[1991-03-24-WWF-Wrestlemania VII] The Rockers vs Haku & Barbarian

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Really fun show opener. This really shows the value of babyfaces getting over by selling more than by staying on offense the entire time, as the Rockers keep the crowd involved by giving them something to root for. Very good.

[shoe]

A really fun match and a great way to kick off Wrestlemania. The Rockers are a great team, and Haku/Barbarian are an underrated team when it comes to their work. This has a real fun dynamic.

[Childs]

I had never seen this before for whatever reason, but it has to be one of the best Wrestlemania openers. It wasn't quite as good as Rockers vs. POP from the previous year. As Loss said, it was more of a babyface selling performance by the Rockers and didn't give them quite as many opportunities to show off their offense. But they were a hell of a team in this period, and Haku and Barbarian were always believable asskickers.

[PeteF3]

Good way to kick off the show. Haku & Barb don't quite come off as impressively as I'd like for this to be a real hidden gem on the level of that POP match we keep coming back to, but there are some great spots here that build off one another--like the assisted huracanrana that gets turned into a neat assisted stungun when the Rockers try it a second time. This is an absolutely jacked crowd, at least until the rapidfire oh-shit-we're-behind-schedule matches later on. That's not always the case with LA crowds but it's greatly appreciated here.

[Kevin Ridge]

Liked this a lot more than I remembered. Great opener to show. Fun sequence when Barbarian clotheslined The Rockers after they did a double kip up. But he tries another double clothesline and they are ready with a double superkick. Haku/Barbarian had the appropriate power moves to hit on The Rockers.

[soup23]

A couple of sloppy moments but this cold be the prototype for a PPV opener, as it is energetic and both teams look strong. I loved the powerslam spot by the Barbarian on Marty. Duggan wasn't half bad on commentary to.

[garretta]

This was an excellent opener. I notice that Vince keeps going back to the Rockers to open his pay-per-views, and that's because they always give a crowd-pleasing performance that gets the crowd hot for the rest of the show. Even when they're getting mauled by the Faces of Fear, they get just enough offense in for hope to remain alive.

 

We shouldn't discount Haku and Barby either; they may not have been a long-term WWF team, but they look great for their experience level. It's a shame that Vince didn't keep them together at least for a while once Heenan retired from managing, but with the Nasties on top until SummerSlam and no manager that was really able to fit with them, it was probably for the best that they went their separate ways. (Haku was actually more articulate than Fuji, so that would have been an awful fit. They'd have looked completely out of place with Slick, and I think he left sometime before the year was out anyway. Jimmy had the Nasties, so he wasn't available, and all Tolos seemed to do was blow that stupid whistle.) Even though they're limited in experience, they're probably a better overall team than the Powers of Pain, mostly because Haku can work circles around the Warlord.

 

Duggan was worthy of another chance on commentary; he seemed to know his stuff, but he still had to be Hacksaw, so he couldn't appear too smooth. It's sad listening to Howard Finkel by this time; he's permanently talking in that excessively high, overexcited voice, and it's making him difficult to understand. The worst part is, I know it's not his fault; he's obviously taking lamebrained orders from Vince, who either doesn't know or doesn't care that he's ruining the best ring announcer his company's ever had, and one of the best there's ever been.

 

What's with the constant reminders that the Rockers are tag team specialists? It was a cute phrase when Gino first used it, but now it's getting on my nerves, especially since it's starting to mean that one's totally helpless without the other. No wonder Shawn (I think) wanted to break the team up; it was his only chance at ever making a name for himself.

[dawho5]

Great opener for any PPV. High energy, never-say-die team against a pair of big heel asskickers is just a good way to get a crowd going. Barbarian bringing the power offense was pretty good with a few hiccups.

[cactus]

Typical Rockers versus big men stuff, not that I'm complaining! Both Marty and Shawn bump like crazy and the crowd are super hot for them. From his staggering selling to him catching Marty in a nifty powerslam, I thought Barbarian also looked good here. Every show needs a match like this to open things up and get the ball rolling in the right direction. As I go through all the Wrestlemanias in order, I can really appreciate how dynamic and fast-paced this match was compared to what we were usually getting on the undercard for these shows. The only match that has better workrate from the first six 'Manias is Steamboat vs Savage. The Rockers are over like rover and it's crazy that the office would split them up in a few short months. 

★★★¾