WrestleMania IX

Background in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of the WWF's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were eventually dubbed the "Big Four". WrestleMania IX was scheduled to be held on April 4, 1993, at Caesars Palace in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Because WrestleMania IX was held in Caesars Palace, the WWF promoted the event as the "World's Largest Toga Party". The arena was made to look like a Roman coliseum, and the event featured guards, trumpeters, and several live animals. The company built on this theme by having the commentators, including debuting announcer Jim Ross, wear togas. Ring announcer Howard Finkel was also renamed "Finkus Maximus" for the day. Randy Savage came to the broadcast booth accompanied by women throwing flower petals and feeding him grapes while he rode on a couch carried by guards. Bobby Heenan made his entrance wearing a toga and riding a camel backwards. 's planned match at the event was canceled. Hulk Hogan's visibly damaged eye was explained in the storyline as the result of Ted DiBiase hiring a group of men to attack Hogan before the match. In reality, the cause of injury has been open to debate. One theory is that Randy Savage punched Hogan because he believed that his ex-wife Elizabeth Hulette had an affair with Hogan while Savage and Hulette were married (the couple divorced in September 1992). WWF officials claimed that the injury was the result of a jet ski accident. According to Bret Hart, he was originally booked to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title at Wrestlemania IX, but on April 2, 1993, was told by Vince McMahon to drop the title to Yokozuna at the event. In later years, it was acknowledged that the booking of the final match, which saw Bret Hart lose the WWF championship to Yokozuna and Hogan have a surprise match where he defeated Yokozuna to win the title, was changed solely to please Hogan. According to Jim Ross, Hogan was "the one guy" at the time of the event who could get more importance in the company than Vince McMahon-who was also under greater investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice- when it came to arranging his creative direction. Storylines One of the feuds heading into the event was between Tatanka and Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Tatanka was in the midst of an undefeated streak and had wrestled Michaels twice in the months leading up to WrestleMania IX. Tatanka pinned Michaels in a singles match on the February 13, 1993, episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling and later teamed with The Nasty Boys in a six-man match against Michaels and the Beverly Brothers; Tatanka pinned Michaels to win this match as well. Michaels was also feuding with Sensational Sherri, who stood in Tatanka's corner during the match. Sherri had been Michaels' valet. When Marty Jannetty tried to hit Michaels with a mirror, however, Michaels pulled Sherri in front of him to protect himself. Sherri's anger at getting hit over the head with a mirror caused her to turn on him at Royal Rumble 1993. feuded with Tatanka leading up to WrestleMania. The match between The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) and The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) had little background, although Afa, who managed The Headshrinkers, claimed that his team would "tear [the Steiners'] heads off". He was unable to wrestle again until the February 15, 1993, episode of Raw. He faced DiBiase in his return match, after which DiBiase and Schyster attacked him. DiBiase held Beefcake for Schyster to hit him in the face with a briefcase, but Jimmy Hart, who managed Money Inc., repeatedly got in the way before Schyster shoved him out of the ring. Schyster then hit Beefcake in the face with the briefcase. Hart later claimed that he felt the need to "step up and do the right thing" and that he "had a change of heart", and his intervention led to him becoming a babyface, or crowd favorite. Shortly thereafter, Hulk Hogan made his return to the WWF and joined with Beefcake, and manager Jimmy Hart, to form The Mega-Maniacs and challenge Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Championship. managed many wrestlers during his feud with The Undertaker. Mr. Perfect's rivalry with Bobby Heenan dated back to Survivor Series (1992). Perfect and Ric Flair were managed by Heenan, but Perfect turned on Flair and Heenan by agreeing to face them as part of a tag team match at Survivor Series. Flair feuded briefly with Perfect but left the company to return to World Championship Wrestling. Lex Luger had joined Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation, but he signed with McMahon's WWF when the bodybuilding company failed. He made his debut at Royal Rumble 1993, where he was unveiled as Heenan's latest wrestler, Narcissus (although the ring name was changed to "The Narcissist" Lex Luger). The Undertaker's feud with Giant Gonzalez was an offshoot of The Undertaker's feud with manager Harvey Wippleman. The Undertaker defeated Kamala, who was managed by Wippleman, at SummerSlam 1992. A rematch was held at Survivor Series 1992, and The Undertaker beat Kamala in a coffin match. Wippleman vowed revenge, and he introduced Gonzalez at Royal Rumble 1993 and instructed him to attack The Undertaker. The