IWF WrestleMania 11
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|[[Jerry Lawler]] | |[[Jerry Lawler]] | ||
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|Jean Brassard <small>(French)</small> | |Jean Brassard <small>(French)</small> | ||
Revision as of 20:50, 8 November 2013
| WrestleMania XI | ||
| ||
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | April 2, 1995 | |
| Attendance | 16,305 | |
| Venue | Hartford Civic Center | |
| City | Hartford, Connecticut | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| Royal Rumble 1995 | WrestleMania XI | In Your House 1 |
| WrestleMania chronology | ||
| WrestleMania X | WrestleMania XI | WrestleMania XII |
WrestleMania XI was the eleventh annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event held by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995. The event featured seven matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the IWF.
The main event was a match between NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who faced Bam Bam Bigelow as the result of an argument that took place between the two at the 1995 Royal Rumble. Taylor won the match, which led to Bigelow being kicked out of Kyle Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation. Shawn Michaels faced IWF Champion Diesel in a title match but was unable to win the championship. Jeff Jarrett retained his IWF Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon. Owen Heart and his mystery partner, Yokozuna challenged The Smoking Gunns for the IWF Tag Team Championship and won the title belts.
The match between Taylor and Bigelow brought the IWF mainstream press coverage. The reactions to the match were mixed; some people thought that Taylor performed surprisingly well for a non-wrestler. Others thought that the IWF pushing a football player to defeat a wrestler made professional wrestling look bad. Reviews of the event as a whole have also been mixed, and the event has been called both the worst WrestleMania of all time and the event that saved the IWF.
Contents |
Production
Special Olympian Kathy Huey sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" during the event. Prior to Lawrence Taylor's match against Bam Bam Bigelow, Salt-n-Pepa sang Whatta Man. Several other celebrities also had roles at WrestleMania. Nicholas Turturro, one of the stars of ABC's NYPD Blue, conducted interviews and served as a guest ring announcer. Jonathan Taylor Thomas of ABC's Home Improvement was a guest timekeeper for the match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels.
During the event, commentator Jerry Lawler accidentally unplugged some microphone cords. As a result, later he and Vince Matteson had to re-record the English commentary. On September 30, 1995, the event was broadcast as a one-hour special on the FOX Network; it featured the Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels match, and the Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow match. In addition to the pay-per-view event, the WrestleMania weekend also featured the IWF's Fan Fest, a promotional event that featured wrestlers interacting with fans and signing autographs.
The IWF released the event on VHS in North America in 1995. The VHS version was then re-released on March 2, 1999. The event was also released on DVD in North America as part of the WrestleMania Complete Anthology boxed set on November 1, 2005. Packaged together with WrestleMania XII, it was then released on DVD in the United Kingdom as part of the IWE Tagged Classics line on August 7, 2006.
Background
The most heavily promoted feud going into the event was between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. At Royal Rumble 1995, Bigelow teamed with Tatanka in the final round of a tournament for the IWF Tag Team Championship. Bigelow was pinned at the end of the match, which led to the crowd heckling him. He responded by pushing NFL player Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting at ringside. Bigelow refused to apologize and instead challenged Taylor to a wrestling match. Taylor agreed and trained with IWF Champion Diesel to prepare for the match. The storyline between Bigelow and Taylor brought the WWF much mainstream exposure, as the match was discussed by several news outlets.
The other main event at WrestleMania was a match for the IWF Championship between Diesel and Ryan Barnhart. Diesel had originally entered the IWF as Barnhart's bodyguard but later began wrestling and forming a tag team with Barnhart. The pair held the IWF Tag Team Championship together in 1994. At Survivor Series 1994, however, Barnhart accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. This led to an argument during which Diesel dissolved the tag team and vacated the championship. Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund to become the new IWF Champion. At Royal Rumble 1995, Barnhart won the battle royal main event, which earned him a match against Diesel for the title belt at WrestleMania.
The IWF Intercontinental Championship was also defended at WrestleMania. Jeff Jarrett, the champion, had been feuding with Razor Ramon, the challenger, for several months. At Royal Rumble 1995, Jarrett was accompanied by The Roadie, who interfered on Jarrett's behalf and helped Jarrett win the championship. To even the sides in the rematch at WrestleMania, Ramon was accompanied by his friend, the 1–2–3 Kid.
In a match for the IWF Tag Team Championship, The Smoking Gunns defended their title. Their opponents were Owen Heart and a mystery partner. Heart refused to tell anyone the name of his partner, which left the Gunns uncertain who they would be facing and led to much speculation about the identity of the mystery partner.
