22 Days Of WrestleMania (The Night The Legacy Almost Died)

reNow before I dismiss this as THE worst WrestleMania, I want to go out and say that there have been others (II, IV, V, XI, XIII), but this one takes the cake.

The date was April 4th, 1993, the site was the world famous Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The WWF was coming off a solid pay per view showing at the Royal Rumble, and at a time where there were only 4 pay per views (the 5th was added this year), usually the best was saved for WrestleMania. This was going to be a big night, the night they did their first WrestleMania with out the Hulkster. Well it seems as WrestleMania drew nearer, Vince McMahon lost faith in his champion, Bret Hart. So we soon find out that Hulk Hogan will be apart of the show, but not in the main event. Even the biggest Hogan-haters can be okay with that. So we have ourselves a double main event Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan vs. Money, Inc. and Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna. No, it's not exactly Flair/Savage, but it will do.
The event gets underway and the set up looks awesome. It was the first ever outdoor WrestleMania and everyone is dressed in togas. Bobby Heenan comes out on a camel backwards and Jim Ross makes his WWF debut. Unfortunately, this is where the fun stops. Match after match, this show feels like nothing more than a house show. Shawn Michaels is almost a sure thing for a high quality match, especially at this time, and his match with Tatanka is just average. The Steiner Brothers, perhaps the greatest tag team in the world at the time, pull off just an average match against the Headshrinkers. As a fan, you can't help but think to yourself, if those matches are bad, how bad is the rest going to be. We would soon find out. I won't go over every match, but if you want to watch what is perhaps the worst wrestling match ever, go ahead and watch Giant Gonzales vs. Undertaker, I dare you.
But that's not where my story ends. After pulling off a decent match, despite being way too short for a main event, Bret Hart gets the ultimate insult. Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the Championship and who comes to his aid? The same man who put on a terrible match earlier in the card, Hulk Hogan. And what does Mr. Hogan do? He gets challenged by Yokozuna to a impromptu match. Of course, being the hero he is, he accepts and beats Yokozuna 19 seconds later. Great job of building for your future Vince. Did Hogan hold a gun to your head? Who came up with this garbage? Sure the 9 year olds were happy, but at this time, there weren't many people watching anyways. He's lucky Bret Hart was as loyal as he was, for only a year later they would put on one of their greatest shows, WrestleMania X. Who was the star of that show? You guessed right, Bret Hart.

Match Listing:

Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka
The Steiner Brothers vs. The Headshrinkers
Doink vs. Crush
Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund
Money, Inc. vs. The Mega-Maniacs
Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect
Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales
Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna

What I Would Have Done:

Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect
The Steiner Brothers vs. Money, Inc.
Undertaker vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Lex Luger vs. Tatanka
Razor Ramon vs. Crush
Bob Backlund vs. Doink
Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna