Grilling JR - WrestleMania 9 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

WrestleMania 9

WrestleMania 9 took place on April 4th, 1993 from Ceasars Palace, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was the first WrestleMania ever held outdoors.

Not only was that a first, but this was also your first pay per view in the WWF.

We talked all about this on our first show of this podcast, Leaving WCW for WWF. It's available in our archives, if you want to listen to that. 

Let's revisit some of those topics though, to set the stage for your WWF and WrestleMania debut.

Things started going downhill in WCW once Bill Watts was removed from power, in February of 1993. 

Meltzer reported - The expected major bloodletting at World Championship Wrestling took place in a meeting on 2/2, resulting in a significant changing in the corporate hierarchy including loss of power for both Bill Watts, and more particularly, Jim Ross.

Bill Shaw and Bob Dhue, who were put in charge of the company nearly one year ago from the now-retired Jack Petrik, have taken more of a hands-on approach in recent weeks rather than leaving much of the decision-making to Watts.

They've divided the company into three categories, a pay-per-view division headed by Sharon Sidello, a television division headed by an as yet unnamed individual who is expected to be named this week, and a wrestling product division headed by Watts.

Sidello and the television division head, whose title will be Executive Producer of WCW, will have the final say-so on all matters relating to their divisions including the matches that air on television and on PPV shows.

Since, in reality, television is the most important facet of a wrestling company, the new Executive Producer may wind up as the most powerful front office employee. The Executive Producer apparently will either be Keith Mitchell, David Crockett, Tony Schiavone, Eric Bischoff or someone not currently working in the company at present. Speculation within the company over the weekend is that Mitchell or Bischoff had the best shot at the position. In addition, the largest booking committee in recorded history was put together to put together storylines and decide on who gets pushed.

The official corporate ladder shows Shaw on top as WCW President. Underneath him and answering to him are Dhue, Sidello, the new Executive Producer and Rob Garner (who will head the syndication division). Answering to Dhue will be Watts, Bryan Mitchels (the comptroller) and Dusty Rhodes (head booker). Jim Barnett, Ross and Tim Willet (recently hired from Titan) will work underneath Garner, while the announcers and television show producers (Schiavone, Bischoff, Keith Mitchell and Greg Gagne) will answer to the new Executive Producer. The Event Coordinators (local promoters) will report to Sidello.

What's your memories of these changes taking place?

Meltzer went on to write - Jim Ross, whose official title had been Vice President in charge of television, took the biggest fall of anyone. Ross will be removed as a personality from all TBS shows effective March 1, and will no longer be part of the announcing team on Clashes and pay-per-views with his final major assignments being the 2/21 SuperBrawl III show from Asheville and the 3/7 PPV air date of the January 4 Tokyo Dome card. Ross had been the lead announcer on every Clash since the series began in 1988, and had been part of the announcing team for every pay-per-view event in company history in addition to being voted Announcer of the Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter poll by a wide margin the past five years.

Most sources seem to believe that Watts and Ross took tremendous heat from management because of criticism that all the television shows continue to have a similar look. The decision to replaced Ross as lead announcer, and in fact eliminate him from all TBS broadcasts appears to be related to his falling star in the front office, when the two different demotions should have probably been judged on each's individual merit rather than collectively. I suppose those who look at a wrestling show like the 6 p.m. news may knock Ross because of his accent or because he doesn't look like Bischoff, but that would be missing the point that the stars of a wrestling show are supposed to be the performers.

The announcer is not akin to a news anchorman and unless Schiavone and in particular, Bischoff, are as adept at announcing wrestling matches and getting the points that need to be gotten across to the audience better, this decision makes little sense. Schiavone does come across as less offensive than Ross to those who don't like Ross and there is an argument can be made that he would fit in better in the No. 1 slot (which he occupied on TBS from 1985 to 1989). Ross rubbed some people the wrong way with what many felt was excessive self-promotion on television, but it appears his being replaced may have had more to do with upper management unhappiness regarding the similar looks to all the shows.

Few would argue that when it comes down to announcing a key match, Ross may be the best in the business (the only possible exception being Vince McMahon of those who speak this language, and McMahon comes across on television as more abrasive than Ross) and is definitely the best in the company. Ross being taken off completely and Bischoff's role being expanded is a little harder to justify.

