All language subtitles for WrestleMania.IX.Becoming.a.Spectacle.2025.1080p.WEB.h264-KYR_track3_[eng]

[cart rattling]

[dramatic music]

* *

- Lot of exciting
and unexpected things

happening here
at this WrestleMania IX.

- One of my most
important jobs here

is to keep track of
our massive archive.

For years people
have been asking me,

when are we gonna do
the story of WrestleMania IX?

[crowd cheering]

* *

- Let me get you
on camera here.

- Doing what?
- This is the making of.

- Making of WrestleMania?
- Yeah.

- Then you should get me
doing some push-ups

or something over here.

- It was such an undertaking

that we wanted
to document it internally.

- Clean that up once.
Oh, excellent, excellent.

[blows sharply]
Perfect.

- Honestly, I'm not sure
what we did with the footage.

Do you know?

- Oh, I miss those days.
Wow.

Who shot this footage?

- [laughs]
Oh, my--

I've never seen
any of that footage,

so thank you for sharing
that with me.

That is really cool.

- It's only appropriate
that you sunbathe

head and shoulders
above all the rest.

Who thought that shot was OK?

- I'm already giving
the cameraman a hard time.

Giving him the death stare.
Like, why are you filming?

- Ah, get that
camera off of me.

- You're peeling back
the curtain.

- What are you doing?

- You got some strange looks.

Like, why is there a camera
in my face?

- This is the biggest event
that's out there.

This is the Super Bowl
of wrestling.

- WrestleMania, man.

- At that time, Vegas was
yearning to be accepted.

WWE felt like,
oh, we're accepted.

We're in the big boys' club.

[all cheering]

- Dude, it was crazy.

In the back, it was, like,

a bunch of farm animals
everywhere.

- I don't like elephants.

I don't like anything
bigger or faster than me.

- Vince calls me and says,
"We got a problem.

"Hulk's injured.

We're not sure whether he's
gonna be able to perform."

* *

- Yeah, there's definitely
tension there.

I'm not sure how much
Vince really knew

about what was going on.

- Mm, probably should have
bobbed instead of weaved.

It was a pretty nasty
black eye.

- Hey, hey.

- He told what really happened.

- Bret Hart's telling Hulk
to go for it!

- Everybody's going,
like, what?

- Got a ton of heat
from everybody.

[chuckles]
Whatever.

- It went against everything
he'd told me up to that day.

- Welcome to WrestleMania IX!

- It was the first
WrestleMania that felt

like it had a vibe to it.

- This was really
the first step

towards sensationalizing WWE.

[crowd cheering]

- It was a gamble.
It truly was a gamble.

- It was Vegas.
It was lavish.

- That show showed everybody
there are no limits.

- You don't evolve...
[elephant trumpets]

Without taking chances
and doing different things.

- Got to do something special.

Hang on, OK?
- OK.

- And that's
what WrestleMania IX was.

* *

- Welcome to Caesar's Palace

and the largest toga party
in the world!

[cheers and applause]

- Welcome to WrestleMania!

- What WrestleMania did
for the WWE is two things.

One, it created
a culmination event.

The universe of fans
were all gonna be focused

on one thing at one time.

- The greatest wrestling
extravaganza of the century.

- That's the glory
of WrestleMania,

a single shared experience by
everybody in every time zone.

Sounds simple now,
but prior to WrestleMania I,

never happened.

- Everybody at
Madison Square Garden,

all the way around the world,
now you know

what it's all about, brother.

- But it also did
another thing.

It created an on-ramp.

Prior to WrestleMania,
there was no on-ramp.

It's like picking up
in the middle

of a soap opera or a movie.

Don't know who's going on,
what's going on.

How do you enjoy it?

But if once a year--

wow, this is cool.
What happens next?

- The irresistible force
meeting the immovable object.

- We wanted
our audience that wanted

to be a part of WrestleMania
to be excited,

to be thrilled to be watching.

- 93,173.

- At that time
in the late '80s,

pay-per-view was king.

We had done a million buys
for WrestleMania.

The goal really was to branch
out into boxing pay-per-view.

- Holyfield versus Holmes.

The World Heavyweight
Championship

live on pay-per-view.

- Vince had always been
very interested in boxing.

And of course, Caesars,
they had done big boxing.

- Sugar Ray Leonard was
in town promoting his fight

with Donny
"Golden Boy" Lalonde.

Fight November 7th
at Caesars Palace.

- Donny Lalonde
and Sugar Ray Leonard

was not, oh, my God,
I've got to see this fight.

Caesars was looking
for a promoter

that knew how to make things
larger than life.

Look no further than WWE.

- Tickets today went on sale
in our 15,300-seat stadium.

- I went to Vince McMahon,

and he brought WWE in to do

the television production,
TV distribution.

- We're very much
looking forward

to broadening our horizons
with this very special event,

and that's the business
that we're in.

- Date is gonna be
November the 7th,

and it's gonna be happening
at Caesars Palace.

- We got tremendous exposure
on that fight.

- When I fight Don Lalonde,
it's gonna be all boxing.

- Probably the biggest
pay-per-view event of 1988,

referring to the
Lalonde-Leonard fight,

to go down November 7th.

- We brought a WWE sensibility
to production,

which prior had never
been done in boxing.

- Oh, that's a nice program.

I've got a couple of those
we'll take home.

- We had Roy Firestone
on the roof

of Caesars Palace
for the open.

- Hi, everybody,
I'm Roy Firestone.

Sugar Ray Leonard,
Donny Lalonde

for the light heavyweight
championship of the world.

- Thinking out of the box,
pushing the envelope,

because,
at the end of the day,

it was about entertaining
the viewer.

- There is Sugar Ray Leonard.
Nice outfit.

- I directed
the Leonard-Lalonde fight.

It was the only time
I ever directed boxing.

It worked out very well,
actually.

- Leonard with a good
right hand.

Lalonde says,
it didn't bother me at all.

- I was there.
I remember thinking,

Sugar Ray in trouble?

- Glancing right hand off
the top of the head by Lalonde.

End of round three.
- It's like a movie.

This is a Hollywood fight,
it seems like.

- That fight ended up being
surprisingly good.

- Could be stopped
at any moment.

Right hand.
It's all over!

- I think we did
impress Caesars in '88,

but the difference,
we realized,

in boxing is, they all
come together for one night,

and as soon as those two boxers
go in the ring, it's done.

So there was not
that continuity,

like, wow,
let's do the next one.

It just dissipated.

And it really did not fit
with the brand,

as the WWE was continuing
to do every day.

[projector clicks]

* *

- That boxing match
in 1988 was really

the beginning
of our relationship

with Caesars Palace.

I remember in 1991,
we actually did an episode

of "Prime Time Wrestling"
in Caesars Palace.

I have that tape right here.

[upbeat music]

* *

- We're here
in Caesars Palace,

Las Vegas.

- Man, I remember Ted DiBiase

and Macho Man
were all on that show,

but at that time,
there was one huge star,

Hulk Hogan.

- There he is, the greatest
professional athlete

in the world today,

the world's
heavyweight champion,

Hulk Hogan.

- The fans were
so locked into Hulkamania.

Whether it was Germany,
England,

or even a town
in the United States,

say Hulkamania is coming.

I didn't even need
an opponent,

and the arenas
would sell out.

That's how much the WWE
had gotten the character over.

- That guy right there

has made history
all over the world.

- There's the Hulkster,
bigger than life.

And back then, there was
just one superstar,

and it was Hulk Hogan.

- What are you gonna do

when Hulkamania
runs wild on you?

Hulkamania, it lasted
for eight or nine years,

but just got to the point,
we're in the '90s,

and Vince didn't believe
in the character.

- Hulk presented the belt

and raised the hand
of the Warrior.

- Roll on a couple more years
into WrestleMania VIII,

and the tension was more
between me and Vince

than me and the company.

- This WrestleMania,
is this the last time

we see you step into the ring?

- So it kind of, like, felt
better for me to kind of, like,

take a step back when my boss
really didn't believe

that I was viable anymore
and I was an attraction.

Kind of like, well, OK.

When I sit here
and actually think

about my last match
at WrestleMania,

it chills me to the bone.

- Hulk left after
WrestleMania VIII

and felt it was time to move on
and try other things,

try doing some movies.

- Now Hulk says wrestling

may be in the past.

He's trying a different role
as an actor.

- Hulk Hogan, he's what made
all the wheels turn,

so it was a big time
in the WWE for change.

- And now
the Hitman, Bret Hart!

- The truth was that when Hulk
kind of left the company

after WrestleMania,
it was guys like me

and Undertaker and Shawn

who had to kind of
pull the wagon.

- Bret "The Hitman" Hart
just gained

the World Wrestling
Entertainment Championship!

- Shawn Michaels,
the sexiest man

walking the face
of God's green Earth.

It was the beginning of this
new generation of performers,

trying to see
if us younger performers

could carry the company.

- Oh, Tombstone city!

- It was kind of
out with the old

and in with this
new era of talent.

- Undertaker is one of
the most popular superstars

in the World Wrestling
company today.

- Towards the end of 1992,

you witnessed this elevation,

wrestlers that you had watched
for the last few years,

but now you are looking at as,

oh, these are
the main event guys.

At the same time,
you had this huge influx

of new talent that started
to paint the picture

of what the WWE actually
would be going into '93.

- There is Scott.
There is Rick.

The Steiner Brothers.

Gentlemen, welcome to the WWE.

- We'd been
to a couple other places

but hadn't really been
to the WWE yet.

The opportunity came up.
That was a good option.

We decided to go up.

- We had our own
different mindset,

different moveset.
- Look at that maneuver!

- Made our presentation
different.

- Take a look
at this motley crew,

the Headshrinkers!

- When we came through
as the Headshrinkers,

we knew that
we were that damn good.

- Pow!
Forget about it.

[bell clangs]

- We dominated
the tag team scene,

and we also dominated
the singles competition.

- 505 pounds.

Yokozuna, former sumo wrestler.

- He would take his robe off
every night,

and you'd hear
that same reaction.

[gasps]
Oh, my God,

he is that big.

- How on Earth
are you gonna stop

this humongous individual?

- We had to get new guys over.

We had to create
new stars to fill

that changing of the guard.

- It is the Survivor Series.

And for ticket information
for WrestleMania,

tune in to the WWE Network.

Check your local listings.

- Through the years,
the ebb and flow

of how WrestleMania was placed

varied year to year.

WrestleMania VIII was
in Indianapolis in a dome.

It was a fine event,
but it lacked

that pizzazz that had
really begun to build

since WrestleMania III,

and there's nothing like Vegas
for the glitz and glamour,

so that's how
it came together.

- They know the property.

They liked how they were
treated when we did the fight.

I think it would be
a slam dunk,

and that's what happened.

- It's coming to the Palace.

WrestleMania is coming
to Caesars Palace.

[dramatic music]

- In the early '90s,
there wasn't a lot going on

in Las Vegas sports-wise.

You know,
you had UNLV basketball.

- Johnson's on his left.

[crowd cheering]

- They were the biggest show
in town.

So, like, if you had a Rebel
ticket and you were courtside,

you were a big deal.

- Then all of a sudden,
all the NCAA controversy

catches up with Tarkanian.

He is forced out.

- Some have said the leaks
were designed to get the bad,

meaning Tarkanian,
out of the university.

- Tark was Vegas.

He was an outlaw.
It was an outlaw city.

When you took the outlaw
out of Vegas,

it didn't feel the same.

- We're down in the dumps,

and then here comes
this sporting event.

It's the biggest
sporting event in its genre

coming to Las Vegas.

- It created energy in town,

energy in town
that we badly needed.

Something positive,
something good.

At that time, Las Vegas was
trying to find its identity.

[upbeat jazz music]

[slot machines dinging]

- Las Vegas had been
kind of, like,

this adult playground
for years,

certainly not
a family-friendly atmosphere.

Going into the '90s,
they started making

attractions that were
for children,

like the Excalibur
and the Luxor.

Mirage had the volcanoes
in the front.

- It was just the beginning
of the concept

of drawing more
of a broader audience,

so Caesars wanted to be
at the front of that.

- WrestleMania is coming
to Las Vegas,

the new family entertainment
capital of the world.

And you and your family
can experience all the fun

and excitement
live and in person.

- At that time, Vegas was
yearning to be accepted.

They didn't have pro sports.

People looked down
at gambling.

WWE felt like,
oh, we're accepted.

We're in the big boys' club.

- We're in the hometown,
my hometown, of Las Vegas.

Are you joking me, man?

I was hoping that I was
going to be on the card.

Oh, please, just let me wrestle
in front of the people.

- As a boxing fan, it was like,
oh, that's big-time.

It's kind of the analogy
of working

at Madison Square Garden.

When you work there
for the first time,

knowing all of
the historic events

that have happened,
you're just like,

wow, this is really cool.
This is gonna be fun.

- Having an outdoor show
in Vegas was a good idea.

I just wanted to hit it
out of the park.

- WrestleMania IX.
Here we are.

I really enjoyed
scaling the houses.

I really--I really did.

It was always interesting
puzzle to do,

and hit a number
that made some sense.

We did want to generate
a million dollars

out of 16,700 seats.

Top ticket price was $250.

We went $250, $150,
$100, $50, and $25.

And at that time,
we were always striving

to have a ticket for $25,
and that was a stated goal.

[tense music]

So December 7th of 1992,

in my inimitable style,

I sent a note to Vince McMahon
saying that after eight days

on sale and two weekends
of full syndication promotion,

we've sold just 2,000 tickets.

Overall, this isn't bad,

but sales slowed very fast
after the first weekend.

I'm a little scared right now
reading this, actually.

We were used to just
putting them on sale

and selling them out.

- I can recall
the initial site survey.

If you've got video footage,
show the site.

It's a parking lot.

That's the nicest way
I can say it.

- I'm just passing through.
I put the ring up.

- You put the ring up.
- Ring crew.

- And it was at that moment
that Vince was like,

we are going to transform
this place

into a Roman coliseum.

- I think that just became

part of, how do we integrate
to this venue?

Because there is nothing there.

It's just a parking lot.

That's what gave birth
to the idea of making Caesars

the setting, the world's
biggest toga party.

- The world's largest
toga party

will be part
of the festivities.

- At that point, I'm in Vegas,
worried about selling tickets.

[crowd cheering]

So we brought Caesar and
Cleopatra to the Royal Rumble,

and that really was
our kickoff.

- Let it be known
that I, Caesar,

ruler of the Roman Empire,

personally invite each
and every one of you

to WrestleMania IX.

- Well, at the time,
WWE had its bread and butter

putting out
over-the-top characters.

So at the Royal Rumble,

they debuted not one
but two new superstars.

- For the last four weeks,

I've been talking
about this man,

Narcissus, the greatest...

- Initially, Vince wanted
to call me just Narcissus.

And I'm like, "Man,
that almost sounds kind of--

not, like, the strongest name,
Narcissus."

We compromised on
"The Narcissist" Lex Luger.

This here is interesting,
like, a master description

of different color choices
and everything.

I remember they went over
some of it with me.

They did want my input,
but not too much.

I kind of like that one
the best.

Made my shoulders
look extra broad.

Yeah, here's the final version.

Yeah, this is all--
all part of--

brings back great memories.
Thanks.

I remember sitting
in front of these things

many, many years ago.

- Narcissus, Lex Luger!

- Bobby Heenan
couldn't say "narcissist."

Couldn't we just give him
an easier name?

- I was thrilled that my intro
was gonna be Bobby.

Bobby was--Bobby was funny.

- I know how you feel
about yourself.

Oh, yes.
Look at that.

Look at that.
Look at that.

Oh, my God.

- That was a cool debut,
with the mirror

and Bobby out there
as my manager.

That was--yeah, I was very
pleased with that, for sure.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
it is now time

for the Royal Rumble!

To be eliminated,

a wrestler must be
thrown out of the ring,

over the top rope,
and onto the floor.

- Oh, that's right here.

- As fans,
we take for granted now

that the winner
of the Royal Rumble

always goes to WrestleMania
to face the champion,

but it wasn't always the case.

'93 is the first time
that that happens.

Completely amped up
this level of excitement

and forever joined the
Royal Rumble to WrestleMania.

- One of them will become the
challenger at WrestleMania IX!

Oh, my God, what is that?
Wait a minute!

This guy is not one
of the official entries

in the Royal Rumble.

- How big is that guy?

Looks like he's
20, 30 feet tall.

Who is that?

- The debut
of the Giant Gonzalez.

You want to have
as many different characters

as you can.

- Look at the size
of that monster!

- It's hard
to take him seriously

when he's got
an airbrushed bodysuit on,

with abs and muscle striations
and everything,

and then these
random patches of fur.

It was just like,
what is this?

- He has just humiliated
the Undertaker.

- Now, to be fair,
the idea was

that the fur would be, like,

hanging off of him
and free-flowing

and allow him to look
more like a monster

and not a bodysuit
with fur sewn on it.

I know that sounds--

Bruce, you're saying
the same thing.

But it was meant to look
and feel different.

- Everybody looks at this
Giant Gonzalez in hindsight.

- I've never seen
anything like this.

- When you are nine
and you see the way

he handled the Undertaker...

- [jabbering]

- Nine-year-old Sammy
was absolutely terrified

of the Giant Gonzalez.

It was pretty clear
that these two

were on a collision course

going straight
for WrestleMania.

[energetic music]

- Let's see who's next.
[horn blares]

- Uh-oh.

- Uh-oh.
- Yokozuna.

Look out!

He got 'Quake out of there!

- He is awesome.

- Oh, there he goes.

- He threw him out
from the floor.

- Wow.

Yokozuna on his way

to WrestleMania IX.

- WrestleMania, how's business?

- Coming out
of the Royal Rumble,

you knew that Bret
"The Hitman" Hart and Yokozuna

were going to main-event
at WrestleMania.

You had Bret, who was
very popular, very seasoned,

but he'd never been
in that position before.

Then you had Yokozuna,
who was the spectacle,

but he was untested.

He was new to the WWE.

Here they were, going to be
in the main event

in Las Vegas.

The pressure
was definitely on.

- Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Gene Okerlund with
the World Wrestling company.

We've got a great group here,
convening for the announcement

of the big card
of WrestleMania IX,

coming to Caesars Palace
here on Sunday afternoon,

April the 4th.

- This is the biggest event
that's out there.

This is the Super Bowl
of wrestling.

On April 4th, we will present
the heavyweight championship

of the world, featuring
the World Wrestling

Entertainment champion,
Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

Didn't get
any better than that.

[dramatic music]

- The current World Wrestling
Entertainment champion,

the Hitman, Bret Hart.
Yes.

Ooh, yeah!
Come on down.

- WrestleMania IX
was something that

I really was excited about.

Like, I was really
looking forward to my moment,

my first WrestleMania
as champion,

so I was pretty excited
about it.

I don't know if anyone's
familiar with my past,

but it took me
8 1/2 long years

to become the World Wrestling
Entertainment champion,

and I've tried to be
the people's champion.

I'm a lot different
than the 29 guys

he wrestled
in the Royal Rumble,

and I don't know how long
he's thought about

becoming World Wrestling
Entertainment champion,

but I don't want anyone to end
this dream too quickly for me.

You know, I think,
being honest,

that I was
a little bit intimidated.

I guess that's about it.

[applause]

It was an awful lot of weight
on my shoulders,

to be carrying the company.

The belt is more real
than people think.

People always think,
oh, it's all--

doesn't make any difference.

It makes a difference.

It's--it's--

definitely takes
its toll on you

physically, mentally,
emotionally.

I can tell even in that moment

that I'm still grasping
with the idea

that I'm even champion.

Like, am I really champion?

I got to pinch myself
every morning and go, really?

Didn't believe it myself.

- Thank you very much
for coming.

We'll see you back here
for WrestleMania.

Thank you, folks.

- I remember, at the time,
wondering,

OK, there's no Hulk Hogan.

He's the biggest--
biggest star in the sport,

but he was not part of it.

- I was told,
Hulk is not part of this.

So when I was selling it
to Caesars, I said,

look, no Hulk.

- But on the side,
Basil and I were talking.

And I said, come on, you know
Hogan's gonna be there.

And he said, come on,
you know me well enough.

I would tell you
if he's coming.

He's not gonna be there.

- You and the entire family
could be at Caesars Palace

to experience all the
excitement of WrestleMania IX.

- People weren't buying
this WrestleMania extravaganza

the way they had in the past.

- And we all knew that Hulk
meant money at the arena.

- It's crazy here
in the Hoosier Dome!

Everybody on their feet!

- So I always knew Vince felt
an enormous responsibility

to the whole organization
because they had kids,

they had husbands and wives,
they had lives,

and it was all dependent

on the ability
to run this business.

Me personally,
I got two kids that went

through college on Hulk Hogan.

So they--you should never--

Hulk in the mix
was always good for me.

- During that time period,
I had gone back

to my theatrical agent

and said,
I'm ready to go back to work.

I hated the process, getting up
at 5:00 in the morning

and being in the makeup trailer

and then sitting there till
5:00 or 6:00 at night.

I missed being
around the guys.

I missed the fans.

I missed the rush
of the business.

- Vince and Hulk
started speaking again.

- Wouldn't take much
to get me back

in the ring at that point.

- [chuckles]
This is the Bible.

We each had a book that looked
exactly like this.

Vince, Pat, and I
each had our own book.

Inside of this book,
you have a week.

You go Monday to Sunday.

This is where we wrote the--

the cards
for every single night.

You know,
you would see on here

all these represented
a different town

and a different night.

When you look at this and
you're looking about bringing

Hulk Hogan back, you're
looking to bring Hulk back

to boost sales
for WrestleMania,

so that there's more awareness,

and Hulk Hogan being at
WrestleMania is a big deal.

And I think
that that was probably

too much of a hard sell
because then that

kind of gave Hulk
that much more stroke.

You need me for this.

And that's what kind of
brought him back.

February 22nd, Hulk live.

The return of Hulk Hogan.

[crowd cheering]

- Here he is, Hulk Hogan!

[upbeat rock music playing]

* *

- Unless you got
this big machine,

the WWE, behind you,
you can do movies,

you can do whatever you want,

but you need this wheel
behind you, man,

this WWE,
because it's a strong force.

And I think Hulk got to
a point where he realized

that on what
he wanted to promote,

and I think Vince got to
a point where, you know,

my houses might need another
little shot in the arm here.

We need to put some
high-test gas in this thing.

- I'm here on a mission,
brother,

and I want to state publicly
right now

that I'm back in the WWE.

[crowd cheering]

So all I've got to say
right now is,

the first person
I want standing in the ring

with me is my friend
to the end,

Brutus "The Bionic Barber"
Beefcake!

[crowd cheering]

- Brutus had undergone
a devastating accident

to his face in which
he was kneed in the face.

[soft electronic music]

- We were out doing
some parasailing on the lake.

* *

We've got a girl who's
never been in a parasail,

and she was just
coming off the ground

about 30 miles an hour,

and her knees hit me
in the face.

[dramatic music]

It hit me so hard
that it actually ripped me

out of the water,
like a reverse flip.

Flips this way,
then a reverse flip.

Totally disintegrated
everything in my face.

The surgery took
15 to 16 hours

and 140 steel staples

behind one ear to the other.

Most people would never survive
this type of an accident.

And thanks
to the big man upstairs,

I came through this thing
in one piece,

and now I'm bigger and badder
than I've ever been.

I had to make
a choice eventually.

You know, am I gonna wrestle
or not, you know?

And so eventually, we said,
yes, I'm gonna do it.

- With Jimmy Hart,

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake,
and Hulk Hogan!

* *

- The pitch was for me
to do this tag situation.

Brutus had had
a run of bad luck,

and so, you know, to bring him
back in the fold

and give him
that second chance.

Thank God
for the big man upstairs

that Brutus the Barber is OK.

- Who were the safest guys,
and who were the best team

that can work
with Brutus and Hulk,

and everybody's
gonna feel good about it?

And that was Ted DiBiase
and Irwin R. Schyster, IRS.

- We'll put our titles
on the line

at the biggest wrestling event

in World Wrestling
Entertainment history,

WrestleMania IX,
Las Vegas, Nevada.

Being a heel, you know,
for this guy to be coming back,

I was going, OK, let's--
let's get it on again.

Let's go have another
run for the money.

- The odds are against you.

I was excited about it,
you know,

just because Hogan was
such a huge star.

Oh, man, you got to work
with Hogan in a WrestleMania?

Yeah.
So it was cool.

- That's what ended up
selling out the place.

- Just like boxing,

if you could add a big fighter
to a card, it's a bigger card.

- Just like that,
we've got a double main event,

and the greatest WrestleMania
ever just got better.

- Obviously, Hogan was by far
the biggest name at that time,

maybe ever, in wrestling.

So you like that he's there,

but also, there were
some question marks.

- We're creating,
at that point,

new talent,
so you have these guys

that are making
the house shows,

that are coming up
and working their tails off

to get over
and to be this new talent,

and then you bring in
a little bit of the past back.

- So what you gonna do
when the Mega-Maniacs run...

[together]
Wild on you?

- With Hulk Hogan,
he came back,

and he was the same as he was.

- See the drops
of sweat dripping

onto Hulk Hogan's pythons.

- We knew that the WWE

was definitely having a shift,
a transition.

It seemed like the business
had taken steps forward.

It had evolved.

So it was very strange
seeing him in this new setting.

- At this point in my career,
I'm all about, like,

whatever it takes, right?

Whatever it takes
to get butts in seats.

You still have to move
the product forward.

- Your main event
at WrestleMania,

Bret "The Hitman" Hart
facing Yokozuna for this,

the World Wrestling
Entertainment title.

- When Hulk Hogan surfaced,

I was told
that he was only there

to promote a movie
and he had nothing to do

with the world title
and nothing to do with me,

and for me not to worry
about him at all.

- Eye to eye.

- I was very aware that they
were pushing other talent,

but perception is reality.

They'd worked all year
to get Bret and Yoko

in that position,
and I think once

they put them
in that position,

they realized they didn't have
that hot sauce

they needed to do
the box office buzz.

When I came in,
I remember several pieces

of talent saying, Hogan,
you know, be careful, champ.

Things have changed
around here.

I went, I don't think so.

- It's happening
at WrestleMania!

Hulkamania returns!

- The original advertising
material for WrestleMania IX

was advertising
how much was on the show,

all the superstars of today.

- And you and your family
can experience all the fun

and excitement
live and in person.

- And then
the announcement came

that Hulk Hogan
was coming back,

and that promotional
material changed.

- This April 4th,
live on pay-per-view,

the immortal
Hulk Hogan returns.

WrestleMania, live,
Sunday, April 4th,

on pay-per-view.

- He's ready!
- He's ready, all right.

- Fairly late
in the promotion,

Hulk gets added
into a tag match.

So I called and I said,
hey, I got good news.

Hulk is gonna be added
to the card,

and he's gonna be in a match,
but not the main event.

- And I said,
am I clairvoyant?

Or what's going on here?

- He said, well, how is he
gonna win the title back?

I said, he's not gonna win
the title back.

[energetic music]

- Here we are at Caesars
Palace in Las Vegas.

A lot has changed here
over the last 30 years.

Behind me now is the 21st
century convention center.

Where I'm standing
is about 20 feet away

from the Caesars Palace
outdoor stadium.

- It's a pleasure
to welcome you

to Championship Night
here at Caesars Palace.

- Some of the greatest fights
in boxing history

took place on this site.

Muhammad Ali
against Larry Holmes.

Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns.

All of that was a part
of the great events

that we did on this spot.

In particular,
WrestleMania IX.

- Caesars Place was, at that
time, like, the place to be.

If you were gonna go hang out
at a pool

and see the beautiful people,
it was at Caesars Palace.

I was young and single,

and that's where you went
on a Saturday night.

So there was an aura about it
that was just different.

And so when WrestleMania's
gonna happen there,

it felt big.

[wheels rumbling]

[drill whirring]

[tape creaking]

- This is their Super Bowl.

You had to make it
bigger than life.

- How do you take
a Roman roamin'?

- It was different for us.

It was a risk.

- It was a gamble.

It truly was a gamble.

- Up!

- It was such an undertaking

to build the stadium out,

to pull off this event,

and it truly was
an extravaganza

that we wanted
to document it internally.

- Ah!

- Get some sound bites about
how this whole thing flows.

- Clean that up once.
Oh, excellent, excellent.

[blows sharply]
Perfect.

[projector clicks]

[dramatic music]

[tape clattering]

* *

- I'm allowed in here.

OK?
So let me through right now.

Look at that handsome guy
over there.

I was a PA when I started,
and I still have my credentials

here from that event,

and I'll tell you what,
I'm really excited now.

First of all,
we're at Caesars Palace.

We're doing an outside event,

which we have
never done before.

And, second, I'm watching
this masterpiece come together,

and I'm right there.
This is amazing.

- Hi.
Setting up for WrestleMania.

- Welcome to WrestleMania.
Going to Disneyland.

- Yep, out here
working on my tan.

- Maybe there were plans
in the back of somebody's mind

to eventually release it.

- Welcome to Las Vegas.

- In those days, we would
never in a million years

think of releasing
something like that.

- Welcome to Olympus.
[laughs]

- Vegas.
Lost all my money.

Here I am.

- The fact that we have it,
I think,

is tremendous,
because it brings back

a lot of great memories.

- I'm a good-looking man even
when I wake up in the morning

and my hair's all wet.

Ooh, still doing Dusty
even at WrestleMania IX,

with my credentials.

[tools whirring]

You had to build a lot
behind the arena.

All those trailers
were our dressing rooms,

our offices,
and our bathrooms.

When I say it was
a parking lot,

it was an empty parking lot.

- It's an enormous challenge.
Enormous.

It's an outdoor venue,

and that is
a myriad of problems.

- All this cable has to lay out
in the sun so it loosens up,

then it coils better
when you lay it up

on the trusses and everything.

- Why is that thing off center?

Is there a reason for that?

- Yes, there was an initial
problem with the scaffolding.

- And there's Dollar Bill.
His name was Bill.

Every time
we wanted something more,

he would give an answer,
how much it was gonna cost him.

So we started
calling him Dollar Bill.

That's a good answer, Bill.

- At WrestleMania IX,
I was backstage cameraman.

Walking into WrestleMania IX
in Las Vegas,

your anticipation is,
what can we do?

It starts with nothing,

and it becomes
its own little city,

and it was up to Nelson
to make that all happen.

- If I don't care,
who would care?

- You're gonna care.
- I don't care.

- Where's your video guy?

- We wanted to make it
highly theatrical,

but the kind
of theatrical terms

that WrestleMania IX was,
it never had been done before.

Be aware that in the corner
of each of these things

are these giant griffins.

It was an experiment
in a sense of,

could we bring this off?

Look at this whole side
over here.

You've got
three separate pieces.