Undertaker was eliminated from the Royal Rumble match as a result of the interference, and a match was scheduled between The Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez for WrestleMania IX. Beginning with his debut with the company in 1992, Yokozuna was pushed by the WWF as an unstoppable monster heel. Weighing over 500 pounds, he used the Banzai Drop, a move in which he jumped from the second rope and sat on his opponent's chest, to defeat several of the WWF's biggest stars. In a notable match on the February 6, 1993, episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Yokozuna attacked "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and performed the Banzai Drop four times. Due to the kayfabe injuries from the attack, Duggan was unable to wrestle for over two months. During the contract signing, Yokozuna attacked Hart and performed the Banzai Drop on him. ==Event==

Before the televised broadcast began, Tito Santana defeated Papa Shango in a dark match, which became available for viewing on April 4, 2019, in the Hidden Gems section on WWE Network and is also notable as the WWE debut of Jim Ross on commentary. In the first match of the pay-per-view event, WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels was accompanied to the ring by a new valet, Luna Vachon. Sensational Sherri followed Tatanka to the ring to prevent Vachon from getting involved in the match. During the match, Vachon approached Tatanka twice outside the ring, but Sherri was able to intervene and stop Vachon from interfering. Tatanka spent much of the match trying to injure Michaels with an armbar hold. Michaels gained the advantage and almost pinned Tatanka with a victory roll, but Tatanka escaped the pin attempt and performed a war dance to channel his energy. Michaels threw Tatanka out of the ring and tried to jump at him to attack, but Tatanka moved. Michaels was unable to return to the ring within ten seconds; he pulled the referee out of the ring. Tatanka was awarded the victory by countout but did not win the championship because titles can only change hands as a result of pinfall or submission. Vachon attacked Sherri after the match by pulling her off the ring apron and delivery a devastating clothesline, body slam and kicks to the ribs. Tatanka had to help Sherri make it back to the dressing rooms; however, she would be attacked again at the first aid station by Vachon, who choked her, hit her head against a wall, and dropped a machine on top of her and then Vachon was arrested by security. In the next match, The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) faced The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). The advantage switched back and forth several times, as the Steiners threw The Headshrinkers with several suplex variations and used their aerial abilities to attack their opponents from the ring ropes. The Headshrinkers relied mainly on using their power to wear down the Steiners. At one point, Fatu picked Rick Steiner upon his shoulders so that Samu could attack Rick from the top rope. Rick caught Samu instead and performed a bodyslam on Samu from Fatu's shoulders. The match ended when Scott Steiner performed a Frankensteiner to pin Samu and win the match. Lex Luger was accompanied to the ring by four women dressed in bikinis as he prepared to face Mr. Perfect. The match began with technical wrestling, and Perfect tried to injure Luger's knee while Luger worked on Perfect's back. Perfect took control of the match with a powerslam and tried to pin Luger after performing a dropkick from the top rope. Luger's foot was on the ropes, however, so the referee halted the three-count and continued the match. Luger gained momentum and pinned Perfect; Perfect's feet were on the rope, but the referee did not see them. Luger continued to attack Perfect after the match and hit him with his forearm, which contains a steel plate as the result of a legitimate motorcycle accident. When Perfect got up, he chased Luger but was attacked by Shawn Michaels backstage. lost the WWF Championship to Yokozuna in the main event. In the next match, The Undertaker faced Giant Gonzalez. Both men tried to use their size and power to control the match. Gonzalez used a reverse chinlock to wear The Undertaker down and attacked him outside the ring. The Undertaker regained control of the match and knocked Gonzalez onto his knees. Harvey Wippleman threw Gonzalez a rag soaked with chloroform, which Gonzalez used to knock The Undertaker unconscious. The referee disqualified Gonzalez for using a foreign object and awarded the match to The Undertaker. In an impromptu main event and the final match on the card, Hulk Hogan came to ring to check on Hart's condition. Hogan had stated during an interview earlier in the broadcast that he wanted to face the winner of the match, and Fuji challenged Hogan to face Yokozuna immediately in an impromptu bout. Hogan agreed and entered the ring. Fuji tried to throw salt in Hogan's eyes, but he missed and the salt hit Yokozuna. Hogan performed a leg drop and pinned Yokozuna to win the title in 22 seconds. ==Reception==

