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    WrestleMania matches lost in time

    By Henry Higgins
    | April 4, 2014
    WWE Blogs

    We all have our favourite WrestleMania matches and we all remember the main-events, the huge grudge matches, the unforgettable ladder matches and most of the title switches, but what about those undercard matches that exceeded all expectation or helped push a wrestler on to greater things?

    That’s the focus of this little article as we scan across the decades and pick out the forgotten undercard classic from each of the previous WrestleManias and, for WrestleMania XXX, we make a bold prediction as to which of the undercard bouts will join its brethren.

    Wrestlemania 1 Logo

    Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
    Date: March 31st, 1985
    Attendance: 19,121

    THE MATCH: King Kong Bundy (w/ Jimmy Hart) v S.D. Jones

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Because WrestleMania I was a one-match show.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: It put Bundy on the map as a killer monster heel and set up his next 12 months where his run would culminate in a main-event WWF Championship against Hulk Hogan, inside a cage, at WrestleMania II.

    Wrestlemania 2 Logo

    Location: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York; Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois; L.A. Sports Arena, Los Angeles California
    Date: April 7th, 1986
    Attendance: 40,085 (combined from all three venues)

    THE MATCH: Jake “The Snake” Roberts v George Wells

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Among the hype of “three cities, three main-events”, the Battle Royal, Hogan v Bundy in a cage and The Bulldogs reaching the summit, this match had little chance to enter the collective memory of wrestling fans.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Jake Roberts makes his WrestleMania debut and most of the fans of the WWF get their first glimpse at the finisher of the era… the DDT.

    Wrestlemania 3 Logo

    Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
    Date: March 29th, 1987
    Attendance: 93,173

    THE MATCH: The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis (w/ Jimmy Hart) v The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Hogan v André and Savage v Steamboat. You’ll be hard pushed to have anyone name another match when asked about WrestleMania III.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: This was a fun six-man that extended the great Bulldogs / Harts rivalry and had a well-worked finish.

    Wrestlemania 4 Logo

    Location: Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, New Jersey
    Date: March 27th, 1988
    Attendance: 18,165

    THE MATCH: 20-Man Battle Royal

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: There was a little tournament going on at the time.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: The match itself was a really good Battle Royal, but it’s the closing moments that clinch the spot on the list. Bret Hart and Bad News Brown work together as heels to eliminate the good guys and are going to share the money… until Bad News blasts Bret with the Ghettoblaster and dumps him over the top. Hart returns, turns face and destroys the trophy. Hmmm… Bret Hart being a sore loser. Whodathunkit?

    Wrestlemania 5 Logo

    Location: Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, New Jersey
    Date: April 2nd, 1989
    Attendance: 18,946

    THE MATCH: The Brain Busters (w/ Bobby Heenan) v Strike Force

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: THE MEGA-POWERS COLLIDE!!! All eyes were on Savage and Hogan.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: The Brain Busters (Tully & Arn) were one of the best in-ring teams of the era and Strike Force was an underrated commodity who was having some trouble. The action was great tag-team wrestling and the finish broke up Strike Force, giving us a heel Rick Martel and saw Tito blasted with a spike piledriver; a move so devastating, The New Age Outlaws brought it back for their initial run.

    Wrestlemania 6 Logo

    Location: Skydome, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Date: April 1st, 1990
    Attendance: 67,678

    THE MATCH: The Orient Express (w/ Mr. Fuji) v The Rockers

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Warrior v Hogan. Nothing else on this card could complete and a lot of people would struggle to name one other match on this card.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: These teams had great chemistry and while they would have a better match at Royal Rumble 1991, this is a great little tag-match between two teams who had mastered the art of tag-team psychology.

    Wrestlemania 7 Logo

    Location: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
    Date: March 24th, 1991
    Attendance: 16,158

    THE MATCH: Jake “The Snake” Roberts v “The Model” Rick Martel

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: With WWE continuing Gulf War I even though it ended in January and the amazingly good Savage v Warrior match, it’s easy to see why the rest of the card could slip through the cracks.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Possibly the first blindfold match most of us saw, this is also the only blindfold match that didn’t completely suck. The build-up to this made the stipulation make sense (Martel had sprayed his Arrogance perfume into the eyes of Jake, blinding him for a while – Roberts even showed up to conduct an interview and showed his bad eye to the world; which was quite a shock to the WWF fans in 1991). The psychological genius of Jake Roberts was at the fore here as he masterly worked both the gimmick and the fans on the way to a well-received DDT victory. “The Model” also deserves credit for the bumbling fool he portrayed in this one.

    Wrestlemania 8 Logo

    Location: Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana
    Date: April 5th, 1992
    Attendance: 62,167

    THE MATCH: The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) v Jake “The Snake” Roberts

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Hogan v Sid, the (first) return of the Warrior, Randy v Flair, “She was mine before she was yours” and Bret v Piper all conspire to leave this as a footnote in history.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Great may be an overstatement, but it is a really good match considering the limitations of the Undertaker character at this time. As with the previous year’s bout, Jake used his mastery of in-ring psychology to build a methodical structure around Undertaker’s perceived invulnerability. Three DDTs couldn’t get it done and a Tombstone on the floor saw that The Streak was officially on.