- He was responsible
for Mr. Paint

having the right column color.

- I'm a little concerned
about just

the look of this column here.

- That can be painted.

- Or that over here is
2 inches to the left too far.

- What's it supposed to be?
- 14.

- Get somebody else
to measure that.

- He had a lot
on his shoulders at the time,

because it was just one person,
where now we have several.

- Trying to prepare
for what can go wrong.

If we come straight back,
I think it'll be OK.

What could possibly fail?

Oh, Jesus!

He's got to cut his wheels
the opposite direction.

- Nelson Swegler,
one of those guys

that ruled with an iron fist.

- Yo, Ben, let's get
this thing up in the air.

- I can still hear
his voice in my head.

- For God's sake,
don't just stand there.

Help with
the old villa cable here.

- Very grumpy.

- Hurley, didn't they
tell you anything?

Did he share that information
with anyone?

- I always used to say that's
why people really liked me,

because I wasn't Nelson.

- Old metal motherfucker
can do it.

It is not--scratch that.

- But we always
got what we needed.

- He was a character
in a group of characters.

[laughter]

Being a character was
what half of this was about.

- If I put my glasses on,

these guys won't have
a clue who I am.

- The fact of the matter is,
it was a family.

Everybody was doing
everything to help out

however they could.

- This is a special one
for WrestleMania.

Black, gold, and black.

Usually gets
the red, white, and blue.

- I wonder if we could paint
this face like a clown

and, like, get it off quickly.

We would get there 8:30,
9:00 in the morning

and we would work until
1:00, 2:00

in the morning easily.

- Everything that we see here,
I just want to be able

to open it up and to say, oh,
here's another toy we can use.

Here's another toy.
You know, I mean--

Cutting your promo
or whatever it may be, and...

[water trickling]

And then get that type of boom,
you know?

Is this water potable?

You know, what is it?

- At this moment
they are putting

the finishing touches
on Caesars Palace stadium,

which has been transformed

into a Roman coliseum.

- Handrails are all bent,
and they look--

you know, whatever we can do
to wrap them with something.

- Vince spent over $100,000
to dress the arena.

- Thank you.

- It wasn't going to sell
one ticket.

We were already sold out,
but the company had an image.

We have to look top-shelf.

- Whatever we do,
I want to do it

first-class or not do it.

- We were praying
that it wouldn't rain.

- I mean,
if it rains, it rains.

- In the desert.

- You know,
you cross your fingers.

You hope and pray
to whoever it is

you may pray to and you say,

please give me good weather.

You seriously look
at the "Farmer's Almanac,"

look at the history,
you look at the predictions,

and you roll the dice,
because that's all you can do.

- When you go outside,
you risk extreme heat

or quick rain shower.

You rarely got those.

But the fan man, I remember.
I was there.

You know, the fight goes on

between Holyfield
and Riddick Bowe.

- Somebody in a parachute

has just landed
on the edge of the ring.

- It was chaos.

- This is the most bizarre
thing

I've ever seen
at a prizefight.

- So anytime you had an event
in Caesars,

there was always
an unpredictability to it.

[mellow music]

- We were leaving on Friday
for WrestleMania.

I was blown away
at the airport because they had

those little commercials
on the screens

all the way
through the airport,

and it was
Bret Hart everywhere.

Made me feel like
a million dollars.

I was really proud of that.

- Most of our family
is from the West Coast.

Everybody came
from San Francisco,

from Los Angeles.

They all came into Las Vegas

just to come support him being

the main event
at WrestleMania.

- Just being in Vegas
for the week,

you know, was fun.
You could go gamble.

[laughs]

IRS always comes up
with the money.

We took our kids
to restaurants

and stuff like that.

- Just staying
at Caesars was cool.

I made buddies with
some of the security guys,

so I had a special--
they had a tunnel.

They got me where I could go
in and out to the gym

and back down
through that tunnel,

and also to go over
to the set, where the set was.

So I had some fringe benefits

from getting to know the staff.
It was great for me.

* *

- My name is Charlie Adorno,
also known as Ringside Charlie.

Been a WWE fan
for almost 50 years

and have been
to every WrestleMania,

including WrestleMania IX,
which was quite an experience.

My official room key.

We were able
to stay at Caesars,

and it was great because
the wrestlers were everywhere.

They were going to shows
and going to clubs

and restaurants and bars,

and I got a couple of pictures
that I saved.

I have me and Rick Steiner,
me and President Jack Tunney.

- WrestleMania IX.
You ready?

[crowd cheering]

- We went to a lot of events,
a lot of meet and greets,

a lot of autograph signings.

- This woman has been here
since 3:00 in the morning.

- Right.

- There's never been anything
like being at Caesars Palace.

Everybody knew WrestleMania
was in town.

Here we are,
signing autographs.

It made you feel good inside.

[crowd cheering]

- That was one of
the first WrestleManias

that I really remember
a concerted effort

to get the product out there,
outside of the arena.

- Kill him, Undertaker.

- There was a groundswell.

It was the first time
you'd see it around

a lot of places
because the goal

was to really take over
the strip as best we could.

- WrestleMania, man.
Go, baby, go.

- To do that in Las Vegas
is a big deal,

because there's a gazillion
different things

going on in Las Vegas.

It's only appropriate
that you sunbathe

head and shoulders
above all the rest.

Who thought that shot was OK?

It's just straight
into the nut sack.

[laughs]

I might walk into WrestleMania
with a tan line.

[laughter]

I'm one guy doing something
out by the pool.

There's another crew
that's going down the strip.

There's another crew
that's going to other places

with, you know,
'Taker and Paul Bearer.

- The sands now fall

rapidly through the hourglass.

- Not just WrestleMania,
but WrestleMania the brand,

is starting to expand
and grow as well.

- Bobby Heenan,
so many things are happening,

developing now as we look
to WrestleMania IX,

which is gonna be
taking place right here.

- I think we used every
square inch of Caesars Palace

that could possibly be used.

- You OK?
- Step moved.

- I'm a little concerned
you could end up

falling in the drink here.

- It made noise at a casino.

When the WWE people
were around and hanging out,

you knew it,
you felt it, you saw it.

- But you know something?

Yokozuna is gonna find out

that I'm
the excellence of execution.

- To see those two worlds
come together,

to see that Las Vegas energy
match that WWE energy,

it was really cool.