The event was attended by 16,891 fans, who paid a total of $1,100,000 in admission fees. The pay-per-view drew a 2.3 buyrate, which was lower than the previous year's 2.8 buyrate. It was higher, however, than the buyrates for any of the following four WrestleManias. WrestleMania IX received overwhelmingly negative reviews. The event has received criticism for what some reviewers have perceived as a poorly booked event. Writing for SLAM! Wrestling, John Powell states that, aside from the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championship matches and the scantily-clad women that accompanied Lex Luger to the ring, the rest of the broadcast was poor. He is also critical of some of the outfits worn for the event, notably Jim Ross's toga and Giant Gonzalez's spray-painted suit. RD Reynolds, owner of the website WrestleCrap, has inducted the event into the site's list of "the very worst in pro wrestling". He cites Giant Gonzalez, Papa Shango, Luger's "narcissist" gimmick, and Jim Ross wearing a toga as his reasons for including the event in the list. WWE places two events from WrestleMania IX in its top 50 WrestleMania moments: Bobby Heenan's entrance on the camel, which the company calls "one of the most hilarious moments in WWE history", and Hulk Hogan's title victory. Matt Anoa'i, who wrestled for WWE as Rosey, and was the brother of Roman Reigns, cousin of Yokozuna, Samu and Fatu, has identified The Headshrinkers performing a double splash on Scott Steiner at this event as his favorite moment at WrestleMania. WrestleMania IX was released on VHS by Coliseum Video. It was then released as part of the WWF's WrestleMania: The Collection (1985–1997) box set in 1997. The video was re-released six years later in March 1999. That month, it was also released as part of the WWF's WrestleMania: The Legacy box set. It was also released on DVD for WWE's History of WrestleMania I-IX box set on September 14, 2004. In the United Kingdom, the event was released on VHS on July 5, 1993. Packaged together with WrestleMania X, it was released on DVD for the WWE Tagged Classics series on May 8, 2006. ==Aftermath==

A feud began between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect after WrestleMania IX as a result of Michaels attacking Perfect. They faced each other at SummerSlam 1993, and Michaels won by countout after his new bodyguard, Diesel, attacked Perfect. Perfect then feuded with Diesel until leaving the WWF. Money Inc. won the belts back in a rematch on June 16, but the Steiners won them again three days later. Money Inc. received several rematches but were unable to regain the title; they soon focused on singles competition, and DiBiase retired at the end of August. The Undertaker continued to feud with Harvey Wippleman. On the June 12, 1993, episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Wippleman, Giant Gonzalez, and Mr. Hughes attacked The Undertaker, and his manager Paul Bearer, and stole the urn that was said to be the source of his power. Bret Hart later claimed that during a conversation with Vince McMahon, he was told that Hulk Hogan refused to drop the WWF Championship to him. However, Hulk Hogan stated that during a conversation with Vince McMahon, a deal was made for Hogan to drop the belt to the top heel at the time, Yokozuna, at the following King of the Ring. All three men eventually wound up in a meeting, where McMahon outlined the plan to have Hogan drop the belt to Yokozuna and denied telling Bret that Hogan refused to drop the championship to him. After regaining the title, Yokozuna challenged any American athlete to bodyslam him on the deck of the USS Intrepid on July 4, 1993. After many challengers failed, Lex Luger arrived by helicopter and bodyslammed Yokozuna. Luger became a fan favorite and changed his gimmick to an American patriot. He faced Yokozuna for the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1993; he won the match by count-out but did not win the title. Lex Luger and Bret Hart each earned a title match against Yokozuna the following year at WrestleMania X. Luger was disqualified in his match, but Hart won the championship later that night. A documentary about Wrestlemania IX, titled Wrestlemania IX: Becoming a Spectacle, would begin streaming on Peacock on April 11, 2025. Among the details included in the documentary were issues regarding the event's controversial backstage drama. According to Jim Ross, Wrestlemania IX, despite having a controversial main event, also demonstrated the weakening influence then-WWF owner Vince McMahon now had with regards to full control over the company and showed McMahon was not "the king of the world" like he once thought he was. This weakened influence was in fact greatly aided by the now continued U.S. Department of Justice investigation, with Ross alleging it was a "weird time." However, while acknowledging the major changes which occurred in the WWF in tandem with his debut at Wrestlemania IX, such as Luna Vachon now being able to use her "bizarro type" gimmick while in the WWF, "The Lone Riders" Kip Winchester and Brett Colt debuting in the company just after Wrestlemania IX under revamped Billy and Bart Gunn and being given the cowboy-themed tag team gimmick The Smoking Gunns, Bryan Clark being revamped as "Adam Bomb," and Mike Shaw, who previously wrestled in WCW as "Norman the Lunatic" after being recruited by Ross, being signed to the WWF-where he became known as "The Bastion Booger"-, Ross stated that he at that point in time was not yet head of Talent Relations and was only employed as an on-air announcer. ==Results==