10 Times WWE Got The WrestleMania Main Event Wrong
7. WrestleMania IX: Bret Hart Vs. Yokozuna
What The Main Event Should Have Been: Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage
Most fans tend to universally agree that the worst WrestleMania of all time was 1993’s incarnation from Caesars Palace. With a unique outdoor setting, a cast of cartoon characters such as Doink the Clown, Giant Gonzalez, and Tatanka, and a Roman theme that WWE to this day laud as one of Kevin Dunn’s finest hours, most viewers felt like they were watching pantomime grappling at the local big top carnival. The show was a drag, with match after match failing to inspire under the Nevada sunlight.
The man usually required to save the day in these situations was super-worker Bret Hart, the reigning WWF Champion and the face of the company’s new smaller generation of main eventers. Bret was the answer to the rampant steroid accusations that were killing Vince’s business... at least until Yokozuna came along. Weighing in at over 500lbs and clearly not on steroids, the gargantuan flabster immediately grabbed the size-obsessed McMahon’s attention. No longer able to use monsters whose physiques were injected directly from a bottle, McMahon went for what he deemed the next best thing: tall and/or fat wrestlers. Yokozuna was debuted on television in the fall of 1992 and won the prestigious Royal Rumble at the turn of 1993 to earn a shot at Hart’s gold.
Their resultant match was a disaster. Few were interested in seeing the collision between Hart and the relatively unknown sumo wrestler wannabe, and even worse as far as Hart was concerned, the match sucked. It might have been good if it had gone to plan, but Yokozuna was so blown-up by the time Hart was supposed to begin his comeback and hit some offence after getting a battering all match, that he skipped over that portion of the bout. Instead he went straight to the finish sequence in which he pinned Hart for the title after his manager Mr. Fuji threw salt in the Hitman’s eyes. Hart was livid. Even worse, Hart then had to watch as Hulk Hogan stormed to the ring and righted the wrongs of Yoko’s tainted win with a quick fire impromptu victory over the new champion.
A better scenario would have seen Hart paired with Royal Rumble runner-up Randy Savage, a man who as recently as September 1993 had been WWF Champion. A Savage heel turn and Royal Rumble win could have led to some fantastic scenarios in the lead-up to the big show, and the match would almost certainly have stolen the show. Savage and Hart had a great match on television a couple of years earlier that holds up to this day. Had the WWF put them in the WrestleMania main event, the two perfectionists would have created magic.