WrestleMania VII
| WrestleMania VII | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuring Hulk Hogan, illustrated by Joe Jusko |
||||
| Tagline(s) | Superstars and Stripes Forever | |||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | |||
| Date | March 24, 1991 | |||
| Attendance | 16,158 | |||
| Venue | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | |||
| City | Los Angeles, California | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
|
||||
| WrestleMania chronology | ||||
|
||||
WrestleMania VII was the seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on March 24, 1991 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. WrestleMania VII was originally scheduled to be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but decided to move the event to the adjacent Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The World Wrestling Federation's stated reason for the venue change was that a threat had been issued towards the company in the wake of Sgt. Slaughter's portrayal of an Iraqi sympathizer.[1] It also was The Undertaker's WrestleMania debut and the beginning of his renown undefeated streak.
Contents |
Production [edit]
The tagline for the event was "Superstars and Stripes Forever," and is remembered for its theme of American patriotism in the wake of the Gulf War. American flags were hung all over the arena and the ring apron and banners were colored red, white, and blue, which was the basis for the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Championship.
This was the first WrestleMania not to feature Jesse Ventura as a color commentator. Gorilla Monsoon hosted the event with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. When Heenan had to manage at ringside, Monsoon was joined on the commentary by Jim Duggan, and later "Lord" Alfred Hayes. In addition, Regis Philbin helped with commentary on the main event while Alex Trebek served as the ring announcer.
Willie Nelson sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show. Other celebrity guests in attendance for WrestleMania VII included Philbin, Trebek, and Marla Maples (as backstage announcers), George Steinbrenner, Paul Maguire, Macaulay Culkin, Donald Trump, Lou Ferrigno, Chuck Norris, and Henry Winkler.
The artist for the promotional poster is renowned illustrative painter Joe Jusko.[2][3]
The theme song to this event, "Worldwide Spectacle", was written by WWF's internal composer, Jim Johnston.
Background [edit]
The two main feuds entering WrestleMania in 1991 were between Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter and The Ultimate Warrior and "Macho King" Randy Savage, and in a way both were intertwined.
The Ultimate Warrior had defeated Hogan for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania a year earlier and entered 1991 as the champion. In the meantime, Sgt. Slaughter had returned to the WWF near the end of 1990 after spending five years wrestling in the American Wrestling Association. When he returned his character was changed to become aligned with Iraq, which coincided with the United States entering the conflict in the Middle East that led to Operation Desert Storm, and he became a contender for Warrior's title. At the same time, Savage was also vying for the title that he had lost to Hogan at WrestleMania V, and began prodding the Warrior to give him a title shot. Warrior refused and instead Slaughter received the shot. At the Royal Rumble in January 1991, interference from Savage and his valet Sensational Queen Sherri cost Warrior the title as Slaughter defeated the champion by pin after Savage hit him with a scepter. Warrior left the ring to chase after Savage following his loss and over the next few weeks their feud began to build, which hit a climax when Warrior challenged the Macho King to a retirement match at WrestleMania which Savage accepted.
Meanwhile, Hogan entered the Royal Rumble match and won it for the second consecutive year. After the match, while giving an interview to Gene Okerlund, Hogan was informed that Slaughter and his manager, General Adnan, were defacing the American flag. Hogan then promised to stand up for his country and take the title from Slaughter as soon as possible, and was later named the #1 contender for the WWF title which he had not contended for since losing the title to the Warrior at WrestleMania VI.
Event [edit]
During the Career Ending Match between "The Macho King" Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior, Miss Elizabeth was spotted in the crowd. During the course of the match cameras kept cutting to her as she grew concerned for Savage's well being. Despite taking five of Savage's flying elbow drops, Warrior won the match after hitting the Macho King with three flying shoulder blocks , thus forcing Savage to retire. After the match, Sherri came into the ring and verbally/physically attacked Savage, which prompted Elizabeth to charge into the ring and fight off the former Queen and save Savage. Shocked to see what Elizabeth had done for him, Savage and his former manager had an overwhelming reunion, and at the end he held the ring ropes open for her so she could exit. Savage won over the audience and he received a standing ovation.
Aftermath [edit]
The event marked The Undertaker's WrestleMania debut. As of 2013[update], The Undertaker has never lost a match at WrestleMania.
Virgil and Ted DiBiase feuded with each other right up until SummerSlam 1991 when DiBiase put his Million Dollar Belt on the line against Virgil.
Genichiro Tenryu and Kōji Kitao were on loan from the Japanese promotion Super World of Sports. The WWF co-promoted several cards in Japan with the group, including two Tokyo Dome shows on March 30 and December 12, 1991. Although SWS folded in June 1992, Tenryu's follow-up promotion, WAR, co-promoted the WWF's first Japanese tour in 1994.
After WrestleMania VII, The Hart Foundation disbanded. Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart went into single competition, with Bret having more success.
Results [edit]
Other on-screen talent [edit]
|
|
References [edit]
- ^ "Sgt Slaughter". The Professional Wrestling Hall of Famr. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011.
- ^ "Joe Jusko". Joe Jusko. 1959-09-01. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
- ^ "JoeJusko's deviantART Gallery". Joejusko.deviantart.com. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
- ^ Clapp, John (2012-04-03). "10 Show of Show Shorties". WWE. Retrieved 2012-04-05.
External links [edit]
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||
