Email This Article - Contact Us - VIP Sign-Up - Back to Home Page

|

Ohhhh-oh oh, ohhhhh-oh oh, WrestleMania! Fighting to survive! Ian Hunter here, walking on out to Linda McMahon's theme song off that horrid Superstars album. Yeah, that's just what I needed in my collection next to Tool and Pink Floyd. For the record Jason Powell, yeah, some adults buy the music. Nostalgia freaks and people who like to wrestle with their kids. That's about it. What was the WWF thinking when they changed themes? I personally liked the one they used for #6-8 better, but that's just me. We're continuing our Hitchhike To WrestleMania, but first we need to backtrack over the photos of where we've been and answer last week's questions.

1. E. Crash was supposed to keep the title by the end of the night (which makes no sense because if the 24/7 rule was still in effect, wouldn't he still have a chance to lose it after the match?), but instead went to Hardcore. Footage of the match clearly shows the botched finish where Hardcore made the cover early, forcing the referee to stop the count early and Ross to quickly cover up vocally claiming he got the shoulder up even though he clearly didn't. After seeing the chaos that occurred, they made a quick decision to give the belt to Holly since the music he and Crash both used was already playing.

2. D. Michael's trainer Jose Lothario walked down to the ring and met him there while Shawn was zipping on down.

3. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was the original home of WrestleMania VII. There's even an ad for it on the WrestleMania VI tape showcasing the spot. I had one person email me and tell me that the plan was to move it all along, and another insisting the WWF made up the whole call-in story despite there being LAPD records. People like that really need to stop drinking their own kool-aid.

4. This was a trick question, all of these celebs were there, but none of them were just spectators. All five had a part in the event.

5. The documentary was called "The Mania Of WrestleMania". Not a bad DVD, but not what I could call a must-buy either.

We had two winners this week. Robert Rich and Carole Linsky. Look, you both have a sorta WrestleMania moment. We spent some time in Seattle and now we're moving on across the country. Answer the questions and email your answers to TorchTrivia@gmail.com. We’ll post the names of those who got ALL FIVE correct. Good luck to you all!

1. To kick this week off we're hitching a ride in a beat up VW bug to the first WrestleMania to feature the song I came out to. WrestleMania IX in Las Vegas. A tacky, but memorable event, all clad in Roman attire that just looked horrible on everyone. The first appearance of Jim Ross in the WWF, the beginning of the joke that wouldn't end known as "the two Doink's", the thrilling match between Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect, and of course the horrible decision of slapping the belt back onto Hogan. There was a match set up for the event with Bam Bam Bigelow, but the match didn't happen because his opponent got stomach poisoning the day of and couldn't wrestle. Who was Bam Bam's opponent?

A. Randy Savage
B. Kamala
C. Adam Bomb
D. Rick Martel
E. Dean Douglas

2. From Vegas we hop on the back of a Harley with a biker named Sven all the way down to Huston, Texas. The home of WrestleMania X-Seven. The WWF was on an upswing and wanted to go back to big arenas again, and started with the forgotten landmark of The Astrodome. Many memorable matches came out of this event. The wrestling clinic that was Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit, Shane McMahon going across the ring for a dropkick on his father, The Undertaker and Triple H going in a knockdown dragout fight, and of course Austin turning heel to take the title from The Rock. In the midst of all this the event also had a Gimmick Battle Royal that brought out such names as Hillbilly Jim, Brother Love, Tugboat, Repo Man, The Goon and others. But during the planning and announcing of names, there was one name who was scheduled to be in the battle who was later taken off due to issues with management. Who was this?

A. Zeus
B. Bastian Booger
C. The Red Rooster
D. Koko B. Ware
E. Corporal Kirch

3. Heading up north in the back of a '76 Chevy pickup, we make our way to Chicago, another home of WrestleMania 2. But we've already talked about that one so let's talk about a different one held in the Rosemont Horizon, WrestleMania 13. With Michaels leaving to "find his smile," plans for the event went right up into the air, and many credit this as being the catalyst for why the WWF/E doesn't plan for the event months in advance anymore. Because of this a lot of the matches were thrown together at the last minute, all the way down the line to the championship match between Sid and Undertaker. The rumored original plan was to have Michaels drop the belt back to Hart in a special kind of match. What would the match have been?

A. Strap Match
B. Cage Match
C. Ladder Match
D. 2 Out Of 3 Falls Matchs
E. Submission Match

4. Sticking around in Chicago, let's take a look at WrestleMania 22. At least we won't have to change arenas as the Rosemont was changed to the Allstate Arena. This event was also up in the air until the final month from the card, from the championship matches all the way down to the logo which changed THREE times. Some fans consider the event a slap in the face to Rey Mysterio, as his "earned right" to be in the main event was pushed to be second to last on the card, while Cena's title retain was made the main event. And of course it didn't help matters either that Triple H came to the ring dressed like a Viking king and Cena came out as a gangster wannabe. (I thought the Hollywood one was last year?) The original plan around the Rumble was to have Rey vs. Orton vs. and a third man that was later replaced by Kurt Angle as the champ. Who would it have been?

A. JBL
B. Batista
C. The Undertaker
D. Chris Benoit
E. Mark Henry

5. Going southwest in a Bricklin (they still exist?) we make our way down to Indianapolis, Indiana. Home to the Hoosier Dome and WrestleMania VIII. The majority of the event wasn't anything to write home about. The only real highlights were Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart for the IC Title, Jake Roberts taking on the freshly face changed Undertaker, Savage becoming a two-time WWF champion after beating Ric Flair, and Hogan taking on Sid Justice in what was billed at the time as Hulk's retirement match. This was the first and only WrestleMania to have commentary all the way through by the fantastic duo of Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon, and would sadly be the last as Monsoon would retire from broadcasting at the end of the year and Heenan eventually moved onto comic relief for the WWF. But Heenan wasn't even due to be on commentary and was supposed to be in Flair's corner. Who did Heenan last-minute replace to do commentary on the event?

A. Hillbilly Jim
B. Jesse Ventura
C. Vince McMahon
D. Paul Ellering
E. Lord Alfred Hayes

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.