WrestleMania IX is widely regarded as one of the weakest WrestleMania’s in history. From an in ring action perspective there have been many better, but at that time in my fandom it was an exciting event that I loved. What initially stood out at the time and continues to when watching now is the unique look of the show. Caesars Palace in Las Vegas was the setting the aptly named The World’s Largest Toga Party.

The commentators had their own introductions which was the first memorable moment. The Macho Man was carried to the ring my muscular men accompanied beautiful women. Bobby Heenan on the other hand hilariously entered backwards on a camel. Heenan genuinely looked terrified as he tried to turn around on the camel so he was facing the correct way.

The show started with a heated battle for the Intercontinental Championship. Shawn Michaels was Sensational Sherri’s ‘Boy Toy’ following his heel turn. That all changed when Michaels pulled Sherri in front of him as Marty Jannetty went to attack him with a mirror. Michaels introduced his new manager Luna Vachon, whilst his opponent, Tatanka, had Sherri in his corner.

Michaels needed to keep the title to further his ascent as a singles competitor but a defeat would halt Tatanka’s over a year long undefeated run. In the end, both were protected as Tatanka ended up winning by countout meaning Michaels retained.

After the match there was a brawl between Sherri and Luna which was shocking at the time ending with a machine being dropped on top of Sherri and Luna being arrested. This cemented Luna as an unpredictable and dangerous character.

The good start to the show continued with a hard hitting tag match between The Headshrinkers and The Steiner Brothers. The Steiners had left WCW four months earlier and continued their winning streak to get themselves into contention for a future tag team title opportunity.

Another memorable moment occurred in the following match. Crush had been frustrated and annoyed by Doink’s continued practical jokes and sneak attacks. During the match, Doink knocked the referee down and we then saw double.

A second Doink shockingly appeared and used a prosthetic arm to attack Crush and give Doink the victory. The post match celebration saw the two Doink’s laughing and mirroring each others movements.

The build up to the tag team title match had left me on edge. Brutus Beefcake had not wrestled for over two years after a serious parasailing accident which almost cost him his life. His returning was shocking but also positioned that made you fear that any blow to his face would be serious.

He was teaming with his best friend Hulk Hogan to try and gain gold from the devious Money Inc.. As if in sympathy, Hogan emerged to the ring sporting a black eye. In storyline this was due to an earlier attack from the heels. Brutus has since claimed it was the result of a jet-ski accident. Jim Cornette has claimed it was the result of Randy Savage punching Hogan in the face.

The facemask of Brutus was removed during the match as I feared. Brutus fought back but the referee was knocked down, a theme of the show. Hogan then used the facemask on both Ted DiBiase Irwin R. Schyster and Jimmy Hart came into the ring to count the one, two, three. It was a strange decision from Hogan to use the facemask as a weapon instead of returning it to his best friend and it backfired when another referee changed the decision to a disqualification victory for Money Inc..

It was WrestleMania though and the decision didn’t stop Hogan and Brutus from celebrating in the ring. They grabbed the briefcase Money Inc. had used earlier in the match and opened it to find a brick and lots of cash. After Hogan dropped the cash in the ring, he picked it up and handed it to fans sitting at ringside.

My most anticipated match on the show was the battle between “The Narcissist” Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect. A battle between a former top star in WCW and one of the greatest Intercontinental champions.

After a hard thought battle, Luger got the victory but Perfect clearly had his feet on the ropes. After the match Luger nailed Perfect with a steel plate loaded forearm and knocked him to the canvas. Luger left Perfect laying in the ring, but Perfect wasn’t finished. He rang backstage to find Luger talking to Shawn Michaels outside a tent.

The backstage segment was unusual for it’s time and interesting as it furthered two storylines. Perfect attacked Luger to gain a modicum of revenge for his defeat but Michaels then launched an attack on Perfect. Michaels battered Perfect with a trash can.

The main event saw the Royal Rumble winner Yokozuna face the World Champion Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart. It was the great optic of the massive Yokozuna taking on the much smaller Hart – a true David versus Goliath. Unlike previous WrestleMania’s, the heel won the championship in a shocking moment. The nefarious Mr. Fuji had a role to play though throwing salt in the eyes of Hart.

Hogan then came to ringside to check on Hart in a way that you assumed would position him as a future challenger. The show then took a strange turn as Fuji bizarrely offered a challenged Hogan – face Yokozuna in a match for the championship right now.

Hogan, at the prompting of Hart, accepted. Fuji went to throw salt in Hogan’s eyes, he ducked and then went on to pin Yokozuna after a Legdrop. to a match. In a blur, a man who wasn’t even in the main event had won the World Championship. It left a bitter taste then and still does as it impacted the momentum of both Hart and Yokozuna.

It seemed even more of a short term pop when at the following Pay Per View, King of the Ring, Yokozuna regained the championship from Hogan.

Despite the show ending on a sour note, the event had plenty of positives. Watching the show back over thirty years later, it is surprising how well the show flowed and how interesting most of the matches were. It may not be a great WrestleMania, but WrestleMania IX is an enjoyable watch and you are guaranteed to laugh at the sight of Heenan riding a camel!