Worst WrestleMania of All Time

   WrestleMania is a time honored tradition in the wrestling world, something that every wrestler aspires to be a part of.  WrestleMania was a gamble and it could have gone either way.  Vince McMahon has always been known to take chances.  It was his father Vince Sr. who did not want to resign Hulk Hogan due to Hogan wanting to do Rocky III.  Fortunately, Vince purchased the WWF from his father and took over, capitalizing on Verne Gagne's lack of foresight on Hulkamania.  

   WrestleMania III is known for being very successful, mostly for the Hulk Hogan/Andre the Giant match but also for the match that stole the show, "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.  WrestleMania IV had the big WWF Championship tournament, WrestleMania V was when the Mega Powers exploded, and WrestleMania VI was the classic Hogan/Warrior confrontation in the Ultimate Challenge.  WrestleMania has always been special but sometimes it falls flat.  Many site WrestleMania IX as the worst and it's definitely in the top 5 among many wrestling fans.  

   

   However, in my opinion, the worst WrestleMania of all time falls to WrestleMania XI.  As I pointed out in a previous blog, 1995 was a horrible year for the WWF.  There wasn't enough good talent and the terrible gimmicks were running a muck.  There is so much wrong with this WrestleMania, it's not even funny!  Despite people blaming it on a smaller venue, no one can deny that it was just plain awful!

WrestleMania XI Card

Allied Powers vs. Jacob & Eli Blu

Intercontinental Title - Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon

Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy

Tag Team Titles - Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart & Yokozuna

Submission Match - Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund

WWF Title - Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels

Main Event - Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor

   Where do I even begin?  I like the team of Lex Lugar and the British Bulldog as the Allied Powers. Also, this was the first mash-up of theme songs done in the WWF.  Jacob & Eli Blu were the Harris Twins, who really did nothing of note in wrestling.  It was a quick squash match that no one cared about.  The Jarrett/Razor match was decent but ruined by a disqualification.  WrestleMania is supposed to end feuds.  In my opinion, matches at WrestleMania should never end in a disqualification or count out.  

  

   They were still in the middle of the Undertaker vanquishing monsters routuine.  They brought Bundy back for this and his ring rust showed.  The only thing I liked about it was the consistency of the feud between Undertaker and Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation.  It was a 6-minute match that ended in a clothesline of all things.  I know Bundy was too big for Undertaker to perform a Tombstone but still, it was a poor match and lackluster finish.  One of the highlights of the night was the Tag Team Championship match.  For weeks, Owen Hart challenged for the titles and insisted he found a tag team partner.  To the surprise of the Smoking Gunns and the fans, it was Yokozuna. Being that my favorite wrestler of all time is Owen Hart, I loved that he won a Title.  I thought his chemistry with Yokozuna was great.

   Bret Hart described his match with Bob Backlund at WrestleMania as one of his worst.  I couldn't agree more!  It was so boring and despite Backlund's crazy character, by this time, things just didn't deliver.  Even Rowdy Roddy Piper as the guest referee couldn't save this match!  It was largely forgettable.  It didn't quite live up to their "Throw In the Towel" match at the 1994 Survivor Series, which was helped by Owen Hart's incredible acting.  Next was the WWF Championship match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels.  This was another highlight, although it's a detriment to the Title when it's not the main event.  This should have closed the show!

   It's time for the Main Event!  I'll give them this; they got a lot of mainstream coverage for this match.  I'm not the biggest football fan, but even I know that as good as Lawrence Taylor was in the past, he wasn't really relevant anymore.  God bless Bam Bam for putting up with this!  They trusted him to make LT look good and Bigelow was known for being a safe worker and dependable. Despite his inexperience in the ring, Taylor did better than expected. Several NFL players supported Taylor, including Ken Norton Jr., Reggie White, & Steve "Mongo" Michael, who would be in WCW later that year as a member of the Four Horsemen, something I'd rather forget. Of course, Bigelow had DiBiase and the rest of the Corporation.  

   The aftermath pretty much killed the remainder of his WWF career.  The embarrassment of losing to a non-wrestler was terrible for both kayfabe and real life, respectively.  He turned babyface soon after by getting kicked out of the Corporation and befriending Diesel.  However, he lost most of the time and just never recovered.  Not to mention, his problems with the Kliq backstage!  Paul Heyman is amazing for being able to turn Bigelow's career around in ECW, treating him as a big deal.  This match didn't deserve to be the main event!  There's almost no way to defend this card.  It's an utter train wreck!  All of these factors make WrestleMania XI the worst WrestleMania of all time!

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