Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna

[4.0] "I'm doing my best to separate THIS match from the other one that's about to happen... this was no classic either. Badly paced, badly worked and the finish was trash as well. Pretty much the story of this entire show."

[4.0] "I was mostly interested to see how this compares to their match that they would have the following year at Wrestlemania and honestly they're about the same in quality. Bret Hart again makes the most of it, getting across how much he needs to strategize to get the big man off his feet, even going as far as to use the exposed turnbuckle. Yokozuna isn't awful but he gasses out quick and is incredibly dull when he relies on nerve holds and plodding strikes. This is however a year before their third match and because of this Yokozuna is slightly more agile. One thing that is oddly similar is the fact that this has a shit finish. It's better than Yokozuna falling off the middle rope and Mr Fuji throwing salt in Bret's face isn't a bad idea but it shouldn't be the finish. It's supposed to blind The Hitman not incapacitated him, I don't know why Yokozuna couldn't just hit a leg drop afterwards for a more definitive finish. Either way it's not nearly as bad as what would happen shortly afterwards"

[6.0] "Solid match tbh. As much as it is a fuck finish, you get a nice contrast of styles and Bret working off of a big man is a trope that he really perfects with the Diesel stuff in a couple of years. It's a nice main event because it's the last match, right?"

[6.0] "There are only two flaws with this match. The first is obviously the finish. Even if you ignore what happens after the bell, which I tend to do when rating matches, the pin after the salt to the eyes is such an unsatisfying finish. The second is that the Yokozuna control spots are predictably very dull. These serve no purpose other than to give Yokozuna a spell during a match that's much quicker than what he was used to, but are thankfully not too long in the context of this match. With that said, what I liked about this match is that Bret Hart does an incredible job at selling the David vs Goliath aspect. This is textbook for how a smaller worker should work, and he does a tremendous job at selling Yokozuna as a threat. It's occasionally really exciting stuff, and makes this a match that I'm always happy to revisit. ***1/4"

[6.0] "You gotta like classics when you see em right? , this was better than I remember actually, I thought this worked really well for what they were trying to achieve. Simple but spot on type of booking no matter what happened with the hogan silly stuff after the match. There's some struggle here that makes this just stands out as a match and for what it trying to accomplish yknow. Bret's bombing/selling and everything he does here is high quality as lot of times. Just interesting dynamic, yes.. slow, but isn't that expected though? . ***"

[4.0] "The work done in this match was actually decent given what they were given to work with. Still slow but not as bad as some other matches on this show. It's also not too long, thankfully."

[8.0] "A lot better than I think people give it credit for. One of my first favorite older matches when I was a kid so there's a lot of nostalgia but this is just a solid match. Bret and yoko are great together and they do a great job at selling that yokozuna is an unbeatable monster, until the hogan stuff but that can be ignored"

[5.0] "The Bret/Yoko match itself to me is like a 7/10, Bret did Bret things and was phantastic as always and Yoko looks like a heelish monster so this match had all positive things working for it. Then the garbage happens after Yoko wins the title in which Hulk Hogan comes out drops the leg 1, 2, 3... and Hogan's champ and Yokozuna's moment is ruined. I mean honestly if we were going to have somebody come in and defend Bret's honor and win the title of Yoko I would have rather it been Owen, at least then maybe we could have got brother vs brother for the world title. But instead Hogan win's and it really doesn't mater because Yokozuna becomes champ like 3 months after this so why even have Hogan win at all."

[3.0] "The match between Yoko & Bret isn't that bad it's perfectly fine the story goes Yoko was gassed and wanted to wrap up early. Then boom out comes Hogan and well Hogan wins lol. While the company should've been entering the next stage by pushing the younger talent the championship goes back to Hogan. A terrible decision."

[5.0] "Interestingly Starrcade 1993 also had a main event title match that was David vs. Goliath. However, as great as Bret and Yoko were, they couldn't hold a candle to Flair/Vader. However, this was as good of a match as it possibly could've been. Yokozuna had charisma and some wild athleticism but the fact remained that he was extremely limited in what his opponents could do. Bret pulled off a believable, if unspectacular match here. The post match stuff is what it is though. Fans have to remember this was during a time before the internet controlled perception. The fans in attendance were clearly happy about Hogan winning and as a kid I was too."

