50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE WrestleMania
42. ‘Mania IX Feels Like An End Point
Maybe it's the smaller scale venue, or maybe it’s the way they were desperately clinging to Hulkamania like it was the last hope for humanity, but the WWF’s boom period was definitely over by WrestleMania IX. Something feels...off when watching it back today. It's the first event that makes it abundantly clear the McMahon family no longer had a vice like grip on their own "sports entertainment" style after improving on 'Mania I's humble start.
The fed had been cartoony from the mid-80s onwards, but there were killer stories to back everything up. Now, all they really had was the inspired in-ring work of Bret Hart, a rising heel in Shawn Michaels, and an altogether wobbly need to get a little too hokey with the gimmicks. That'd become an even bigger issue during the 'occupational gimmick' era to come, but things started to sag in 1993.
Jim Ross on commentary also represented a shift in the overall style. He was more sports-centric, and wanted to wax lyrical about someone's collegiate accomplishments whilst calling out each move by name and giving things a more southern wrasslin' atmosphere. It's slightly jarring considering he was calling doppelgänger clowns, The Giant Gonzalez in a muscle suit and more whilst wearing a toga at 'Mania IX.
Hogan would end the night as WWF Champ even though he wasn't supposed to be involved in business between Yokozuna and Bret. The Hulkster politicked his way back into the mix, had another brief run, then faded away again. Rudderless would about sum it up. The WWF lacked direction, and that's so obvious looking back.