Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, one of the most hyped main events in WrestleMania, champion against champion, Hulk Hogan versus the Ultimate Warrior. It's a match and a show that have had a lasting effect on the wrestling industry, from inspiring Edge to become a pro wrestler to the utter disaster of a rematch between Hogan and Warrior at Halloween Havoc 1998, one of the most legendary awful wrestling matches. Like last year, this is essentially a one match show, at least in promotion, but with another 14 match card on the way, WrestleMania 6 is about more than just "The Ultimate Challenge".
- We're still not to the era of special sets for 'Manias, but we do at least get back the entrance ring carts from WrestleMania 3. The SkyDome in Toronto is the host venue this year, the first international WrestleMania, with the second and final one(to date), coming in the same place 12 years later.
- Opening the show are Rick Martel and Koko B. Ware, putting on an okay match. These two men have some chemistry and are both capable workers, but they're only given 4 minutes. Martel gets the win with the boston crab after fighting to apply it for most of the match.
- The tag team titles are on the line, as Demolition secure their third title reign by defeating the Colossal Connection. Haku wrestles pretty much the entirety of this match on his own, as Andre is obviously in a lot of pain and can barely move. Most of the action is basic and forgettable, though the hot tag from the faces was pretty fun and got a nice pop. Afterward, Heenan berates Andre for losing even though Haku took the fall, leading to Andre turning face and very slowly beating up his former allies. It's incredibly sad to watch Andre in this state, but at least he gets a big WrestleMania moment and gets to go out with his head held high.
- Earthquake is getting the monster push at this time, and he squashes Hercules here. Nothing much for me to say, though I do like Earthquake and his flexing spot draws nuclear heat.
- Mr. Perfect has still not been pinned or submitted yet on WWF television(though he did lose a house show match to Warrior a couple weeks prior), and looks to keep that streak going against Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. Brutus is perfectly serviceable here, and Perfect is such a great heel, drawing so much heat and really displaying tons of arrogance and swagger in the ring. Beefcake picks up a surprise win, slingshotting Perfect into the ring post, knocking him out to score the pinfall. The finish comes out of absolutely nowhere, which was intentional, and I think was a good way of protecting Perfect in defeat, though I definitely wouldn't have had losing to Brutus.
- I don't really want to stay for too long on Roddy Piper wearing half blackface, as he has a match with Bad News Brown that just devolves into a brawl for a double count-out. There isn't much heat to the match and Piper's decision to bring out the blackface is the type of thing that makes it very difficult to be a fan of his.
- In another squash match, the Hart Foundation defeat the Bolsheviks in just 18 seconds, attacking them during their singing of the Russian national anthem and immediately scoring the win with the Hart Attack. It definitely feels very awkward to see faces outright disrespecting other countries' national anthem, at least have them cut a heel promo on the US or Canada or something, just to make the attack seem more justified.
- The Powers of Pain have split by this point, with Mr. Fuji selling off the contracts of both men. Bobby Heenan swooped in to take on The Barbarian, who gets a win on this night over Tito Santana. Tito tries his best to make this match work, but Barbarian just isn't very good and also isn't very believable as a monster heel, he and Tito are close to the same size. At least Barbarian's top rope diving clothesline is a cool finisher.
- Up next we have the WWF's first ever mixed tag match, or at least that's how they announced it, as Randy Savage and Queen Sherri take on Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire. This is a fairly entertaining match, as the heels sell well and the faces are over, with Sapphire in particular getting a couple big pops for very simple offense. Unfortunately, the booking was a bit suspect, as Sapphire and Sherri spend way too long in the ring and drag the match quality way down, especially once the fun of seeing them wrestle has worn off. I feel really bad for Savage and Dusty, they probably could've had a quality singles match, and are just completely wasted here. Miss Elizabeth gets involved, tripping up Sherri to let Sapphire get the win, so at least the crowd got to celebrate.
