[1993-04-04-WWF-Wrestlemania IX] Interview: Hulk Hogan / Bret Hart vs Yokozuna / Hulk Hogan vs Yokozuna

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Hogan does a promo letting us all know he just left Bret Hart's dressing room to let him know all the Hulkamaniacs are in his corner. Hogan's eye looked nasty, Savage got in a good shot.

 

Last few minutes of the match. I always thought the finish to the match proper was done really well with the exposed turnbuckle and the salt being thrown in his eyes. Yoko pins Bret and wins the WWF title as a result.

 

We all know what happens next.

 

I remember being pissed about this even not knowing all the politics, because it was so obvious Hogan was out there to fake concern for Bret.

 

Bret wasn't drawing as champ and at the time, I guess I can see why they did this, but in hindsight, this was a pretty big blunder.

[soup23]

I just watched this match this morning and I wish Yoko would have dropped a leg drop or something onto Bret after the salt got into his eyes. It just seemed weird that Bret would be pinned solely on that.

[BruiserBrody]

IIRC WWF magazine claimed the match went over 40 min in the review, only 4 times the actual duration

[El-P]

God I hated the finish, and I was a mark then. Hogan's character was so detestable, it's amazing people bought into him as a *face* during all those years. I think there's a social and political issue that should be discuted about it, but I guess it's better not to, because it would be opining a huge can of worms...

Bret vs Yoko was as good as it could have been.

As a 17 year old mark I kinda liked this WM a lot, because I loved the setting (I'm a mark for outdoor settings). And Luger's entrance.

[shoe]

Finish was solid I too would have liked the Leg drop or Banzai drop from Yoko on Bret though. Hogan stuff was B.S at the time and showing Vince was mis reading the times that would eventually lead to his company fall to #2 for a little while.

[Zenjo]

I can remember from the time how disgusted people were at school about this! This was when I was 12 and everyone who watched wrestling here seemed to hate Hogan.

[NitroFan]

I like how Hogan was earlier threatening to beat up a ref because he made the right call about cheating but here he's outraged at the injustice of "the jap" cheating

[Blazer]

I just watched this match this morning and I wish Yoko would have dropped a leg drop or something onto Bret after the salt got into his eyes. It just seemed weird that Bret would be pinned solely on that.

Wow, I know I'm quoting something a couple of years old, but I wanted to say the same thing. I'm in the process of slowly watching all of the Manias as part of the WWE set that I scooped off Amazon awhile back. I've seen WM9 before, albeit many years ago. Just rewatched Bret/Yoko this afternoon, and I was expecting Yoko to hit a legdrop before the pin. That was definitely missing.

[Kevin Ridge]

Hogan issues a challenge to whoever wins the WWF Title. We didn’t think you mentioned right after! Bret gets the sharpshooter on but gets some salt in the eyes and gets pinned off that?! Yoko should have at least dropped the leg. Hogan immediately comes out and Fuji should be fired by Yokozuna for making him defend the title right after he just won it. Ugh! Hogan wins the title in seconds. This sums up a bad WrestleMania.

[PeteF3]

Hogan's actual return didn't have 1/10 of the impact and shock of the Warrior's return the year before. And the returning to Hulk as the #1 babyface comes off even more desperate and outdated as the Warrior's push was.

 

I get that Bret wasn't drawing, and it was the weakness of the Bret-Yoko main event that meant that this was the first WrestleMania that I (or my parents) I didn't order. So only hearing about Hogan's weird title win after the fact, I wasn't angry as much as I was confused. And underwhelmed. All in all, there probably wouldn't be any easy answers for the WWF until the steroid trial was over, at the earliest.

 

Six months later, I was begging for Hogan to come back.

[WingedEagle]

Bret takes Yoko down with a flying clothesline, then Yoko bumps into an exposed corner and Bret applies sharpshooter. Fuji throws salt in Bret's eyes and Yoko pins him to win the title -- super weak finish. Hogan out immediately, as in before Yoko even gets his hands on the actual belt, explaining how Bret was robbed. Now that is opportunism. Fuji challenges Hogan right then and Hart nobly tells him to go for it. Hogan in, ducks Fuji salt and Yoko takes it. Clothesline, leg drop and Hogan wins the title. We get our 2nd Hogan posing session of the night.

 

Wrestlemania 9.

[soup23]

I hate the way Yoko beats Bret, that is honestly the most offensive thing to this besides Fuji being a horrible manager. You can see some fans in the crowd giving a fuck off to Hogan winning but the pop wasn't awful or anything. I guess I am conditioned to the crowd completing shitting on stuff the past few years, that this reaction seems really tame in retrospect.

[garretta]

Forget the political garganzola; this was presented terribly.

 

Most of the posters before me have talked about how weak the Bret/Yoko finish was; what they left out was the Bret sold it wrong, like knockout powder instead of a blinding substance. He should have been screaming and writhing around in pain, even while Yoko was covering him, not just laying there so Yoko could hook his leg.

