WrestleMania VII was a 1991 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the seventh annual WrestleMania and took place on March 24, 1991, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. This was the second WrestleMania held at this venue after the final portion of WrestleMania 2 in 1986. Fourteen matches were shown during the live broadcast, with one dark match held before the event.
The main event saw Hulk Hogan defeat Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Championship as part of a storyline in which Sgt. Slaughter portrayed an Iraqi sympathizer during the United States's involvement in the Gulf War. Significant events on the undercard included The Undertaker's WrestleMania debut and the beginning of his renowned winning streak, a retirement match between Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior leading to Savage's reunion with estranged lover Miss Elizabeth, as well as the final televised match of the original Hart Foundation, after which Bret Hart became primarily a singles wrestler.
Production Background WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's 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, referred to as the "Big Four".Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) WrestleMania VII was originally scheduled to be held on March 24, 1991, in Los Angeles, California at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but it was instead moved to the adjacent Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. This was subsequently the second WrestleMania to be held at this venue, after the final portion of WrestleMania 2 in 1986.
The WWF's stated reason for the venue change was that it had security concerns in the wake of Sgt. Slaughter's portrayal of an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War. This was dismissed by outlets such as SLAM! Sports of Canada, who chalked up the venue change to poor advanced ticket sales, and the company having difficulty filling the estimated 100,000 seats available. According to former WWF executive Bruce Prichard, both were accurate statements. In his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Prichard said that even if the WWF had sold out the Coliseum, the scope of the event was too large for police to ensure its security. Prichard explained further in an interview with Kayfabe Commentaries that the WWF would have had to foot the entire bill for the amount of security necessary to keep the wrestlers and fans safe from all potential issues, citing both the possibility of an outside attack and the crime rate of the surrounding neighborhood. Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote that between 11,900 and 15,000 tickets were sold before the move. He also reported that no tickets had to be refunded, indicating that sales were under 15,500. Comp tickets were believed to help fill the show's crowd.
The tagline for the event was "Superstars and Stripes Forever," and is remembered for its theme of American patriotism in the wake of the Gulf War. American flags were hung all over the arena and the ring apron and banners were colored red, white, and blue, which was the basis for the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Championship.
This was the first WrestleMania not to feature Jesse "The Body" Ventura as a color commentator. Gorilla Monsoon hosted the event with Bobby Heenan. When Heenan had to manage at ringside in the opening match and again during Mr. Perfect's Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship defense, Monsoon was joined on the commentary by Jim Duggan and "Lord" Alfred Hayes respectively. In addition, Regis Philbin helped with commentary on the main event while Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek served as the ring announcer.
Willie Nelson sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show. Other celebrity guests in attendance for WrestleMania VII included Philbin, Trebek, and Marla Maples as backstage announcers. George Steinbrenner, Paul Maguire, Macaulay Culkin, Donald Trump, Lou Ferrigno, Chuck Norris, Beverly D'Angelo and Henry Winkler appeared as spectators. Bob Costas was scheduled to make an appearance, but he canceled weeks before the event due to his objection to the main event angle.
The artist for the promotional poster is renowned illustrative painter Joe Jusko known mainly for his work within the comic book industry.
Randy Savage required surgery on a broken thumb in late January before the event. The injury required him to miss several matches leading up to WrestleMania.
Storylines The two main feuds entering WrestleMania in 1991 were between Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter and Ultimate Warrior and "Macho King" Randy Savage, and in a way, both were intertwined.
Warrior had defeated Hogan for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania a year earlier and entered 1991 as the champion. In the meantime, Sgt. Slaughter had returned to the WWF near the end of 1990 after spending five years wrestling in the American Wrestling Association. When he returned, Slaughter announced that he had turned his back on his country and had become an Iraqi sympathizer and follower of Saddam Hussein. He had also revealed an alliance with an Iraqi military leader, General Adnan, who became his advisor (Adnan having followed Slaughter from the AWA to participate in the angle). This coincided with the increasing tension in the Middle East that was going on at that time, which eventually would lead to Operation Desert Storm and American involvement in the conflict. Slaughter would eventually set his sights on Warrior, and the two agreed to a match at the Royal Rumble in January 1991.
Savage, meanwhile, was trying to regain the WWF Championship that he had lost at WrestleMania V to Hogan and challenged Warrior repeatedly to give him a shot. Warrior defeated Savage to successfully defend the title numerous times and subsequently refused to grant any more title shots, so Savage decided to seek another remedy. During the match between Warrior and Slaughter, Savage and his manager Queen Sherri came to ringside and got involved in the match. Warrior picked up an interfering Sherri and tossed her from the ring onto Savage. Slaughter capitalized by driving Warrior down, leaving him hanging over the second rope. Savage then struck Warrior with his royal scepter as Slaughter kept the referee's attention, knocking the champion unconscious. Slaughter then hit an elbow drop on Warrior and pinned him to become the new champion. After he came to and realized what Savage had done, Warrior charged to the back looking for Savage. He then issued a challenge for a retirement match for the two at WrestleMania, which Savage accepted.
Hogan, having no connection with the ongoing story to this point, entered the Royal Rumble match as its defending champion. He won the match by eliminating his old rival Earthquake last, then went backstage to be interviewed by Gene Okerlund. During the course of the interview, the word was relayed to the two that Slaughter and Adnan were celebrating their triumph by defacing an American flag. Hogan then promised to stand up for his country and take the title from Slaughter as soon as possible, and was later named the leading contender for the WWF Championship, which he had not contended for since losing the title to Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI.
Leading up to the show, Hogan continued to cite the ongoing real-life war in their feud. On one episode of WWF Prime Time Wrestling, Hogan stated that Iraq would surrender in the war at the moment he defeated Slaughter.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorGorilla MonsoonBobby HeenanJim Duggan Lord Alfred Hayes Regis Philbin InterviewerGene OkerlundSean MooneyRegis PhilbinAlex TrebekMarla MaplesRing announcerHoward FinkelAlex Trebek RefereesJoey MarellaEarl HebnerDave HebnerDanny DavisMike ChiodaSpecial Guest TimekeeperMarla Maples
The opening bout was a singles match pitting the Brooklyn Brawler against Koko B. Ware. Ware defeated the Brooklyn Brawler by pinfall. This was a dark match that did not air on the pay-per-view broadcast.
The pay-per-view broadcast began with a performance of "America the Beautiful" by Willie Nelson.
The second bout, and the first bout to air on the pay-per-view broadcast, was a tag team match pitting the Barbarian and Haku against the Rockers. In the end, Shawn Michaels hit Haku with a flying bodypress and pinned him for the three count.
After that, Dino Bravo and the Texas Tornado faced off in the ring. In the end, The Texas Tornado won the bout by pinfall following a discus punch.
Next, the British Bulldog took on the Warlord. In the end, The British Bulldog performed a running powerslam on Warlord to win the match.
After that, the WWF Tag Team Champions were on the line with the Hart Foundation defended their titles against the Nasty Boys. In the end, Jerry Sags struck Jim Neidhart with a motorcycle helmet, enabling Brian Knobbs to pin him, earning The Nasty Boys their first tag team championship in WWF.
Next, Jake Roberts and Rick Martel competed in a blindfold match. In the end, Roberts struck Martel with a DDT and pinned him, winning the match.
After that, Jimmy Snuka faced off against The Undertaker. Although Snuka attempted to bring Undertaker off his feet, he was unable too. In the end, Snuka attempted a Springboard crossbody maneuver on Undertaker but Undertaker caught him and hit Snuka with Tombstone Piledriver for the victory. This marked the beginning of the Undertaker's streak.