- The Rockers are in action in our next contest, losing to new tag team the Orient Express(Akio Sato and Pat Tanaka), who are managed by Mr. Fuji. The gimmick feels pretty racist, but Sato and Tanaka can really go in the ring, so I actually really enjoyed this match. The heels don't quite have a lot of chemistry as a team but they very well individually, coming up with very creative offense which Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty really put over. Sato throws salt into the eyes of Jannetty, who hilariously bumps into the crowd to be counted out, setting up for an eventual rematch between the two teams.
- Jim Duggan may be massively over in the US with his American patriotism act, but I really question the logic of having him try the same character in Canada, especially against native Canuck Dino Bravo. The match is very boring but you didn't need me to tell you that, as Duggan picks up a cheap win with an assist from his 2x4.
- In the best match of the night thus far, Ted DiBiase defends the Million Dollar Championship against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Jake cut an incredible promo earlier in the night, really putting over this feud, and the early part of the match is great, with both men selling the tenacity of their rivalry. Unfortunately, the crowd is bored, and when Ted applies a headlock, a wave begins. It just keeps picking up steam, and Jesse and Gorilla acknowledge it, which I thought was a mistake given this is supposed to be an intense grudge match. Full credit to DiBiase here, who wins the crowd back by taunting and applying an arrogant pinfall attempt, before hitting a piledriver to really get them back in it. Brilliant work from an absolute pro. From there, the crowd rallies behind Jake, who hits a couple clotheslines but can't quite get the DDT. They fall to the floor and both collide with the ring post, leading Virgil to roll his boss back into the ring for a count-out win. While I would've preferred a clean finish, I thought it was a good way for DiBiase to score a cheap title retention in believable fashion. Jake hits the DDT afterward to a huge pop. This match may not have been the greatest of all time or anything, but it's certainly Jake's best on these reviews, which is kind of depressing, he was booked really poorly during his WWF run.
- The company spent a year and a half building up to the Mega Powers main event title match from last year, but an even more exciting collision right here. That's right, the Twin Towers explode, as Akeem takes on the Big Boss Man. Boss Man wins in less than 2 minutes. It was all worth it in the end.
- In the penultimate match of the night, Rick Rude takes on Jimmy Snuka. Look, this match could've been absolutely phenomenal, and no one would've cared. The crowd just wants the main event, and at this point, I did too. Rude wins with the Rude Awakening.
- Main event time, as WWF Champion Hulk Hogan takes on Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior, with both belts on the line. Warrior's best matches have come against guys, mostly just Rick Rude, who can really sell for his power offense, and Hulk Hogan isn't well known for selling. That being said, this bout still worked for me, mostly because of the crowd. The fans in the SkyDome are amped for all of it, exploding for even the most basic of moves, and the noise level stays consistently high for pretty much the entire 23 minutes. This match is booked to be as even as possible, with neither man ever really getting too much offense in a row. I felt it did start to drag a bit, especially during the restholds, which start to get a little grating. The ref bump felt unnecessary, especially when it lead to multiple visual pinfalls off of non-finishers, which was very stupid. I'm seriously expected to believe that these two guys, two damn constellations according to Vince's intro, would stay down to simple suplexes? Still, it's an engaging watch between the two biggest stars in the company in front of a molten hot crowd, ending with an iconic sequence, as Hogan misses the leg drop and falls to the Warrior Splash. I didn't appreciate Hulk stealing most of the spotlight post-match, personally handing over the title and then being shown multiple times heading up the ramp as Warrior celebrated, but at least he did the job. This is the first time that Hulk Hogan lost clean on pay-per-view, and it's a damn fine thing.
5/10
Without the main event, this would easily be one of the worst shows I've watched so far, so in that respect, it is very much a one match show. That being said, I thought it was paced well and with one of the longest matches on a WWF pay-per-view in the main event slot, it did make sense to include some squash matches. I'm not sure I needed so many, but what was intended to work did, so Vince definitely succeeded in that respect. WrestleMania 6 is a show filled with some ups and plenty of downs, but the legendary main event and crowning of a brand new superstar makes it all feel worth it in the end.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: SummerSlam 1990, as the Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude meet to end their trilogy, this time inside of a steel cage, plus Hulk Hogan versus Earthquake. See you soon.
- Henry
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