In addition, Ross' decision-making position was eliminated and he was re-assigned into becoming a syndicated television salesman, a position which will entail spending most of his time going around the country making sales calls to local stations to pitch the two syndicated shows. WCW released a revised partial list of announcing assignments starting in March, and Ross' name was listed with Jesse Ventura as hosts of World Wide Wrestling, but I'm told this is far from a definite and if it does materialize, will initially only be a trial run.

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko will become hosts of WCW Saturday Night. Schiavone and Ventura will become the lead announcers on the Clashes and PPV shows. Eric Bischoff and Michael Hayes will take over the Sunday Main Event show. Announcing assignments for WCW Pro Wrestling and Power Hour have yet to be officially announced.

Do you feel that your friendship with Watts had anything to do with that?

What was the reaction from the wrestlers when you were taken off commentary, did they show support for you?

You wrote - him leaving was all about TBS, and nothing to do with anything else. He’d come in, shook up the entire division (in good ways and plenty of bad), literally pissed off the 12th floor balcony when he felt like it, and then left again.

And when he was gone, I was ostracized.

The guy that taught me more than anybody in wrestling was the guy who inadvertently derailed my WCW career. There was absolutely no way the brass was going to consider another “Watts type” wrestling person in the vacant position and—fairly or not—that meant my career in that direction was dead in the water.

During this time, Eric Bischoff was put in charge of WCW.  Is that when you decided it was time to go?

You officially resigned from WCW on February 25th, 1993.

You wrote in your book about leaving WCW - Bill Shaw brought me over to his office and told me about the various gripes he had with Watts: from his bombastic nature, all the way down to WCW booking Cowboy’s son, Erik, as a wrestler.

“Bill Watts has cast a big shadow around here,” he said. “And you’re still standing right under it.” it was like my nearly twenty years in the business didn’t mean anything. I was being judged by another man’s actions.

Shaw continued, “So here’s your options from here on out. You take six weeks off, to let things cool down …”

“I don’t want to …”

“Just hear me out,” he said. “We’ll continue to pay you and you come back when the bad taste is gone out of the place.”

I didn’t want to go anywhere; I knew what it would look like if I followed Watts out the door—even short term. “What’s my other option?” I asked.

“Well, you accept a reassignment. You keep your official title as vice president of broadcasting …”

“But?”

“But you’ll be working in syndication sales, traveling nationwide to market WCW shows to various local TV affiliates across the country,” he said. “You’ll also be working behind the scenes with the announcers on the Sunday WCW show on TBS.”

The show I had created. I felt like Leroy McGuirk’s smoldering testicles.

He continued, “If you take the six weeks, I might be able to get you back on the air when you get back.”

Shaw knew that was the position I wanted to keep most. “How are you going to get me back on the air,” I asked, “when Bischoff specifically said he doesn’t want me calling the shows?”

“You don’t have to worry about Bischoff,” Shaw replied. “He works for me.”

What's your memories of that meeting?

You went on to write - I immediately saw how this would work out. I could have turned the meeting into a confrontation—and he would probably have put me back on the air—but it would have been some Mickey Mouse, obscure, demeaning role, which would not only piss me off, but would piss Bischoff off as well because Eric didn’t want me on anything. I was around since day one and seen as the “old guard,” one of the “wrestling guys.”

Eric wanted a fresh start, and I understood that completely. Ironically, Watts a few months before had wanted me to fire Eric. Eric was our C-announcer who handled the smaller shows and did the “grunt” work in terms of announcing.

“I don’t like him,” Cowboy said. “He’s an asshole. An asshole who answers to you, so get rid of him.”

“What did he do?” I asked.

“Nothing. I need to send a message.”

“Well then, I can’t do it,” I said. “Eric does a good job, and we have no reason to give corporate for firing him.”

Eric stayed. And now I was on the chopping block.

Did you know you wanted to go the WWF right after you left?

You wrote - I needed to be back to where I felt I belonged: on air calling matches and helping the talent get over. I knew that, with Eric in charge, WCW wasn’t going to allow me to do that. So I rang my old friend from Mid-South, Bruce Prichard. When Bruce first came on the scene, Cowboy didn’t like him and didn’t want him in his company. Bruce and I got along great, however, so even though Cowboy was wary I hired Bruce to do the syndication interviews after the Sunday night Tulsa shows. 

Your meeting with Vince took place on March 9th, 1993

We go into great detail about that meeting on our Leaving WCW for WWF show, but talk about your memories of that meeting.