[5.0] "A 9-minute WrestleMania main event (the shortest ever) does not sound good, and while it's alright while it lasts, it's still decent at best, especially considering that infuriatingly cheap finish and Yokozuna winning, which ultimately serves as a pretext for Hogan to win the title out of nowhere, which, unlike most fans, I don't necessarily have a problem with. ***"

[7.0] "This was a good David vs goalith type match. Hart the much smaller wrestler, has to be smarter in his approach here due to the massive size difference, and Yoku uses his massive frame to his advantage. Bret bumps well for Yoku's stuff, and when he makes the big comeback all is going well for Bret too, until Fuji throws the salt in Bret eyes. I really enjoyed this till the finish, and the post match was just hogan being hogan lol .***1/2"

[6.0] "Let's go by parts, this match was actually good and I enjoyed it, Bret Hart does it like always great, Yokozuna was in rise and did it great, the objective of the match was done which was make Yokozuna look like a new heel, and if it wasn't for Hogan who stoles the show and the title here, again with his politics that screwed Bret before Vince on survivor 97. But the match was better than expected, It was good, Yokozuna earned here his spot as a heel. 6/10 [***1/2]"

[4.0] "Hart really does everything, and Yoko's weight problems are not as bad as they will be two years later, so this can be considered a perfectly adequate outcome. But what happens in the finish and immediately afterwards fluctuates between desperate concession and bottomless insolence.""

[5.0] "That one is a really good and deserves a 3 star rating, but decision in the end with Hulk Hogan and his REALLY BIG EGO turns it into a 2 star lol"

[7.0] "now this is a perfectly fine decent match that most people dont give its flowers, obviously the hogan aftermath is terrible but...the match itself is pretty damn good, one of yokos better matches, and you cant go wrong with bret hart"

[5.0] "Hulk Hogan, why? What a forced and nonsensical farce at the end. Hogan challenges and wins the belt from Yokozuna in a matter of second. Utter rubbish, it completely undermines everything that just preceded. It undermines Yokozuna, it undermines Hart, it undermines the whole WWF. And to make matters somehow worse, Hogan looks the worst he ever has, he doesn't remotely looked like a champ with his nasty eye, and poor build. Props to Hart for the match, I thought he brought the best out of Yokozuna in this especially given how short it was. I found the actual match to be fairly entertaining albeit short. Fantastic selling from Hart, and Yokozuna showed a bit more life that usual. The crowd was really behind Hart, and for some reason with Bret Hart in particular, it sparks a lot of joy."

[2.0] "This is pretty boring. The crowd at one points chants USA, which just makes no sense. Then, we get the bullshit finish followed by something a billion times worse with the hogan run in and winning of the world title. Yikes."

[7.0] "I'm surprised to see this match so low; it appears people are ranking it poorly due to the Hogan aftermath. The match itself is pretty solid, and it's probably Yoko's best singles match (when taking into account star power/storylines/stakes; he's probably had better outings earlier in his career, but in less meaningful situations). Bret has always said that Yoko ran out of gas and went home a few minutes early, and that they had more planned that would've elevated the match further. He's said that he's had better matches with Yoko on other occasions. All in all, I give this a 7/10; in reality, it's probably a 6/10, but this shouldn't be standing at a 4.66 average rating right now. It's a fine match."

"Tis match is alright and is just as good as their main event the next year. This has a worse grade due to all the Hogan stuff."

[6.0] "Bret brought a pretty good match out of Yokozuna and it does feel like a man who cannot overcome a monster"

[3.0] "It doesn't work for me, brother. I have a strong desire to combine this awful ending with a match which wasn't that bad, mainly because Hart's decent work."

[3.0] "Too short for a title match and with one of the most infamously bad endings in wrestling history, there was far more potential in a straight Hart vs Yokozuna match that went twice as long without the hijinks and "that doesn't work for me, brother" aspects."