 

Then, of course, we get the Hogan stuff. A lot of people are so fixated on the backstage reasons for the switch that they forget about how badly it was handled onscreen. Hogan (the character) didn't want the match then, he just wanted to help Bret back to the locker room. But Fuji, who should have been celebrating the title win with Yoko, instead issued the challenge, and called Hogan a yellowbelly when he appeared to wave it off. What the hell else could Hogan do? If he doesn't take the match then, not only is he a coward, but he'll most likely never get a shot at a belt that he (again, in character) still considers his.

 

How to fix this? Assuming that the same parameters are in place (Yoko beats Bret, Hogan beats Yoko), have Hogan make the challenge, with Fuji and Yoko trying to duck it. (I personally would have done this on the next live Raw, but I can see Vince wanting the surprise twist happy ending). This way, the whole thing is about Yoko's cheating Hogan's friend Bret out of the title, not what an idiot poor hapless Fuji is and how lucky he is that an angry Yoko doesn't squash him like a grape for costing him (Yoko) the title.

 

Alternatively, simply leave Yoko out of the mix, can the Beefcake/Money Inc. stuff, and have a returning Hogan challenge and beat Bret cleanly for the title. Nobody knew at the time that Hogan would work so little while he was champion to the point where Vince wanted the belt off of him, so the plan would be for Hogan to beat Bret, then spend the summer dealing with Yoko the foreign menace. Give Hogan what became the Luger push, complete with tour bus and the bodyslam challenge on the USS Intrepid, then have Hogan beat Yoko at SummerSlam. (I don't know what you do at King of the Ring; maybe a Yoko match with a screwy finish of some sort.) Then the buildup to a Bret/Hogan Mania X begins. The end result is that as Hulkamania began at MSG in 1984, so it will end at MSG in 1994, as Bret makes Hogan give up in the Sharpshooter and the New Generation takes over. Hogan goes to WCW (most likely) and history continues from there.

 

As for the commentary, we didn't hear enough for it to really matter, but I'll say that JR didn't sound out of place here at all. In fact, he sounded revitalized, calling a new promotion with new broadcast partners and new types of angles to get over. He sounded as genuinely excited to call a Hogan title win as he was to call one for Flair or Sting, and let's face it, anything is better than Vince's obnoxious overshilling and refusal to actually call the matches in front of him. Heenan overdid the confusion bit at the end, but I'm sure there were fans out there who were as confused as he seemed to be,

 

Now to watch the tag title match.

[cactus]

Bret and Yokozuna put on a solid main event built around Yoko's size. Bret works at a slick pace and bumps off Yoko like he's a fly hitting a tank. Yoko is knocked off his feet by Bret smartly trapping his legs into the ropes and tripping him up. The finish sees Mr Fuji throwing salt into Bret's eyes felt a touch anti-climatic, but it's nothing when compared to the post-match nonsense with Hogan stealing the moment and making it all about him yet again. There's not a bigger star in the company than Hogan at the time so it makes sense for him to be involved with the main event, but this still leaves a sour taste in my mouth after all these years. 

★★½ for Bret/Yoko and a big fat DUD for Hogan/Yoko.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Yokozuna - WWF WrestleMania IX

Yokozuna has got some freaky deaky chemistry with Bret Hart and Undertaker. Before the Hogan stuff, this is a good match. Hogan has a nasty fucking shiner. What’s that from? He issues a challenger to the winner.

Bret really shows why he is one of the best of all time here as he really maximizes Yoko accentuating his strengths. I love that he comes out the gate strong with a drop kick. He figures the best defense is a good offense. He issuing the full court press. Yoko is just walk through that shit. He is bucking him off and bulldozing him. Bret who is one of the cleverest wrestlers ever ties Yoko up in the ropes via the ankle to get some offense in. Once the ref unties Yoko, Yoko picks up where he left off. I love a good Yoko leg drop. A couple Yoko nerve holds grind this To a halt. I liked Bret’s hope spots of bulldogs from the second rope and Yoko’s cut offs like the super kick. Bret starts stringing together moves and when Yoko pulls him down Bret rip off the turnbuckle cover. Yoko getting slammed head first into the exposed buckle and then proving the Brain wrong with the Sharpshooter was awesome. Loved the Salt Throw. 100% agree with Chad, Yoko should have followed up with a leg drop or Banzai to finish him off with Bret writhing & wriggling more post-salt.

The Hogan shit was so dumb and reeked of desperation. Fuji issues the challenge and Bret encourages Hogan to take it. I will say this is a good example of how one moment is not enough to kill a career. Yoko was completely rehabilitated by July 4th Intrepid angle. This one angle did not bury him. There very few things people cannot come back from. It is all about follow through and almost nothing has to be burial depending on what happens after. Anyways good match as pretty much all Bret/Yoko matches are. ***1/4