LT wrestled, best friends collided and a former champion sought revenge in this under rated Wrestlemania which still wasn't all that great. This was the last Wrestlemania before the WWE bought in the monthly In Your House PPVs and in some ways represented the end of an era.
We start off with a fairly meaningless match as the Allied Powers (Lex Luger and the British Bulldog) defeated the Blu Brothers (Jacob and Eli). In the space of a year Luger had gone from having a WWE title match at Wrestlemania X to curtain jerker at Wrestlemania XI. Bulldog had gone from nearly winning the rumble to the same lowly position. Jacob and Eli should have been happy to be on the card. Nothing match with no story. I don't think Luger spent much longer in the WWE.
The second match was a rematch between Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, accompanied by the Roadie (or as he'd be better known later, the Road Dogg) taking on the man he'd defeated to win the title, Razor Ramon, accompanied by the 1-2-3 Kid. These two had another nice little match, which Ramon was about to win until the Roadie interfered, drawing a DQ and allowing Jarrett to retain his title.
The next match was the continuation in a rivalry between the Undertaker and the Million Dollar Corporation. Bundy had stolen Undertaker's urn at the Royal Rumble after Taker had beaten Irwin R Shyster and it was now in the possession of Ted DiBiase. Undertaker took back his urn, but is was then stolen again by another member of the MDC Kama. Despite losing his urn, the Undertaker was still able to pull out the win in a pretty ordinary match.
The next match saw the Smoking Gunns (Bart and Billy) defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against Owen Hart and a mystery partner. Owen had gone to great pains to keep the identity of his partner a secret, and with good reason. It was none other than former WWE Champion Yokozuna. Zuna had disappeared after losing a casket match to the Undertaker. Despite a strong fight the Gunns were no match for Hart and Yokozuna, who won a passable match to win the tag team titles, with hart pinning Billy.
The next match was an improvement on most of what we'd seen as Bret Hart faced Bob Backlund in an I Quit match with Roddy Piper as the guest referee. Hart had lost the title to Backlund in a submission match after Owen Hart had interfered and then talked his mother into giving up on Bret's behalf when Backlund had Bret in the Cross face Chickenwing. Bret got some revenge here, defeating Backlund with the chickenwing in a decent match.
It was now time for the big WWE Championship match between former friends Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Now originally Shawn was supposed to be escorted to the ring by Pamela Anderson, but had to settle for Jenny McCarthy instead as Pam came out with Diesel. Shawn also had another giant bodyguard Psycho Sid come out with him to stand ringside. The story here was that Diesel had been Shawn's bodyguard for over a year and they'd even won the tag belts together. But Shawn turned his back on Diesel after Survivor Series 1994 when Diesel had blamed him for the loss. Not long after that Diesel had won the WWE Title and Shawn the Royal Rumble. These two put on the best match of the night and one of the better matches of the 90s, with Sid costing Shgawn the match, inadvertently distracting the referee as he went for a pin. Diesel was able to recover and hit the jack knife powerbomb for the win. Shawn was not very happy with Sid after this match.
This brings us to the main event of the evening with Bam Bam Bigelow taking on volatile NFL legend Laurence Taylor. Bigelow had insulted Taylor at the Royal Rumble. Taylor wanted an apology. Bigelow told him to get in the ring and earn it. They had a match here. Taylor won. It was about what you'd expect and Wrestlemania XI was finished.
The main questions going forward were what was next for Hart with Backlund vanquished and Owen busy? What would happen between Shawn and Sid, and who would be the next challenger for Diesel's crown?
We start off with a fairly meaningless match as the Allied Powers (Lex Luger and the British Bulldog) defeated the Blu Brothers (Jacob and Eli). In the space of a year Luger had gone from having a WWE title match at Wrestlemania X to curtain jerker at Wrestlemania XI. Bulldog had gone from nearly winning the rumble to the same lowly position. Jacob and Eli should have been happy to be on the card. Nothing match with no story. I don't think Luger spent much longer in the WWE.
The second match was a rematch between Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, accompanied by the Roadie (or as he'd be better known later, the Road Dogg) taking on the man he'd defeated to win the title, Razor Ramon, accompanied by the 1-2-3 Kid. These two had another nice little match, which Ramon was about to win until the Roadie interfered, drawing a DQ and allowing Jarrett to retain his title.
The next match was the continuation in a rivalry between the Undertaker and the Million Dollar Corporation. Bundy had stolen Undertaker's urn at the Royal Rumble after Taker had beaten Irwin R Shyster and it was now in the possession of Ted DiBiase. Undertaker took back his urn, but is was then stolen again by another member of the MDC Kama. Despite losing his urn, the Undertaker was still able to pull out the win in a pretty ordinary match.
The next match saw the Smoking Gunns (Bart and Billy) defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against Owen Hart and a mystery partner. Owen had gone to great pains to keep the identity of his partner a secret, and with good reason. It was none other than former WWE Champion Yokozuna. Zuna had disappeared after losing a casket match to the Undertaker. Despite a strong fight the Gunns were no match for Hart and Yokozuna, who won a passable match to win the tag team titles, with hart pinning Billy.
The next match was an improvement on most of what we'd seen as Bret Hart faced Bob Backlund in an I Quit match with Roddy Piper as the guest referee. Hart had lost the title to Backlund in a submission match after Owen Hart had interfered and then talked his mother into giving up on Bret's behalf when Backlund had Bret in the Cross face Chickenwing. Bret got some revenge here, defeating Backlund with the chickenwing in a decent match.
It was now time for the big WWE Championship match between former friends Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Now originally Shawn was supposed to be escorted to the ring by Pamela Anderson, but had to settle for Jenny McCarthy instead as Pam came out with Diesel. Shawn also had another giant bodyguard Psycho Sid come out with him to stand ringside. The story here was that Diesel had been Shawn's bodyguard for over a year and they'd even won the tag belts together. But Shawn turned his back on Diesel after Survivor Series 1994 when Diesel had blamed him for the loss. Not long after that Diesel had won the WWE Title and Shawn the Royal Rumble. These two put on the best match of the night and one of the better matches of the 90s, with Sid costing Shgawn the match, inadvertently distracting the referee as he went for a pin. Diesel was able to recover and hit the jack knife powerbomb for the win. Shawn was not very happy with Sid after this match.
This brings us to the main event of the evening with Bam Bam Bigelow taking on volatile NFL legend Laurence Taylor. Bigelow had insulted Taylor at the Royal Rumble. Taylor wanted an apology. Bigelow told him to get in the ring and earn it. They had a match here. Taylor won. It was about what you'd expect and Wrestlemania XI was finished.
The main questions going forward were what was next for Hart with Backlund vanquished and Owen busy? What would happen between Shawn and Sid, and who would be the next challenger for Diesel's crown?