[3.0] "For the time it ended up with, this was honestly... Okay? It's a Bret Hart match, which makes even short, average matches feel like they are more, and in this case the David vs Goliath dynamic helped a lot. But in hindsight to what this match would set up afterwards, the rating drags down heavily to a 3/10. A "main event" that failed to meet expectations and was sadly, ultimately just not good."

[5.0] "As would become commonplace with this pairing, the work here is very tidy. There are some neat touches too, benefitting from the creativity that Hart would often bring to matches of this magnitude. Unfortunately, it feels terribly hurried, trending positively before somewhat losing its way and hurrying home soon thereafter. They'd improve on this effort later, even if not at the following WrestleMania, ironically enough. **1/2"

[7.0] "This was very impressive. Bret doing what he can to find ways to bring the big man down and when he was able to do that on several occasions, he managed to lock in the sharpshooter but then the finish came at an abrupt end and Bret lost and Yokozuna before you know what happens next. This was despite despite what happened. ***1/2"

[4.0] "For what it was, I thought it was mostly fine. While Yokozuna was absolutely limited in what he was able to do give his massive size, he does bump around a bit more than you'd expect from a big monster. Bret is working his tail off here to produce something passable, and in the effort he succeeds. Is it the most exciting bout you'll ever watch? No, not even close. It is pretty dull at moments; but, it tells a coherent story of Bret using his superior speed and technical skill to continuously gain the advantage and almost beat Yokozuna had it not been for Fuji's use of the pocket sand to blind him. I'm not sure why Yokozuna did not hit the Bonzai Drop to pin Bret. Perhaps he was tired, but it would have made Bret look a lot stronger in defeat had he done so. The match only going nine minutes was good also, as it meant it didn't overstay its welcome and allowed the pace to fairly quick as there aren't many rest breaks needed. Obviously, the post match was a booking travesty, but this bout by itself was passable and would probably be slightly better remembered had Yokozuna just walked away with the title or, even better, had Bret simply overcome the monster to retain his belt. **"

[3.0] "This match had potential to get into the next level and start getting really good, but as the story goes, Yoko got blown up and they had to go home early. I loved the finish and seeing a Heel walk out with the title in the main event of Mania was gonna be super awesome, but Terry Bollea cashed in Hogan in the Bank and ruined everything."

[5.0] "If this show ended two minutes before it did, it would have ended on a fun little David and Goliath story. Both men worked their arses off, shout out to Yokozuna in particular for taking way more bumps than a lot of big men would be willing to do. If I'm thinking critically, the finish fell a little flat, Bret could have maybe used one more tiny bit of hope. If the show ended here, it would be remembered as a strange historical curiosity. Remember that Mania that was Roman themed in a car park? It's okay if you don't. Tragically, the show didn't end here, this is more than just minutiae. I can't rate or review the true main event of Wrestlemania 9, but it's a big fat zero. A zero is worse than no wrestling, it's anti-wrestling. It is something that is so hideous, so cursed, that it scars a company deep. The true main event of Wrestlemania 9 is regression and cowardice. It was refusal to grow, to mature, to progress. A New Generation is being formed, so the old must step in to reap the profit, to harvest the souls. These new kids are getting too big for their boots, let us cut them down to size. So what I'm 40, out of shape, and bald? So what I'm hated backstage? Who sells the fucking merch here, me or these non-starters? A man, as evil as he is bald, walks out into the ring. His right eye is hollow, empty of all life. His left eye looks like a cross-section of a century egg. He takes the reins back, just to masticate them and spit them in your eye. The belt you won? The belt you just lost? It's his, then it's gone. A trinket, he says. I don't care about wrestling belts, I think it's very cool when that guy at that GCW show hits that TNA belt with a big hammer fuck yeah wrestling. The WWF was haunted by, then suddenly free of, the one man who I hate enough to make me care about a belt. He's gone now, until he comes back. He always comes back, he always fucking comes back. He came back a couple of weeks ago, and got booed out of the building. I know he'll be back again before he dies. He'll die, right? Please tell me he'll die. I can't live if he can't die. A bald, leather-skinned, racist, profiteering, disgusting, conniving, politicking, hotdogging, grandstanding piece of shit. He doesn't care what I think, nor should he, nor should you. He will just laugh this off, then go back to his fortune. It is a common misconception of non-fans that wrestlers often die in the ring. This is untrue. Wrestlers die on the road, in cars between shows, in hotel rooms. Hulk Hogan will die in his own bed. That doesn't work for me, brother."

