Top 5 Moments of WrestleMania VI
WrestleMania VI was the first WrestleMania in three years to not take place at Trump Plaza, and the first-ever WrestleMania that would take place outside of the United States of America. WrestleMania VI would emanate from Toronto's SkyDome Arena in front of a crowd of over 67,000 people. The first fight of the event would see Koko B Ware square off against 'the Model' Rick Martel. While Koko B. Ware didn't appear at WrestleMania V, Martel had been a part of the Strike Force tag team. Martel dominated the early proceedings throwing Koko B. Ware out and around the ring with apparent ease. Martel would eventually win after Koko B. Ware would submit to the Boston Crab.
The second match on the card and the first title match of the evening would see the Tag Team Champions the Colossal Connection face off against the former tag team champions, Demolition. The Tag Team Champions would attack before the bell, but Smash would turn the tables after the bell rung. Ax and Smash would use frequent tags against Haku. Andre the Giant would spend the majority of the bout on the apron, only coming into the ring to interfere in the bout. Andre would get tied up in the ropes, leaving Haku at the mercy of both members of Demolition.
The next fight of the night was between Hercules and Earthquake, who was accompanied by Jimmy Hart. Earthquake came into the bout almost undefeated, only having lost to the Ultimate Warrior at a House Show the week prior. Despite the fact that Hercules would dominate the start of the fight, sending Earthquake to the outside, and landing several clotheslines, but was unable to take the big man off his feet. Earthquake would turn the bout around and hit the Earthquake Splash for the victory and would hit a second Earthquake Splash after the bell to emphasize the point.
Mr. Perfect would face off against Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake, with The Genius in Mr. Perfect's corner. While Beefcake would start the match stronger, Mr. Perfect would eventually gain the advantage in the fight. Perfect would throw the Beefcake around, but also take time taunting Beefcake and the crowd. Beefcake would then take down Mr. Perfect with a Double Leg Takedown before Slingshotting Perfect into the turnbuckle. Beefcake would then pin Mr. Perfect for the win. After the match, Beefcake would signal to the crowd that he was going to cut Perfect's hair, only for Mr. Perfect to escape, but The Genius would not be so lucky.
Next in the ring would be Roddy Piper against Bad News Brown. In one of the most shocking WrestleMania moments, Piper gave a pre-fight promo and appeared in the ring with half of his body painted completely black. Unsurprisingly, given the volatile nature of the feud, the start ended up being more like a brawl, instead of a traditional wrestling match with both Bad News Brown and Roddy Piper scrapping and punching instead of using wrestling moves. Both men would spill to the outside and the referee would rule the match a double count out.
Next up the Hart Foundation of Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart took on the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks would begin with their traditional singing of the Soviet National Anthem but were cut off when the local Canadian team cut them off. The Hart Foundation would knock Nikolai Volkoff out of the ring and hit Boris Zhukov with the Hart Attack for the win in 19 seconds. Following the match, the WWF would announce that WrestleMania VII would take place in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The next match would be between the Barbarian and Tito Santana. Santana looked like he had the match won after hitting the Barbarian with the flying forearm only for Barbarian's manager, Bobby 'the brain' Heenan, to place the Barbarian's foot on the rope. Heenan's actions distracted Santana long enough to allow Barbarian to attack Santana from behind. The Barbarian would then hit a devastating clothesline off the second rope for the victory.
For the first time in WrestleMania's history, a mixed tag team match would be held between Macho Man Randy Savage teaming with his manager Queen Sherri against Dusty Rhodes and his manager Sapphire. The team of Rhodes and Sapphire would have another surprise with Savage's former manager Miss Elizabeth appearing in their corner. Sapphire would roll Queen Sherri up for the win, following a distraction by Miss Elizabeth. After the bell, Savage attempted to hit Dusty Rhodes with his scepter following the match but would fail. After Savage and Sherri were chased off, Miss Elizabeth would celebrate in the ring with Rhodes and Sapphire as the three danced to Rhode's entrance music.