You were still under contract to WCW when you agreed with Vince to come to the WWF. 

You still were doing your radio show at the time. You wrote - When my deal with WWF became official, I wanted to make a big splash with the news. I thought, I’m not going to be a part of the Turner family—except getting their nice checks every other week—so I want to elevate my radio show by opening it up a bit. WCW was a sponsor of Wrestling with Jim Ross, but they didn’t own it. They had no claim to my guest list, and no further claim to me.

I knew WSB wasn’t a minor station, either. WSB was the station in Atlanta, and the second word got out that WWF Chairman Vince McMahon was coming on the show, my phone started ringing. I heard from Jim Barnett and the TBS lawyers, who wanted to know what I was doing; they had the mistaken belief that they owned or controlled my show.

“None of the contracts with the advertisers were in WCW’s name,” I explained. “The deals were all cut between me and the advertisers directly.”

I knew a guy like Bob Hughes, who became a great friend and was in charge of the massive advertising budget of Georgia Power, was irate that WCW were treating me like dirt. WCW couldn’t have moved his advertising from my show with a stick of dynamite. Not a single business cancelled advertising after WWF personalities starting appearing on the show—not least of which was the WWF chairman himself—who came live on air to tell the wrestling world that I was their new signee.

Vince said that I was the business’s premier announcer, and that Christmas had come early for his company. “It’s the equivalent of John Madden jumping from CBS to NBC,” he said.

I got calls and mail from listeners in 37 states who said they were in wrestling heaven because my one-dimensional WCW-centric show was now bringing on the Superstars from “the other side.”

Of course, the WCW lawyers began to push it a little too far, so someone in WCW had to step in; they had to come clean. The reason Jim Ross could jump ship so cleanly was because the management of WCW screwed up. WCW had reassigned me, therefore voiding their own terms and breaking their own contract with me.

I was free to jump and be welcomed with open arms to the WWF.

You also had Vince on your radio show during this time. What's your memories of his appearance?

Let's get to some company news heading into WrestleMania 9

On February 18th, 1993 Kerry Von Erich, former NWA World Champion in fact, at the time he passed, he was the 2nd youngest man to win that title at 24 years old, (Lou Thesz at 21 was the youngest) and former WWF Intercontinental champion committed suicide.

Did you ever meet Kerry, what was your thoughts on his death?

Thoughts on the Von Erich family tragedies?

Have you ever met Kevin?

Kerry's funeral was held on February 22nd and Andre the Giant's funeral was held on February 24th. Very ironic that their funerals were just 2 days apart. About a decade earlier, they were probably 2 of the 5 biggest stars in wrestling

On March 10th, Dino Bravo was murdered in his home. He was shot 7 times in the head and 10 in the torso. What's your thoughts on his death?

In early March, the WWF was involved in 3 lawsuits. Meltzer reported -

McMahon is suing Kevin Wacholz (Nailz). According to the complaint filed in Brown County Circuit Court in Wisconsin, McMahon claimed Wacholz perpetrated a violent attack and assault upon him with great force and violence. As a consequence of the attack, the suit claims, McMahon suffered pain and bodily injury as well as embarrassment and humiliation. 

McMahon also claimed the defendant filed a false police report claiming he had been sexually assaulted and the police report compounded the anguish and humiliation because the police reported was published in various media outlets.

Lawsuit No. 2: James Hellwig (Ultimate Warrior) filed a $5,819,500 lawsuit against Titan Sports Inc., World Wrestling Federation and Vince and Linda McMahon. The 19-page suit was filed about two weeks ago in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Lawsuit No. 3: Vincent K. McMahon and Titan Sports vs. The New York Post and Phil Mushnick, a 13-page document filed February 17, 1993 in U.S. District Court for the state of Connecticut although as of the weekend, I believe neither Mushnick nor the Post had actually been served papers. 

(There was way too many details from lawsuits 2 and 3 to put in here, and I didn't think you'd want them all listed because of how long each one is. If you wanted to review them yourself, it's in the March 8th, 1993 Observer)

Meltzer reported - WWF's presence in Japan will take a major turn for the worst over the next two months. Three things, all unrelated to one another, saw its television syndication (which ran Wrestling Challenge in late night spots in only a few small markets and not in Tokyo) announced as being dropped at the end of this month, WOWOW Channel, which broadcasted edited versions of the PPV shows announced Royal Rumble would be the last one it was doing and JVC, which distributed the videos, canceled its deal as well. 