[6.0] "Yokozuna was a good big man, but he was too big for Bret to do much with. Bret's reign is ended by Yokozuna, only for Hogan to come beat Yokozuna in less than a minute. That kind of made this match pointless, but it wasn't a bad David Vs. Goliath match."

[4.0] "Completely fine on its own, but it's hard to rate without taking the atrocious booking afterwards into account. It's short enough to not be boring and the crowd really do love Bret so it's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but the fact that it was just an excuse to put the belt back on Hogan is indefensible. Bret deserved much, much better."

[1.0] "The crowd loves the ending but obviously its the worst part of this, just utter incompetence and came back to bite VM as Hogan would pretty much be gone soon after this. The match? Good when Hart was in control, just speaks to his abilities. But Yokozuna straight up sucks in this, and should have not gotten as much control over Bret as he did."

[6.0] "This is actually a decent enough match, overlooked because of what happened afterwards. The match had actual structure and was a pretty fun watch. Yokozuna cheats to win, Hogan comes out for little to no reason, steals the title and the spotlight from the two."

[0.0] "I am counting the aftermath with this. I thought I had rated this but I guess I forgot or didnt feel like it. If this match was a 5 star classic, the aftermath with Hogan would downgrade it to 2.75 star at most. So this below average match gets even more downgraded. Ok now I remember why I havent reviewed this. The site is asking that I do 5 hundred letters. Who even came up with this idea? Probably the Hulkster himself, its a good thing World Wrestling Federation was ready to set up new stars after this because this definitely murdered the original Golden Era."

[3.0] "Including the Hogan bit in the rating which knocks it down a score. Also the bell never rang for Hogans match so technically it shouldnt count"

[3.0] "A nothing match but a screwy finish. Nothing memorable except for Hogan getting a title match right after for no reason other than being Hulk Hogan. Doesn't even feel like a wrestlemania main event."

[5.0] "A perfectly fine television match in the main event slot of Wrestlemania. It really started to get fun towards the end but it ultimately gets overshadowed by Hogan afterwards. 5/10."

[3.0] "Bret tries to give a fine match, but Yokozuna is just not capable of doing so, having to cut the match short, quality wise, it was what you would expect, with some shines of Bret Hart."

[4.0] "Honestly, I want to like this match more. I love Bret Hart and I think Yokozuna is underrated as a worker thanks to his impressive athleticism and grace - when he was less heavy, at least, like here. But they didn't really click together, and the match was just kind of plodding. It's perhaps because of the heavy cloud of "what comes next" that hangs over this match, making it impossible to get invested since by the time I experienced Wrestlemania 9 in the first place, I already knew how it ended with the Hogan swerve. It's hard to get invested in a match when you know that it fundamentally doesn't matter, and even the thing that makes it not matter will equally be erased in a few months time, but that's where we are. It's just a general slog, lacking big fight feeling or any big memorable moments other than the regrettable salt in the eyes that leads to the climax of this terrible PPV. Both these guys deserved better."

[4.0] "I have watched this match many, many times, and it took me a long time to figure out why I'm not a fan of it. I love Bret, and I'm actually a big Yokozuna fan too. And while I think this match is much better than their Wrestlemania 10 match, something always bothered me that I couldn't put my finger on for the longest time. And it's because this match doesn't feel like a Wrestlemania main event. Not the match itself, but there's not much of a feud here. It almost feels kind of cold. And that never happens at Wrestlemania. Look at both past and future Wrestlemania's. Hogan/Savage, Hogan/Warrior, Hogan/Slaughter, Austin/Michaels, Austin/Rock, Angle/Lesnar, Undertaker/Edge, etc. Those all had hot, strong feuds. Yoko and Bret did have a small build up going into this, but there's nothing about it that screams of a personal battle. This match doesn't get any sort of pre match package or much in the way of promos either, because there was so little of e feud. So the match feels very, very tame. Bret works hard here. He lays the match out and works extremely smart. He has creative spots to give him an advantage against a guy Yoko's size. Yoko sells really well, but according to Bret's book, he got gassed and called to go home early, which is why the match is quite short and ends abruptly. I'd have given this match 5 points, but the fact that this is only a 9 minute Wrestlemania main event, and there was at least 1-2 minutes of that already short length that had rest holds makes me bring it down another point. Definitely not a terrible match, but in every sense of the term, this match was 'less than' anything you could expect from these guys on this stage."