The final tag team of the event would be between the Rockers and the Orient Express, the Marty Jannetty and Tanaka starting in the ring for their respective teams. While the Orient Express would tag back and forth, keeping Jannetty in the ring taking the overwhelming offense before tagging in Shawn Michaels. However, after Mr. Fuji distracted Marty Jannetty, Saito would throw salt in his eyes. As a result, Marty Jannetty couldn't get back to the ring, resulting in the Rockers losing the match via Count Out.
After a short segment backstage with Steve Allen and the tag team of Rhythm and Blues, the action returned to the ring with a match between Dino Bravo and 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan. While Bravo would be accompanied by Jimmy Hart and Earthquake, Duggan would only be accompanied by his flag and his trusty 2 by 4. After Earthquake attempted to interfere, Jimmy Hart would try to pass Duggan's 2 by 4 to Bravo. With the referee distracted by Earthquake, Duggan would get to the weapon first and hit Bravo with it, leading to the victory. Post-match Earthquake would hit Duggan with two Earthquake Splashes.
Jake 'the Snake' Roberts would challenge Ted DiBiase for the Million Dollar Title in the next match. Roberts would go for the DDT early in the fight, but DiBiase would escape. DiBiase almost won the match after hitting Roberts with a Piledriver, but DiBiase would take too long to try and pin Roberts, and Roberts would reverse it. DiBiase would also get Roberts into the Million Dollar Dream submission but Roberts would make it to the ropes. Roberts would fight back and signal for the DDT but would be dragged out of the ring by Virgil. The two would fight outside the ring, with Virgil helping DiBiase back into the ring while Roberts was still on the outside meaning DiBiase would win by Count Out.
The next match would be between former Twin Towers tag team partners the Big Boss Man and Akeem. The feud stemmed from the Big Boss Man refusing to take Ted DiBiase's money. As the Boss Man would get to the ring, Ted DiBiase would attack him from out of nowhere. Despite the beat down before the bell, the Big Boss Man would fight back and would hit Akeem with the Bossman Slam for the win. Following the match, Rhythm and Blues would perform their new song "Honka, Honka, Honka, Honky Love". The pair were driven to the ring in a Pink Cadillac by Diamond Dallas Page. After the performance, Rhythm and Blues would be chased off by the Bushwhackers.
The second last match of the night would be between Rick Rude and Jimmy 'Supafly' Snuka. Despite making appearances at WrestleMania I and V, this would be Snuka's first time as an in-ring competitor. Snuka would go for the splash off the second rope, only for Rude to move at the last second, causing Supafly to eat canvass. Rude would then hit Snuka with a Rude Awakening and pin him for the victory.
The main event was between the Intercontinental Champion, Ultimate Warrior, and WWF Champion, Hulk Hogan. The two would lock up for a test of strength with Warrior coming out on to first before Hogan would fight back. Midway through the match, Hogan would go for a drop down only for Warrior to collide with the referee. Both men would go for pins but with the referee down neither of them would have their pins counted. The match would end with Warrior moving as Hogan went for the Atomic Leg Drop, Warrior would then hit Hogan with the Splash and would pin Hogan for the win.
You can see the review of previous WrestleMania moments here:
WrestleMania I
WrestleMania II
WrestleMania III
WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania V
#5 Steve Allen's Comedy
From the start, WrestleMania was always billed as a collaborative effort between wrestling and famous people. Celebrities filled a number of roles during the early WrestleManias, from Mr. T's in-ring performances at WrestleMania I and II to Alice Cooper and Cyndi Lauper coming to the ring to manage Jake Roberts and Wendi Richter respectively. WrestleMania IV also had Vanna White backstage during the tournament. None of these cameos were quite as good as Steve Allen's participation in a variety of backstage segments throughout the evening.
From a segment with the Bolsheviks and a piano in the showers before the Bolsheviks went out for their match against the Hart Foundation, as Allen played a variety of songs apart from the Soviet anthem to the growing frustration of the Soviet tag team. He would then interview Rhythm and Blues as a roving reporter backstage. Allen's interview and jokes at the Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine were on point and very funny.
Allen would also join Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura on commentary for a second and landed a joke at Ventura's expense before leaving.