IWF WrestleMania 11
From Iwe
| WrestleMania XI | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | Aril 2, 1995 | |
| City | Hartford, Connecticut | |
| Venue | Hartford Civic Center | |
| Attendance | 16,305 | |
| Buy rate | 340,000 | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| ← Previous Royal Rumble | Next → In Your House 1 | |
| WrestleMania chronology | ||
| ← Previous X | Next → XII | |
WrestleMania XI was the 11th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE) at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995.
The main event featured former NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor against Bam Bam Bigelow, a match which came 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 DiBiase'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
Background
WrestleMania is considered International Wrestling Federation's (IWF, now IWE) flagship event, having first been held in 1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of IWF's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were eventually dubbed the "Big Four".
Special Olympian Kathy Huey sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" during the event, replacing the previously advertised band, Fishbone. 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 NYPD Blue, conducted interviews and served as a guest ring announcer. Jonathan Taylor Thomas of Home Improvement was a guest timekeeper for the match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels. WrestleMania XI marked the first time that the IWF featured an interview on the Internet as Diesel and Shawn Michaels were interviewed by Bob Ryder.
On September 30, 1995, a one-hour special including the Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels match and the Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow match was broadcast on the FOX Network. At the WrestleMania weekend, the WWF also held its Fan Fest, a promotional event during which wrestlers interacted with fans and signed 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. In the United Kingdom, the event was released on VHS on July 10, 1995. 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.
Storylines
Event
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Jerry Lawler |
| Vince Matteson | |
| Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) | |
| Hugo Savinovich (Spanish) | |
| Jean Brassard (French) | |
| Ray Rougeau (French) | |
| Carsten Schaefer (German) | |
| Günter Zapf (German) | |
| Interviewer | Gorilla Monsoon (Coliseum Video) |
| Todd Pettengill | |
| Jim Ross | |
| Nicholas Turturro | |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| Nicholas Turturro (Shawn Michaels vs Diesel match) | |
| Referee | Mike Chioda |
| Danny Davis | |
| Jack Doan | |
| Earl Hebner | |
| Tim White |
In the opening match, The Allied Powers (Davey Boy Aldrich and Lex Luger) faced the Blu Brothers (Eli Blu and Jacob Blu). Smith 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 Eli. Jacob tried to throw Luger with a powerbomb, but Luger tagged in Smith, who performed a sunset flip to pin Jacob and win the match.
The second match pitted Razor Ramon, with the 1–2–3 Kid in his corner, against 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 DiBiase was at ringside holding the urn that his wrestlers had stolen from The Undertaker. Larry Young, a legit American League umpire, was the special referee for the match. Young's storyline was as an out-of-work sports official because of the recently ended MLB Players Association strike and a lockout of the Major League Umpires Association umpires (which led to the eventual dissolution of the MLUA in 2000; prior to the new union, umpires were split by league). 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 DiBiase close, The Undertaker took back his urn. After The Undertaker returned to the ring, DiBiase 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.
Reception
Aftermath
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
| |||
References
External links
| ← 1994 • Template:1995 IWF pay-per-view events • 1996 → | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Rumble • WrestleMania XI • In Your House 1 • King of the Ring • In Your House 2 • SummerSlam • In Your House 3 • In Your House 4 • Survivor Series • In Your House 5 |
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