It is believed another company may pick up the video deal because videos in general are so big. The general reasons for loss of interest was the lack of superstars in Japan that are in the WWF. WOWOW felt Hart vs. Ramon and Hart vs. Michaels meant nothing in Japan. Hogan's return could make the difference in regaining those deals because TV station managers all know Hulk Hogan, but since new schedules have already been announced, if it does happen, it'll take some time. 

Meltzer reported - Add Owen Hart and Ted DiBiase to the injured list. DiBiase suffered a herniated disc and missed all the shows this past weekend. While I haven't heard this from anyone who knows, that injury is serious enough that he'll probably be kept out until Mania because he has to work that match. Hart blew out his knee on 3/8 in a television match against Bam Bam Bigelow. Don't know the severity, but he was in great pain after the match backstage and was put into a knee brace. 

Meltzer reported- On 3/15, Vince McMahon will be honored by the Michael Landon Foundation for his philanthropic contributions to charity. At the same time, the U.S. Justice Department is continuing its investigation. Honkytonk Man called up John Arezzi's radio show on Saturday about this subject unbeknownst to Arezzi, who tried to get him off the subject immediately. Actually this, while being potentially the biggest story in the business of the decade (or it could be not a story at all), is one nobody wants to talk about because nobody except those involved really know what's going on, where it's headed and what the intended end result will be. 

All their info is supposed to be confidential. We just know interviews are continuing. Honky talked about him being flown into New York two weeks ago and being subpoenaed (which shows things are getting more serious) by the government and said he was interrogated by two FBI agents and answered every question with as much truthfulness as possible and "gave them the answers they needed." 

Do you think he was talking about what would become the steroid trial?

Meltzer reported - Several new faces expected in at or after WrestleMania. Luna Vachon will start, most likely as a valet for Shawn Michaels, to feud with Sensational Sherri. Luna shaved her head and is being given a new set of extensions for her role as a bizarro type. Bryan Clark, who works SMW as Night Stalker, was the most impressive of the try-outs in the eyes of those who make decisions, and was offered a spot, although he'll be filling out his SMW commitments until that time. He was scheduled this week to get his new name, costuming, etc. In addition, Kip Sopp and Mike Polchlopec, who worked as the Long Riders for Eddy Mansfield (Kip Winchester & Brett Colt), will start after Mania doing a cowboy tag team gimmick. 

Bryan Clark would become Adam Bomb, Sopp & Polchlopec would become the Smoking Gunns

He later reported Mike Shaw and The Harris Twins would be offered contract. Mike Shaw would become Bastion Booger and the Harris twins were the Blu Brothers

You worked with Mike in WCW, when he was Norman

The March to WrestleMania took place on March 28th, 7 days before WrestleMania. It was taped on March 7th in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It did a 3.3

Yokozuna beat Randy Savage with a belly to belly suplex

Mr Perfect beat Skinner with the Perfect Plex

Kamala beat Kim Chee with a splash

Money Inc beat Jerry Sabin & Reno Riggins

Tatanka beat George South

Bushwackers & Tiger Jackson beat Beverly Brothers & Little Louie

Undertaker beat Bam Bam Bigelow by countout

That takes us to WrestleMania 9.

When did you find out that you were going to have to wear a toga in your WWF debut?

Did the thought of it make you want to quit immediately?

You wrote -

“You sure you’re okay wearing that, pal?” Vince asked me. I was standing backstage at Caesars Palace wearing a toga and some sandals.

“It’s the world’s biggest toga party, right?” I said, referencing WWF’s theme for the show.

“That’s right!” Vince said.

“Then I’m sure as hell joining the party.”

I was ready to debut for WWF at their biggest event of the year, WrestleMania IX, where the company drew inspiration from their “Roman” surroundings to create a Colosseum theme.

Did any of your old friends contact you after WrestleMania, and give you the business about wearing that?

You wrote - “You ready?” asked a familiar voice from behind me. It was Gorilla Monsoon.

“I’m just trying to remember my lines,” I said in reply. Gorilla was a huge man, a legend in the business, and the voice of WWF. But he didn’t look well. His health wasn’t strong in general, but it had certainly slid further after his son and WWF referee, Joey Marella, died in a car crash ten months before.

Gorilla smiled and said to me, “You’re going to do great.”