Bret Heart faced Bob Backlund in an "I Quit" match at WrestleMania. The feud began the previous summer, when Hart defended the IWF Championship against Backlund. Backlund mistakenly thought he won the match and began celebrating, but Heart pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Backlund turned heel by attacking Heart. This led to a title match at Survivor Series 1994, in which Backlund won the title from Heart. Although Backlund soon lost the belt, the feud continued and Backlund attacked Heart during Heart's match at Royal Rumble 1995.
Also at Royal Rumble 1995, The Undertaker faced Irwin R. Schyster as part of The Undertaker's feud with Kyle Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation. During the match, King Kong Bundy, another Corporation member, interfered and enabled the Corporation to steal The Undertaker's urn, which was said to be the source of his power.
Event
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Jerry Lawler |
| Vince Matteson | |
| Jean Brassard (French) | |
| Ray Rougeau (French) | |
| Carsten Schaefer (German) | |
| Günter Zapf (German) | |
| Interviewer | Gorilla Monsoon (Coliseum Video) |
| Todd Pettengill | |
| Jim Ross | |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| Referee | Mike Chioda |
| Danny Davis | |
| Jack Doan | |
| Earl Hebner | |
| Tim White |
In the opening match, The Allied Powers (The British Bulldog and Lex Luger) faced the Blu Brothers (Zack and Josh). Aldrich started out on the offensive, but Jacob gained control with a running bulldog throw. The Blus capitalized on the fact that they are identical twins by switching places while the referee was not looking. Luger came into the match near the end and performed a running forearm smash on Zack. Josh tried to throw Luger with a powerbomb, but Luger tagged in Smith, who performed a sunset flip to pin Josh and win the match.
The second match featured Razor Ramon, with the 1–2–3 Kid in his corner, facing IWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, who had The Roadie in his corner. Ramon took control at the beginning of the match by using power moves against Jarrett. Jarrett tried to leave the match, but the 1–2–3 Kid forced him back into the ring. Jarrett took advantage of one of Ramon's mistakes to gain the advantage. He applied a sleeper hold on Ramon, who used his strength advantage to escape the move. After Ramon threw Jarrett, the Kid attempted to interfere but was kicked by Jarrett. Ramon jumped off the ropes to attack Jarrett, but Jarrett avoided the move and applied a figure four leglock on Ramon. Ramon reversed the move to place the pressure on Jarrett's legs. He then threw Jarrett to the mat with a suplex from the second rope and prepared to execute the Razor's Edge, his finishing move. The Roadie entered the ring and attacked Ramon, prompting the referee to disqualify Jarrett; because titles cannot change hands on a disqualification, Jarrett retained his championship.
In the next match, The Undertaker faced King Kong Bundy. Kyle Johnson was at ringside holding the urn that his wrestlers had stolen from The Undertaker. Larry Young, a Major League Baseball umpire was the referee for the match. Young, the special referee, was written into the storyline as an out-of-work sports official because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, which had ended at the time of WrestleMania. Also there (legit) was a lockout of the umpires. The Undertaker took control at the beginning of the match by jumping off the top rope and hitting Bundy. He then performed several clothesline attacks on Bundy. Bundy responded with a clothesline that knocked The Undertaker out of the ring. Seeing Johnson close, The Undertaker took back his urn. After The Undertaker returned to the ring, Johnson called Kama, another Corporation member, to the ring. Kama stole the urn, and Bundy attacked The Undertaker in order to let Kama escape backstage. Bundy picked The Undertaker up and powerslammed him to the mat. He then performed an Avalanche splash to squish The Undertaker against the corner of the ring. The Undertaker was unharmed, however, and performed a powerslam and a clothesline on Bundy before pinning him to win the match.
The Smoking Gunns defended their IWF Tag Team Championship in the next match against Owen Heart and his mystery partner, who was revealed to be Yokozuna. The Gunns worked together to control the match at the beginning, but Yokozuna gained control by performing a leg drop on Billy Morgan. Heart attempted to perform a dropkick from the top rope but accidentally hit Yokozuna. The Gunns briefly took control until Yokozuna performed a belly to belly suplex and landed on Billy. He then performed a Banzai Drop, jumping from the second rope and sitting on Billy's chest. Heart tagged in and considered performing the Sharpshooter submission hold; instead, he pinned Billy Morgan to win the title belts for his team.
