marla Maples as backstage announcers throughout the night.
It’s safe to say that WrestleMania 7 was filled with stars and stripes.
Originally, WrestleMania 7 was suppose to be held Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but due to ticket sales, WWE was forced to move to a smaller venue, as they wouldn’t have been able to fill an stadium that could hold over 100,000 people. There was some speculation that the reasoning behind the move was due to the terror threats being made against Sgt. Slaughter, as he was portraying an Iraqi sympathizer. Rumors have it that WWE was concerned and moved as it was much safer to be in a smaller arena.
Another interesting fact about WrestleMania 7 is that it had a number of different commentators along side Gorilla Monsoon, such as Bobby Heenan, who was in and out of the announcer’s booth, Lord Alfred Hayes, Jim Duggan and Regis Philbin. WrestleMania 7 was the first WrestleMania in history to not be called by Jesse “The Body” Ventura as a color commentator.
Going into WrestleMania 7, the “co-main events” were Hulk Hogan going up against Sgt. Slaughter for the WWE Championship. Going along with the American theme of this WrestleMania, Slaughter was billed as a “turncoat” by Gorilla Monsoon throughout the night, as Hulk Hogan was playing the role of the Mr. America (which he oddly plays in the mid-2000s).
Leading into this match, Sgt. Slaughter put together a tremendous promo backstage, that is sorely missed in today’s day of professional wrestling, as he channeled his intensity and came across as the perfect heel to the superman version of Hulk Hogan. As for the match itself, it wasn’t very special. Granted, it told a good story, as the evil foreigner was battling the armed-forces loving, middle American. Slaughter dominated most of the match, but of course, Hogan made his epic comeback at the end, crimson mask in all.
Hogan delivered his signature big boot and leg-drop to regain the WWE Championship and defeat the “evil” Sgt. Slaughter.
As for the other co-main event, that came along at about the mid-way point of the show between the Ultimate Warrior and the “Macho King” Randy Savage, who were putting their careers on the line in a retirement match.
It all started with the Macho King Randy Savage was vying for the title that he had lost to Hogan at WrestleMania 5 and felt like he deserved a title shot, so he began prodding the Warrior to give him a title shot. Warrior refused and instead Slaughter received the shot.
At the Royal Rumble 1991, Savage stuck his nose into the match and his valet Queen Sherri cost Warrior the title as Slaughter defeated the champion by pin after Savage hit him with his golden cane. Warrior left the ring to chase after Savage following his loss and over the next few weeks their feud began to build, which hit a climax when Warrior challenged the Macho King to a retirement match at WrestleMania 7, which Randy Savage ultimately accepted.
The entrances for this match were odd, as for the first time maybe ever, the Ultimate Warrior walked to the ring, instead of running, which Bobby Heenan made a big deal of. As Savage made his way to the ring, Gorilla and Heenan noticed that Miss Elizabeth was in the crowd, ready to watch this confrontation between Savage and Warrior.
The match itself was a good story, as Savage kept control for most of it, but in the end, Warrior found the strength from the “gods” above and came out victorious, which led to the “retirement” of Randy Savage. But the best part of this entire show was the emotional make-up of Miss Elizabeth and Randy Savage, after Sherri attacked Savage for losing the match. To this day, this might be the one of my favorite moments in WrestleMania history, as the two finally got back together, which led to hundreds of fans crying in the audience. Just an awesome moment, indeed.
Another key moment in this match was the WrestleMania debut of the Undertaker against “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. Obviously, we know now that this would be the beginning of something special, as the Undertaker would go on to have the greatest streak in sports entertainment history. The match was quick, but the important was endless.
WrestleMania also saw an unbelievable amount of tag team matches, as this was probably the best time in wrestling history for the WWE tag team division.
WrestleMania 7 saw the changing of the WWE Tag Team Championships, as the Hart Foundation dropped the titles to the Nasty Boys, managed by Jimmy Hart, in an above average match-up. We also saw a squash match for the Legion of Doom as they destroyed Power & Glory, managed by Slick. And we received an international match-up between Demolition, accompanied to the ring by Master Fuji losing to Japanese legends, Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao, as there was a huge Japanese demographic in attendance that night in Los Angeles. And not to be forgotten, the opener, The Rockers defeating one half of the Heenan Family, The Barbarian and Haku in a exciting match-up.
Fear not, as WrestleMania 7 also saw it’s share of odd, gimmick matches such as a blindfold match between Rick “The Model” Martel and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. This feud was actually very well developed, and had an amazing backstory, as Rick Martel “blinded” Roberts with his cologne, “Arrogant”. Roberts could see for weeks, which led to Roberts proposing this match, after he regained visibility. The match was fun in spirit, but I believed it would have been one of the best matches of the night they allowed Martel and Roberts wrestle, instead of follow each other around the ring for 10 minutes. Overall though, this was an amusing segment.
Speaking of well developed stories, we also got the feud between Virgil and Ted DiBiase, after Virgil finally broke away from underneath the control of the Million Dollar Man. This match was good, but it was clear that Virgil just didn’t have what it takes to be a singles star. Granted, at WrestleMania 7 he was somewhat over, but a lot of that has to do with the hatred of DiBiase, and that he was associated with Roddy Piper. In the end, Virgil picked up the victory via count-out, but it was a bit lack-luster to be honest.
I can’t forget the Intercontinental Championship match between Mr. Perfect, managed by Bobby Heenan, and the Big Boss Man. Due to my age, I only thing of the Big Boss Man as a member of the Corporation in the late 90s, and forget that he was given a mid-main event push as a singles competitor. This match was good, but got even better when Andre The Giant made a surprise return to help the Big Boss Man out with Heenan at ringside. Honestly through, it was a bit sad to see Andre like that, as he was barely mobile, and had a tough time getting around. But once again it was nice to see Andre The Giant. The Big Boss Man won via disqualification, which meant that Mr. Perfect remained the Intercontinental Champion.
The rest of the card was average and had a bunch of squashes:
– “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich def. Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart)
– British Bulldog def. The Warlord (w/Slick)
– Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) def. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
– The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) def. Tito Santana
After watching this WrestleMania, I feel like it’s forgotten, when it’s actually one of the better ones of the 90s. One of the components I really liked about this WrestleMania and time period is the volume of managers; the show was filled with Jimmy Hart, Bobby Heenan and Slick, along with Sensational Sherri, General Adnan, and Paul Bearer. That’s has truly become a lost art in today’s world of professional wrestling, as there are almost no great managers besides Paul Heyman.
I due reccoemmed this WrestleMania if you’re in the mood to watch some old school, WWE wrestling.
Thanks for reading, everyone! Be sure to check out WrestleMania’s 1-6 on Pro Wrestling Powerhouse and all the future reviews coming up as we continue our road to WrestleMania.