Monsoon’s words were a huge comfort. We had a big production meeting the day before and I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms by the vast majority of WWF employees. I was known as the voice of “the enemy,” but Gorilla stood out as being friendly and helpful right from the beginning.

Why did you write that you weren't welcomed with open arms at that meeting?

You wrote- “Energy,” Vince reminded me. “Give me energy out there!”

As we went live, Monsoon’s voice was the first to be heard on the WrestleMania IX broadcast. He would have done the play-by-play as well, if he wasn’t so clearly ill. He got into his costume, did the intro at the very top of the show, and then pitched it down to the newest member of the broadcast team: Jim Ross.

It was showtime for me, in the biggest wrestling company in the world. “It will be a day of firsts, ladies and gentlemen,” I said with all the excitement and passion I could muster. “My very first WrestleMania. First time that yours truly, from the great state of Oklahoma, has ever been in toga myself.

This is quite an impressive outfit, and I, too, could get used to this. What do you think of these gold shoes?” I said, showing the camera my perfectly appointed golden sandals. “How would those play in Tulsa?”

As you went live, did it hit you that you were making your WWF debut at a WrestleMania? On a personal and professional level, what did that mean to you?

You wrote - Randy was challenging to work with right from the get-go. I could hear right away that I was going to earn my money with Macho. He kept me on my toes—and not in a negative way—as soon as the PPV began. I had no idea where exactly where he was going in his commentary so it was hard for me to “direct traffic.” 

He was wound tight at the best of times, but this was WrestleMania, and he didn’t seem to like the fact he had to get used to a partner, me, live on PPV. I had heard that Savage, historically, was not an overly trusting individual; it was just the nature of his personality, so he committed to working his own style, and I had to follow.

Heenan, on the other hand, was just the opposite. He was loose and funny and made my job easy. I knew Bobby was good from watching his stuff on TV, but I had no idea just how good he was until I sat beside him and “went live.”

When I thought of all the tools that someone can bring into the wrestling business, I could see nobody who had more to offer than Bobby Heenan. I was a huge fan of his wrestling and on-air role as a manager, and now after working with him as an announcer I left that booth looking at Bobby as the best total-wrestling-package ever. I knew he was extraordinarily underrated in-ring talent.

He took the greatest ass-whippings in the history of the sport, and could feed a comeback as a heel to make a babyface look like Superman—as good as any heel I ever saw. Then, the very next week after being mutilated and disfigured, he’d get back on the microphone and talk his heat right back to where it was. He was an artisan.

What changes, if any did Vince want you to make to your announcing style? 

We had been in the business so long and called so many big matches and big events in your career up to that point, were you nervous before this?

In the dark match, Tito Santana pinned Papa Shango after Shango missed a splash off the top rope in 8:00. Told this was a DUD.

Before the first match began, they had an opening ceremony. Jim Ross, in toga, was introduced, followed by Randy Savage and Bobby Heenan making grand entrances. Although the card had been hyped as the biggest toga party ever, it appeared that almost none of the spectators had gotten the hint because there were few in costume. Usually Titan is with the times, but Toga parties went out before the end of the 1970s. 

Tatanka beat Shawn Michaels via count out in 18:13 so Michaels keeps the Intercontinental title. Michaels came out with new valet/manager Luna Vachon, while Sensational Sherri was in Tatanka's corner. They pushed the debut of Vachon pretty hard. Michaels got things cooking 3:00 in with a hot series of bumps, climaxing with a flip into the turnbuckle, landing on the apron and taking a spin bump to the floor. The announcers acknowledged Michaels' legit shoulder separation and used it to sell the armlock portion of the match, which is very much un-Titan like. 

This is where the benefit of Ross came in, because most announcers of today for some reason neglect this sort of detail which in turn makes the armlocks into time-wasting rest holds rather than part of the match story. Michaels tried to add two or three Lucha Libre moves to his repertoire but they didn't come off smoothly. Michaels sold his injured shoulder after hitting Tatanka with a clothesline, then missed a tackle and his bad shoulder connected with the post, and Tatanka later did a shoulderbreaker. 

Tatanka came off the top ropes with a chop, but on the second try, Michaels met him with a superkick. Michaels did a clothesline off the apron to the floor and took control. Tatanka made the Superman comeback and they did three minutes of great near falls back-and-forth. 