[5.0] "This actually was a pretty good match on its own; if not for what comes after this would've been a serviceable main event. Bret Hart is incredible here, and was a great champion in general. Bret does a great job getting Yokozuna over here, and Yoko winning would've been great if not for what comes after. I like the finish to the match; does brilliant to protect Bret. Fuck Hulk Hogan. Fuji challenging Hogan also made it worse."

[6.0] "Good match, they really delivered in terms of the big guy vs smaller guy scenario. Bret does his thing and Yokozuna works really hard too, throwing a beautiful Superkick and bumping nicely for The Hitman when he had to. The finish was alright for a heel, but he could have did some move to Bret before pinning him."

[5.0] "Ignoring the post match, this isn't awful, but its not amazing either. Bret does his best, Yokozuna throws a nice superkick . The interference finish is not amazing and this feels like way to short of a match for a Mania main event."

[3.0] "Not particularly good stuff but Bret tried. Well, I think he did. Hard to rate this without taking into account Hogan's post-match bullshit but the finish of the salt in the eyes is pretty awful too - *1/2"

[3.0] "Very occasionally you can get something half decent out of Yokozuna but despite the fact Bret structured this match well and worked his ass off, this was not one of those occasions. Dire"

[6.0] "Exciting David v. Goliath kind of match, with Bret Hart knowing exactly how to structure a match like this. Most of the spots were really fun and they kept the crowd invested the whole time. The finish was what it was, but this is 1993 cartoon WWF after all. A pretty good match that I believe I enjoyed more than most folks here. [***]"

[6.0] "The actual work from both Bret and Yoko is great here both men selling well and creating what could have been a really exciting match, it is annoyingly too short and ruined by outside interference (god knows how the ref missed the cloud of salt). Bret loses his title to the heels and that's fine but its what comes next with Hogan which made this match so infamous, a shame as up till the salt it was quite enjoyable."

[6.0] "Yokozuna wasn't as bad as people say he is in my opinion, and yeah this isn't a workrate classic or anything, but I really think it's awesome how much Bret Hart got out of Yokozuna here. The "match" afterwords would get a much lower rating if it was over 5 minutes, but everything pre Hulk Hogan bs was satisfactory in my book. Though one would think that Bret Hart vs Hulk Hogan would have been better, but that doesn't work for the Hulkster brother. God I loathe Hogan."

[6.0] "Great match between David and Goliath, in the time they were allotted they showed a pretty good match. Once again I'm convinced that the Bret Hart matches are amazing. He showed us in this match that he's willing to adjust to his opponent, and it was obvious to see him trying to find a gap in Yokozuna. The ending did mess up the impression a bit though, if you want Yokozuna to look like a strong and powerful guy, I think he should have won clean, same story at March To WrestleMania. I won't say anything about Hogan and I won't minus the match. It was, but let's pretend it had nothing to do with the match."

[7.0] "This match is much better than it gets credit for. I think it is rated unfairly based on the sour taste that the terrible aftermath with Hogan leaves people with. Ignoring that match and focusing just on this one, it's really quite good. Bret is excellent here as he desperately tries to find a way to take down the much larger Yokozuna. You can really see all the reasons people praise Bret for his psychology here, as he actually seems like he's trying to find a gameplan and adjusting to what his opponent is doing to pull out a win. The finish is a bit on the weak side, but other than that I think this is a good match and a strong showing from Bret."