    Wrestlemania 9 Logo

    Location: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
    Date: April 4th, 1993
    Attendance: 16,891

    THE MATCH: Doink the Clown v Crush

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Mainly because the entirety of WrestleMania IX has been scrubbed from the memory of most of us.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Heel Doink is one of WWE’s best creations, but also one of the biggest missed opportunities. Here, against his first real rival in Crush, he has a chance to shine on the big stage (unfortunately at the least-liked ‘Mania) and the conclusion with TWO clowns was great. As with anything, they built on it, but then ruined it by turning Doink face, giving him Dink and then just destroying any credibility the character ever had. In summary; Heel Doink = Good, Face Doink = Not Good.

    Wrestlemania 10 Logo

    Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
    Date: March 20th, 1994
    Attendance: 18,065

    THE MATCH: Randy Savage v Crush (w/ Mr. Fuji)

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Between the amazing opener of Bret v Owen, the stunning Ladder Match and the site of Bret Hart finally toppling Yokozuna in revenge for the WrestleMania IX debacle, the rest of the card was always going to be an afterthought.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: The first real attempt at “hardcore” wrestling on WWE television, this had an interesting premise whereby you had to pin your opponent outside the ring, get back between the ropes and then your opponent had a count of ten to do the same. Basically, a variant on a Texas Death Match. Crush had defected to the dark side after apparently being slighted by Randy Savage (Macho Man didn’t call him after Yokozuna had put him on the injured list). This, of course, meant they had to fight and they brawled all over, with Savage finally pinning Crush backstage and then hanging him upside down to prevent any chance of the strongman getting back to the ring.

    Wrestlemania 11 Logo

    Location: Hartford Civic Centre, Hartford Connecticut
    Date: April 2nd, 1995
    Attendance: 16,305

    THE MATCH: Bret Hart v Bob Backlund

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Diesel v Shawn, Pamela Anderson, Lawrence Taylor and Owen Hart’s mystery partner all relegated this down.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Another example of following up on a long-term story, this saw Bret Hart out to avenge his loss to Bob Backlund at the previous year’s Survivor Series. Roddy Piper was the referee (as he had been for Bret’s match at WMX) and the world had already seen Bob Backlund beat Bret for the title and place him in a submission hold Hart seemingly could not escape. This led to the great sight of Bret Hart finishing Backlund with his own hold. It’s always nice when you have a story that has a logical beginning-middle-end to it.

    Wrestlemania 12 Logo

    Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
    Date: March 31st, 1996
    Attendance: 18,853

    THE MATCH: Steve Austin (w/ Ted DiBiase) v Savio Vega

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: The Iron Man Match, Warrior’s (second) return, the (rather fun) Backlot Brawl and Undertaker v Diesel were all more prominent.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: It’s Steve Austin’s WrestleMania debut and, for some reason, he and Savio just worked really well together. This was the start of the build towards DiBiase leaving WWE, so we were about to get Stone Cold, but this match is a great little forgotten gem with a great finish that preserved the standing of both men going forward.

    Wrestlemania 13 Logo

    Location: Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois
    Date: March 23rd, 1997
    Attendance: 18,197

    THE MATCH: Owen Hart & The British Bulldog v Mankind and Vader (w/ Paul Bearer)

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: Shawn Michaels lost his smile, Bret v Austin created history and Undertaker won the WWF Championship.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Owen Hart & The British Bulldog were just a fantastic tag-team and their combination of power and grace contrasted very well with the brutality and power of Vader and insanity of Mankind. The two teams put forth a great effort and the action was very well received. As for the finish; while a clean end is preferrable, the double count-out at least made sense here.

    Wrestlemania 14 Logo

    Location: Fleetcenter, Boston, Massachusetts
    Date: March 29th, 1998
    Attendance: 19,028

    THE MATCH: Marc Mero & Sable v TAFKA Goldust & Luna

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: The ascension of Steve Austin to the WWF Championship, Mike Tyson and the first battle between Undertaker and Kane were all hyped coming in and were what stayed with the collective consciousness when all was said and done.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: Sable was making her in-ring debut and it was felt that she would stand on the apron and look pretty before coming in at the end, hitting some feeble offence and then pinning Luna unconvincingly. The reality was as far removed from that prediction as you could imagine. Sable landed a fantastic superkick to Goldust, carried the rest of the match like a pro and hit a great powerbomb / TKO combo to win the match for her team.

    Wrestlemania 15 Logo

    Location: First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    Date: March 28th, 1999
    Attendance: 20,276

    THE MATCH: Butterbean v Bart Gunn

    WHY IT’S FORGOTTEN: It only lasted 36 seconds and was on the same card as the first WM meeting of Rock and Austin.

    WHY IT’S GREAT: It only lasted 36 seconds, but in that time, Bart Gunn absorbed two absolutely evil shots from Butterbean and the rotund fighter again showed why it is not advisable for those who compete in a worked environment to enter the shoot world. It is a shame, however, how WWE decided to completely ignore Bart Gunn as he wasn’t the one they wanted to win the Brawl for All tournament.

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