Wrestlemania VI 1990

Rumble '90 and the build for this is here.

Wrestlemania VI – 1990 Toronto
(Dark – Jacques Rougeau d. Bad News Brown )

A note - this show shuts down the only announce team used thusfar, at Mania, Gorilla and Jesse, as Ventura moves down the road.

1. Orient Express d. Demolition
-We welcome Kato and Tanaka! Okay, Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, but masks make all the difference. Ax gets pinned, entire story of match is Ax, Ax is old, Ax can’t keep up. We hate Ax. Following the match, the Demolition music hits again, and down the aisle walks another guy in Demolition gear! Wha? Huh? Wha?

So, it’s Crush, you know. He and Smash punk out Ax – and the new Demolition is born.

2. Cage Legend's Match: Hulk Hogan d. Dusty Rhodes (Andre - guest referee)
-Andre won the legend's matches in 1-4, Hogan won at 5 and now takes 6. Dusty’s turned heel on run up to the show after their split on the Main event. Feud will continue.

3. Kerry Von Erich d. Ultimate Warrior (w/ White Flight)
-Mercifully short. KVE hits discus punches on all of White Flight and begins his run.

4. Tito Santana d. The Male Model Rick Martel
No Entourage, selling their beating from Savage at the Rumble. Chico finally beats Martel. Emotional for people who care about that kinda thing.

5. Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) d. Dino Bravo
-The good people of Toronto aren't happy here, as their hometown boy takes his beating. Ted looks into the camera, "Bobby, I'm coming to collect," and laughs.

6. Tags: Marty/Rude d. Jake/Piper
-Switch. Unlikely face tag team takes the straps – Marty getting the fall on Piper. It’s Marty’s second tag title – big face pop. Rude grabs both tag belts after the match and poses in the ring, Marty apparently does not notice, as his exictement is palpable. Piper has to take the fall.

7. IC Title: Bret Hart d. Shawn Michaels
All the Canadians happy. Take a picture, because it's underway.

It's not a complicated storyline - Bret's the somewhat tortured, morally upright , conscience of the WWF. He's Shane (not McMahon, as in "Come Back, Shane). Michaels is the cockiest guy who ever walked the planet. Both are still developing these personnas in 1990 - and as Bret's family returns - and Shawn's buddies join up - the Hart Foundation and the Clique will be the warring families that will drive the engine of the WWF, regardless of they're fighting each other or among themselves.

Here, it's just beginning - Bret's far ahead of Shawn at this point, both men tag champs, but this is Bret's second IC run and Shawn's just going singles here.

After Bret's win, he takes to a buckle to wave the Maple Leaf -- Shawn attacks from behind, puts the boots to Bret and grabs the Canadian flag (quelle horreur!) sprinting down the aisle comes the Anvil, gone since Survivor Series '88 after he aligned with Davey Boy against Bret.

Anvil saves Bret - he and Bret do the Hart Attack on Michaels - and it's the big Canadian pop here at Wrestlemania VI.

8. WWF Title: Curt Hennig (w/Brain) d. Randy Savage
Perfect retains clean. He wins his rematch with Savage and walks out of WM VI as the world champion. I like the visual of Hennig tossing the title over his shoulder to Bobby.

Perfect's swerved Randy out of his belt - they took out Liz - and now at Wrestlemania VI, he hits the Perfect Plex to keep the belt.

Savage is distraught, holding his head in his hands after the fall - remaining alone in the ring as Hennig and Bobby walk up the aisle (both men bleeding) triumphantly.

At the Great American Bash in June, the PPV debut of the new monster heel – Vader – beating a young man named Mark Callous, soon to appear somewhere else. Sting went over Pillman, the Steiners, Arn, and Flair all kept their belts.

Great American Bash – 1990 Baltimore
NWA Title: Ric Flair d. Harley Race
US Title: Arn Anderson d. Paul Orndorff
Tags: Steiners d. Rock n Roll Express
Sting d. Pillman

Vader d. Mark Callous
Doug Furnas d. Tommy Rich
Lex Luger d. Tom Zenk
Midnight Express d. Southern Boys


On the road to SummerSlam... Savage’s fury now impacts the entire company, as he interrupts undercard matches, attacking faces and heels alike, and we, you know, get the unbalanced, coked up Savage. No Elizabeth, no belt – but now he hasn’t been screwed, he’s lost clean, and the makes him even madder. Hennig can’t appear without Savage attacking. He’s lost control.

Eventually he is barred from all WWF arenas - he, of course, shows up anyway, just randomly attacking, and is led away in handcuffs by security each time. Savage finally gets ahold of Hennig and leaves him bloody - the decision from the WWF is to grant Savage one and only one more title shot - but because Savage is a danger to the entire Federation, they're going to put the match in a steel cage, with the door guarded by the Natural Disasters, Earthquake and Tugboat. No one gets in - no one gets out.

Jake is hot for the IC belt – he hasn’t had a singles shot in 4 years and vows to bring evil into the life of the Hit Man. Piper is back in the role of Jake's manager, between the two of them there's enough dastardly deeds to carry the program.

The Von Erich push continues. The Dusty/Hogan feud continues. Shawn moves forward after losing the IC shot, doing the Heartbreak Hotel and calling out Tito Santana as his stepping stone to glory. The Ultimate Warrior takes his message or racial purity out on Bad News Brown. Meanwhile, arenas across the country will sporadically go dark – and flashing on the screen will be a bolt of lighting and the words “Death is Coming – Thanksgiving Night.”

It's SummerSlam '90 from the not yet hardcore mecca of Philadelphia. Call your thing!