- Randy Savage recorded

for the operators
an on-hold message.

- Are you sure
that that's your luggage?

It looks a lot like
the piece that I'm missing.

Yeah!

I'm the Macho Man Randy Savage

of the World Wrestling
company

welcoming you
to Las Vegas, yeah.

- You could not put
a value on it.

Even the biggest fights,

we don't get
that kind of exposure.

- Dig it!
Don't miss WrestleMania!

Yeah!

- The atmosphere
in the town was amazing,

but we knew,
at the end of the day,

there was more over-the-top
things that we had planned.

- How do we make this
larger than life

and do things
we've never done before?

[relaxed jazz music]

[ball rattling]

* *

- Vinnie.
- What do you say, buddy?

- Long time no see.
- How are you, bud?

- How you been?
- Here we are again.

We were just here
yesterday, right?

I'm Vinnie Magliulo.

At the time
of WrestleMania IX,

I was the race and sports
director

here at Caesars Palace.

This board you see here
is the actual board

that had the odds
for WrestleMania IX on it.

If you look, it says,

"for entertainment
purposes only."

- And Howard Finkel
goes up to the counter.

Says, gee, I want to bet.

And they said,
I'm sorry, sir.

This is for
entertainment purposes only.

- So he started, though,
an avalanche

of inquiries,
because when people saw it,

we got so many requests
to bet it.

- I saw on-screen that you
could bet on the matches,

and I was like,
well, that's interesting.

They were all
betting their money

on Bret Hart to beat Yokozuna.

- There were more requests
to bet WrestleMania IX

than all the other sports
going on at that time combined.

So, finally, I had to call Rich
and I had to call publicity.

I said, listen,
you know, it's out there.

We talked about it.

I have to take it down
because everybody

wants to bet on WrestleMania.

But it was great.

- It was exciting.

All of this craziness,

it starts to come together.

- Caesars Palace
outdoor stadium

is transformed
into a coliseum

right out of the ancient
Roman Empire.

- If this is the only option,
it's OK.

- People are being fitted
for togas.

- * A toga with no underwear *

- I thought, boy, that is
the best idea I ever heard,

because it was just funny.

- Howard!
Pizza, pizza!

[laughter]

- Friends, Romans,
and countrymen,

I've got two of them,
so don't lend me your ears.

[laughs]

- Have somebody else write
your material for you, pal.

- I thought
it was all pretty cool.

I was glad that
they put some thought

into all that kind of stuff.

You know,
the wrestlers are marveled

by it as much as the fans are.

- Oh, they did a great job
on an outdoor set.

They did it up, man.

Epic, epic set.

- It was kind of like
a movie set, you know,

more so than being
in an arena.

- May the fleas
of a thousand camels

harass your balls.

- Watching Gorilla Monsoon
joking around

with that outfit on,
it's kind of priceless today

to watch that,
knowing his character

and what kind
of a legend he was.

- Hey, look at this!

[speaking indistinctly]

- Round and round and round
he goes.

And so Muhammad Ali
doesn't know where he is.

- I don't go any farther
than this, guys.

[laughter]

- What is this for?
- Making of 'Mania.

- The making of 'Mania?
Oh, no.

- I don't want no camera here.

- They were protecting
the business

a lot more back then,

so it was weird to have
cameras following you around.

Or you're just sitting there
and a camera crew comes by,

and you're like,
the hell is this?

- What are you doing?

- No, that's--
that's for you ladies.

- How you doing, fellas?

I like this fuzzy mic
you got here.

- And you're like,
what are you--

you doing back here?

You know, it was just--
it just wasn't the norm.

- You got some strange looks.

Like, why is there
a camera in my face?

- You're peeling back
the curtain.

- Hi, guys.

- I can remember looking
at the Undertaker,

like, just staring
across the room,

like, why are you shooting me?

- Backstage was kind of
my safe place,

where I could be me
and not have to worry

about being in character,

so anytime that I saw cameras,
like,

I went out of my way
to find out

what they were doing.

I'm already giving
the cameraman a hard time.

You can see in this footage,
I'm deadpanning somebody.

I'm giving them
the death stare,

like, why are you filming?

You know better.

Got to protect the character.

- I got her drinking.

[laughter]

- Pepsi.
Just Pepsi. Just Pepsi.

- Pepsi and...
[laughter]

On the rocks.

- No, on the rocks, that's it.

- It was different
and it was fun,

and everyone else
was having fun with it.

- Doing what?
- This is the making of.

- Making of WrestleMania?
- Yeah.

- Then you should get me
doing some push-ups

or something over here.
- [laughs]

Some of those famous
one-armed push-ups.

- Where's all the girls?

There's supposed
to be girls here.

[laughs]
- They're at the pool.

- I'll make sure.

I remember
it was such a hot day.

Even when we were
in the ring here,

it's pretty hot.

It's about 80 degrees out.

- It was new for us then.

It was a different atmosphere.

To me, that day, one of
the most enjoyable things

was watching the rehearsals.

- Next one is gonna be,

ladies and gentlemen,
I present to you

the Macho Man, Randy Savage.

[brass fanfare]

- What's up?

- Rehearsals of this magnitude

really started
at WrestleMania IX

because there was
so much involved.

And I love the fact
that we had Randy

in the steaming hot sun
in all of his complete outfit.

That's good shit.

- Yeah.
Uh-huh.

- There needed to be a degree
of, let's practice this,

because what can go wrong?

- What's happening there?
One more grape, please.

- Definitely the beginning
of where we are today.

- I get into the ring,
and then when do I get out?

Just get out
as soon as I get in?

- I'll cue you.
- OK.

- You do--you open
everything up, OK?

You throw it to Jim Ross.

Soon as you throw it
to Jim Ross,

just duck right behind
the curtain,

and stay away
from the elephant, that's all.

- OK.
- OK?

- Thinking back on it,
you were truly in the circus.

- Want my money?
I didn't win no money.

- You know, everybody was kind
of enamored with the elephant.

- My new tag team partner,
Thai.

Thai and Bam-Bam.

- I don't like elephants.

I don't like--I don't like
anything bigger

or faster than me.

- Dude, it was crazy,
because in the back,

it was like a farm,

a bunch of
farm animals everywhere.

It was crazy.

You're like, what the hell?
Where are we?