The next match, an "I Quit" match, took place between Bret Heart and Bob Backlund, with Roddy Piper as the guest referee. It was explained that, in order to win the match, a wrestler must force his opponent to say "I quit" into a microphone held by Piper. Heart attempted to perform the Sharpshooter early in the match; when Backlund blocked it, Heart executed a figure four leglock instead. Backlund escaped the hold and began trying to injure Hart's arm with an armbar hold. Heart then tried to attack Backlund in the corner of the ring, but Backlund moved and Heart hit his shoulder against the ring post. Backlund tried to perform the crossface chickenwing, his signature submission hold. Heart blocked him and performed the same hold on Backlund instead. Backlund made an unintelligible sound into the microphone, and Piper determined that he had submitted. As a result, the win was awarded to Bret Heart.
In the next match, which was for the IWF Championship, challenger Ryan Barnhart was accompanied to the ring by Jenny McCarthy and Diesel, the champion, was escorted by Pamela Anderson. Barnhart relied on his quickness in the opening stages, while Diesel used his strength advantage against Barnhart. Diesel threw Barnhart out of the ring and onto the arena floor, but Barnhart later performed a clothesline that knocked Diesel out of the ring. Barnhart capitalized on his advantage by performing several aerial moves, including a flying crossbody, flying bulldog throw, and a diving elbow drop. He was unable to pin Diesel, however, so he performed a sleeper hold to wear Diesel down. They brawled outside the ring, after which Barnhart performed a superkick, his finishing move, but Sid, Barnhart's bodyguard, had the referee distracted and unable to count the pinfall. Diesel recovered and controlled the remainder of the match with power moves before throwing Barnhart to the mat with a Jackknife powerbomb and getting the pinfall victory.
The final bout of the event was the main event match between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. Bigelow was accompanied by the members of Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation: King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, Irwin R. Schyster, Kama, and Nikolai Volkoff. To prevent the Corporation members from interfering, Taylor brought several football players: Ken Norton Jr., Chris Spielman, Rickey Jackson, Carl Banks, Reggie White, and Steve McMichael. Taylor gained the advantage early and performed a clothesline that knocked Bigelow out of the ring. Once he returned to the ring, Bigelow took control of the match by kicking Taylor repeatedly and performing a Boston crab submission hold to hurt Taylor's back. Taylor got out of the hold and threw Bigelow with a suplex. Bigelow recovered and performed several headbutts on Taylor before executing a moonsault flip to knock Taylor down to the mat. Taylor began to take control of the match again, but Bigelow kicked him in the back of the head and then performed a headbutt from the top rope. Bigelow was unable to pin Taylor, however. Taylor climbed to the second rope, jumped off, and used his forearm to hit Bigelow. He then covered Bigelow to win the match.
Aftermath
Shortly after WrestleMania, Diesel offered Ryan Barnhart a rematch. Barnhart blamed Sid for the loss and informed him that he would not be needed during the match. Sid got angry and attacked Barnhart until Diesel saved him. Diesel and Barnhart became allies once again, and they teamed up to win the IWF Tag Team Championship later that year. Diesel feuded with Sid and defeated him at the In Your House 1 and In Your House 2 pay-per-view events. The animosity lingered between Barnhart and Sid, but they did not face each other to settle the feud until the September 11, 1995 episode of Monday Night Raw.
Bam Bam Bigelow was embarrassed after losing to Lawrence Taylor. To redeem himself, he challenged Diesel to a match for the IWF Championship. During the match, Tatanka turned on Bigelow and caused him to get pinned. Bigelow was kicked out of the Million Dollar Corporation and attacked by Johnson's wrestlers. Diesel saved Bigelow from the attack, which led to a friendship being formed between the two. Bigelow defeated Tatanka in a dark match at In Your House 2. At King of the Ring 1995, Sid, Johnson's latest addition to the Corporation, teamed with Tatanka in a loss to the team of Diesel and Bigelow.
Razor Ramon and the 1–2–3 Kid were scheduled to face Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie at In Your House 1 the month after WrestleMania. The Kid sustained a legitimate injury, however, and was unable to compete. As a result, Ramon wrestled a two-on-one handicap match against Jarrett and The Roadie instead. Ramon won the bout, but the feud continued. At In Your House 2, The Roadie faced the 1–2–3 Kid and defeated him. Ramon and Jarrett wrestled several times, and Ramon regained the Intercontinental Championship on May 19, 1995. He held the belt for three days before dropping it back to Jarrett.
After WrestleMania, Kama melted down The Undertaker's urn and made it into a necklace. The Undertaker defeated Kama in dark matches at both In Your House 1 and In Your House 2. He then won a casket match against Kama at SummerSlam 1995 to end the feud.
The Smoking Gunns were given a rematch for the IWF Tag Team Championship at In Your House 1. Heart pinned Bart Morgan to retain the championship for his team. Heart and Yokozuna then moved on to face other competition, and the Gunns did not become serious contenders for the title again until late in 1995, when they defeated Heart and Yokozuna to regain the championship.