The finish came when Michaels missed a crossbody off the apron and fell on the floor. Ref Joey Marella was counting on Michaels, who then knocked him down. Michaels got back into the ring but Tatanka hit his Samoan drop and covered him for the pin, but Marella got up and called for the bell ruling Michaels the loser via count out. Very weak finish to what was an excellent opener. After the match Luna clotheslined Sherri and kicked her a few times. Later in the show they announced Luna had attacked Sherri in the first aid room as well. ***1/2 

This was the 3rd WrestleMania in a row where Shawn Michaels was in the opening match

Rick & Scott Steiner beat Head Shrinkers in 14:22. First big spot was Samu doing what appeared to be a hot shot or stun gun (whatever you want to call the move) on Scott, but Fatu pulled down the ropes and Scott took a nasty bump to the floor. Scott was pounded on for the next 7:20. The heat spot went a little long for the crowd live, and made the match drag toward the end. Rick tagged in but was quickly cut off. Several hot moves toward the end, including Rick on Fatu's shoulder, Samu coming off the top with a crossbody and Rick turning in mid-air into making the move a flying powerslam, although it sounds better than it looked. Scott pinned Samu after a Frankensteiner which missed noticeably. **1/2 

You went back a long way with the Steiners to WCW and Rick even further to UWF. How did you think they fit in to the WWF?

Doink the Clown pinned Crush in 8:28. Not much crowd reaction for a grudge match that was pushed so hard. Doink did a piledriver early although they never acknowledged Crush's "back neck" from the angle. They traded some decent action with Crush getting his Crush move on once, but Doink made the ropes. Second time Doink hit the ref and tried to go under the ring but Crush pulled him out. He put the move on again but again no ref so a second Doink ran in and hit Crush with a fake arm and the ref counted the fall. Fans were cheering the finish.

The two Doinks were making weird faces at each other doing a mime bit that was really well done. 

The second Doink was Steve Keirn (Skinner), who had shaved off his beard to play the role. He hid under the ring from before the show started and stayed under the ring until the show was over and all the fans had left the building, which explains his disappearance with nobody seeing him. He'll be wearing a fake beard in whatever future Skinner matches he has to work, which may not be many more since both Doinks were together at television the next day. *1/2 

Razor Ramon pinned Bob Backlund in 3:45 with an inside cradle. Fans cheered Ramon. This was probably the first pinfall loss Backlund has ever done in the WWF and that must date back to around 1977. Terrible. -* 

Razor Ramon underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on February 26th

Ted DiBiase & IRS retained the WWF tag titles beating Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake in 18:27 via DQ. Hulk's left eye was shut. On TV they gave a cover story that he was working out in a gym the night before the match and was attacked. The story going around was he was involved in a boating accident on Wednesday night, although everyone who saw him up close said that it looked like someone punched him in the eye. The injury was legit, not make-up, although the reasons aren't clear and when asked after, Hogan said he didn't want to talk about it. DiBiase was just about as big as Hulk. Actually bigger frame, although Hogan had a lot better muscle mass and tone. Match was okay. They teased a walk-out count out finish 6:00 in, with the ref announcing that if they were counted out, the titles would change hands, which is ludicrous to change rules as they go along but this is the WWF. But it stalled a minute giving the guys a breather so they could go 18. 

They got heat choking Hogan with a rope and DiBiase put on the Million Dollar Dream on Hulk for 90 seconds. Beefcake behind the refs back put the sleeper on DiBiase so both Hulk and DiBiase were down. Hulk dramatically got up at the count of nine. Beefcake made the hot tag but was immediately hit in the back with the briefcase. Of course his metal face-protecting mask was then taken off.

Beefcake made a comeback and put the sleeper on IRS but DiBiase made the save. Then came the third ref bump in five matches, followed, without the ref seeing any of this, a hot tag to Hogan. Hogan KO'd DiBiase and IRS with the mask. 

Hogan had DiBiase pinned while Beefcake had IRS pinned. Jimmy Hart then put on a referee jacket and counted the fall and handed the belts to Hogan & Beefcake, but the ref came to and disqualified them seeing Hart in the ring. Hart threw the ref out of the ring after the match. After the match the faces opened up IRS' briefcase and found money and were handing money to fans at ringside. ** 

On the March 21 edition of WWE Wrestling Challenge, it was mentioned in story terms that Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags were in line to face Money Inc for the belts, but "stepped aside" for Hogan and Beefcake. 

One of the big rumors for years after this event was that Hogan's black eye was actually caused by Randy Savage punching him. What did you hear about that at the time, did you ever talk to Randy about it?

Lex Luger pinned Mr. Perfect in 10:56 with a backslide although Perfect was in the ropes. Luger had the best ring entrance, coming in with four bikini-clad women and holding four mirrors with sparklers coming from them. The two didn't work well together. They had several near fall spots at the end but it seemed like one or the other was in the wrong position so the match was kind of clumsy. Toward the end, many moves were missed. Since they followed Hogan, even though these two should be over since so much has been built around them, it turned into the popcorn match live and had no heat. 

After the match, Luger KO'd Perfect with a forearm. Perfect got up and ran to the back and caught up with Luger near a tool shed. Luger was with Michaels, who gave Perfect a superkick and beat him up with sticks and garbage cans in a Memphis angle. The angle was great. The match was anything but. They put a lot of heat on the idea that Luger KO'd both Perfect and Hart in the same day with a forearm to give the impression something was fishy. I don't know this one, but it seems to be leading to something like this. Luger legitimately has a metal plate in his forearm from the motorcycle accident. 

In a few months, he is going to have surgery to remove the plate. 

Maybe they'll do a wrestling angle around this that somehow they X-ray the forearm and find the plate and "order him" to have it removed, which will explain whatever needs to be explained. *1/4

Lex was another guy that you went back to WCW with. What'd you think of the Narcissit gimmick that he was doing at this time, and did you think he'd be successful in the WWF?

Undertaker beat Giant Gonzalez in 7:33 via DQ. It could have been a lot worse. Campy moment of the show was when Ross was talking about the steps being solid steel after Undertaker took a bump into them. He then took a second bump into them and knocked one step upside down and it was completely hollow. Second campy moment was Ross talking about him being 8-feet tall when a year earlier he was saying he was 7-foot-7. Harvey Whippleman gave Gonzalez a towel and he smothered Undertaker with it.

On TV they said it had chloroform, but nobody in the live audience understood what was going on. Gonzalez was DQ'd, and did a great choke slam on his caretaker Bill Alphonso. Undertaker was stretchered out and left for dead, but came back to life and knocked Gonzalez out of the ring. Gonzalez will sell tickets, but not for long. *1/4 

Giant Gonzalez is another that you went back to WCW with, when he was El Gigante. Jim Cornette has told a story where you guys saw him sitting somewhere and you told Jim that this is our new giant. 

What's your memories of him in WCW and what led to him leaving there?

Did you think he was going to be able to be a monster heel as Giant Gonzalez?

Did you think he improved at all from his WCW days when you saw him in WWF?

When you got to WWF, what were you led to believe was the plans for him?

Yokozuna pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF title in 8:55. Because of the huge size difference, it looked visually impossible for them to work a credible match, but they did. I was shocked that Hart didn't at least have his head taped to give the illusion of injury because of the angle they ran earlier in the day. It was WCW-like to not pay attention to detail. Campy spot of the match were the USA chants when the only American in the ring was Yokozuna. Heenan pointed out that neither of the two men were from the United States. Hart pulled off the padding from a turnbuckle and rammed Yokozuna into the exposed steel and put him in the scorpion. Mr. Fuji threw salt in Hart's eyes and Yokozuna covered him for the pin. *** 

At this point Hogan came out and Fuji challenged him immediately for the title. Hogan acted as if he were more concerned with Hart than getting the title (boy, if there ever was a more ultimate work), but Hart told him to take the match and the title (ultimate work No. 2). Fuji tried to throw salt, Hogan ducked, clothesline, leg-drop 1-2-3, and new champion all in 21 seconds. DUD 

Bret wrote about the match - On April 2, 1993, I brought Stu and Helen with me to Vegas for WrestleMania IX, where my mom was also going to have a family reunion with her four sisters. Stu beamed at once again finding himself the center of the sisters’ attentions, as he had been when he first fell in love with all of them in the 1940s in Long Beach, New York. I left them to reminisce and went to my room just in time to answer a call from Vince, who asked me to come to his suite to talk. I knocked on his door and he answered it with that goofy grin. 

We sat down, and Vince said, “This is what I want to do. I want you to drop the belt to Yoko tomorrow.” This was not what I had expected. I sat there dumbstruck as he went on to explain how Fuji would screw me by throwing salt in my face, 

blinding me. After Yoko was handed the belt, Hogan would rush to my aid and in some kind of roundabout way Hogan would end up winning the belt from Yoko right then and there! Like I was handing Vince my sword, I told him I appreciated everything he did for me and I’d do whatever he wanted.

Vince said, “Don’t get bitter. I still have big plans for you.” Sound bites flashed through my mind of Vince assuring me that I was the long-term champion, and not to worry about Hogan, who still hadn’t even spoken to me yet. As I stood up to leave, I asked, “Did you take the belt from me because I didn’t do a good enough job?”

“Of course not! I’m just going in a different direction. It’s still onwards and upwards for you. Nothing is going to change too much for you.” I was totally crushed

As I lay in bed that night, the more I thought about what Vince had in mind for Hogan, the more I felt that it would completely backfire on both of them. The hokey finish would stink, maybe not immediately, but in the weeks to come my fans, who were the biggest contingent in Vince’s paying audience at that time, would gag on it. There was something different about my fans. They really believed in me as a person.

By the time I got to the dressing room the following afternoon, word that I was losing the title had leaked out to the boys. Most of them were quiet and some were angry. The Nasty Boys, Shawn, Taker and several others expressed their utter disappointment. Knowing I was losing the belt didn’t stop me from planning on having a great match. I went over everything with Yoko and designed the match so that all the best moves were left for the final minute.

Hulk arrived with his entourage: his wife, manager, Beefcake and Jimmy Hart. Clearly he’d been in the know all along, probably from the first day he came back. Now he was suddenly acting like my long-lost old pal and wearing a big smile that rightfully belonged to me.

Even though you were new to the company, did you remember hearing about this that day and do you remember it being a big topic of discussion that day?

Bret said that during the match, Yoko made the call to go home early, which edited out their best spots and Bret wasn't happy about that. Do you remember hearing about that?

Bret wrote about after the match - A few minutes later, Hogan came up to me excited and happy and said, “Thank you, brother. I won’t forget it. I’ll be happy to return the favor.” I looked my old friend in the eye and said, “I’m going to remember that, Terry.”

What did you think of the finish, with Yoko winning the title and Hulk beating him for it a few minutes later?

Speaking of that, Bret has said that he was led to believe it was going to be Hulk vs Bret at SummerSlam 93 for the title, with Hulk putting him over in the middle of the ring for the title. It's been said that they even took a promo pic with both men holding one side of the title belt.

Hulk has said that he never agreed to do that and the deal he made was to win the title from Yoko and drop it back to him, which is what happened, with Yoko winning it back a few months later at the King of the Ring pay per view. Hulk has said that he had a meeting with Bret and Vince and Bret repeated how he was told Hulk was going to drop it to him, and Vince said something to him like, that's what you thought you heard, Bret

Did you ever hear that rumor, that Hulk was supposed to drop the title to Bret at SummerSlam?

In an interesting note, during this show, both Hulk and Bret completed the WrestleMania title match hat trick, with both men wrestling for the World, Intercontinental and tag team titles at WrestleManias

In another interesting note, more than one third of the wrestlers on this show were gone from the WWF by the end of 1993. Counting the dark match, eight out of the 22 wrestlers (36 percent of the performers) were gone before the end of 1993. Hogan and Beefcake both departed after a tour of Europe that summer. Tito Santana left in August, as did Papa Shango.

Ted Dibiase finished up at SummerSlam before concluding his career in All Japan. Matt Borne was replaced in the Doink gimmick around the start of autumn, the same time that Giant Gonzalez left the company. 

Mr. Perfect took a sabbatical beginning at the end of October, returned a few times through the years, and eventually went to WCW, he wouldn't wrestle for the WWF again until 2002

What feedback did Vince give you about your performance after the show?

How do you feel you did that day?

In your legendary career and all of the moments that you've had, where do you rank your WWF debut, at WrestleMania 9 on that list? 

• Thumbs up 41 (11.0%)
• Thumbs down 293 (78.6%)
• In the middle 39 (10.5%)

BEST MATCH POLL

Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka 112

Steiners vs. Head Shrinkers 78

Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect 33

WORST MATCH POLL

Bob Backlund vs. Razor Ramon 85

Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez 53

Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna 51

Crush vs. Doink the Clown 14

Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect 12

Money Inc. vs. Hogan & Beefcake 10

Where do you rank WM 9 out of all of the ones that you were apart of?