- It was almost like
in the Bible,

the Book of Solomon,
had these huge parties

with animals and monkeys
and food everywhere.

It was so lavish.
It was Vegas.

It was lavish is the word that
pops to mind as we're talking.

- Everywhere you walk,
you're dodging elephant dung.

- It was like,
cleanup in aisle five.

[water spraying]

- No, back a little bit,

and come on in the shot.

- We had a menagerie in the
first five minutes of the show.

- Because we were dealing
with animals,

we had to do
a complete rehearsal.

So Randy's gonna
cover the first half

and then get behind them...

[laughs]
Starting with the elephant.

[chuckles]
Get behind the elephant.

That doesn't sound productive.

Send Savage.

It was very theatrical.

We had never been
real theatrical before that.

- As they made their entrance,

it was an
incredibly tight parade

into the live open areas.

I kept my fingers crossed
that somebody

wasn't gonna get bitten.

I mean, really.

You have no control
over a bunch of animals.

I mean, we're not talking
puppy dogs here.

We're talking big animals.

- When you're working
with animals,

there's just too much
that can go wrong.

You just never know
what an animal is gonna do.

If it works,
it's a great idea,

but if it doesn't work,
oh, man,

you're gonna be
remembered forever

for the wrong reasons.

- The Undertaker!

[dramatic pipe organ music
playing]

- I thought it was gonna be
a cool-looking visual.

I wasn't real thrilled
about the vulture

being right there by me.

I didn't find any of it out
until maybe the day before.

This vulture
is already going crazy.

I'm thinking,
this is a horrible idea.

During rehearsals,
I was just like,

is this bird
gonna crap on me?

Or it's gonna flip out and--

you can kind of see
a couple of times

where I'm just shaking
my head a little bit.

It's just like, man,
this is a horrible idea.

I'm just thrilled about it.

[laughs]

- I was excited, for sure.

The pyro and the giant mirrors
and the showgirls.

I was like, oh, man.

- Hold them above your head.
OK.

Get them level, if you would.

And fire them off.

- Oh, my goodness,
I remember this.

[energetic music]

And with the pyro come out
of the mirrors, right?

That was a good touch.

[laughs]
Oh, my.

What's not to love, right?

- [screams]
- Get 'em up there.

- The pyro comes
off of the mirrors,

and the pyro's
flying everywhere.

Everybody's getting hit.

We're going, OK, issue
number one, weather, the wind.

We were looking to be as close
to perfect as possible,

and if it wasn't,
then don't do it.

- Well,
if they're gonna carry Yoko,

it's not up on the shoulder.

- No, no, no, no, no.

- The plan was to--

to carry Yokozuna, you know,
the prize winner

of the Royal Rumble,

to the ring
in this sedan like,

you know, Caesar,
and get him up.

- I'm just wondering,
first of all,

if it's gonna be able
to support him.

- Yoko was just too big.
- Like, right here.

- Boy, I don't know if that's--
- No.

And I tell you,
it's not gonna work if I do it.

Lift him up.

- OK, don't--
don't go too high.

Here we go.
- Forget it.

- Yeah.

- The weight distribution
didn't work.

- Yoko was scared too.
Yoko was like--

Yoko didn't want
to be up there.

- We spent all day
doing rehearsals.

The one odd thing was,
is there's no Hulk Hogan.

[dramatic music]

- Two days
before WrestleMania--

it might have been Friday,
might have been Saturday,

whatever it is--
Vince calls me into this room.

He says, we got a problem.

I said, what?

Hulk's injured.

We're not sure whether he's
gonna be able to perform.

- The day of WrestleMania,
everybody is psyched.

Everybody is ready to go,

but there's one thing
that's going on.

Nobody knows
where Hulk Hogan is yet.

This is for real.
Nobody knew where Hulk was.

And soon enough,
we see him walking in.

Nobody knows what's going on.
Check this out.

- Hulk comes.

He's got wraparound
sunglasses on.

He's got stitches.
His eye looks really bad.

[ominous music]

- I remember seeing it,
and then I was thinking,

hmm, brother should have--

[chuckles]
He should have bobbed

instead of weaved on that.

It was a pretty nasty
black eye.

- That was the funny thing
about it.

It was like, he really got
a good shot in the eye,

so it was one of those
really good black eyes

that was pretty obvious
when you see it.

Like, what happened to you?

- That doesn't
look like makeup.

That's--that's for real.

- I didn't give it to him.
Wasn't me.

- Of course, you know,
everyone knows

that Savage and Hogan
didn't get along,

so it didn't take long
for the rumors

to start flying around.

- Hey, hey.

- Well, there's, you know,
stories,

Macho Man punched him
and, you know, beat him up,

but I wasn't there,
so I don't know,

but that was the story
going around, you know?

You know, and I rolled
with Macho Man.

It was like, he told me
what really happened,

and I believe
Macho Man's story,

so I believe what he told me,

but he wasn't happy about it.

Shit happens.

- Interesting.

I guess he bought
the story Randy told him.

I've never had
a fight with Randy.

If they still want
to believe it

after you tell them
what really happened,

it's fine with me.

- I've heard
all of the stories,

but the only story
I've ever heard

from Hulk and from Vince,
what we were told

was that he was out
on a Jet Ski

and got popped in the eye.

- Brutus came over,
and I was riding a Sea-Doo.

So I get on it,
and as I was riding

towards Clearwater Pass
where we were jumping waves,

I didn't know my thumb
had pushed the button

that made the nose stay down.

So as soon as I took off,

this thing was like
a rocket ship, man.

It goes 75, 80 miles an hour.

I hit that first big swell,
and I went up,

and I didn't come down
right away,

and so it threw me
over the front of the ski,

and when I hit the water,
I tried to cover

because I knew the ski
was coming at me.

I tried to go underwater
and cover,

but my life jacket
pulled me back up,

and the ski, 700-pound ski,

hit me in the face
and knocked me out.

I was knocked out
facedown in the water.

[dramatic music]

- He was flying in the air,
and the ski did a 360,

and the front of the ski
hit him on his eye orbit

here and fractured it.

He was almost--
not quite unconscious

but pretty much out of it.

And pull him from the water,
get him up on the beach.

- The first thing he did
was call Jimmy Hart.

Big mistake.
Oh, baby, baby.

Oh, my God, oh, my God,
Vince is gonna kill you.

Oh, my God.
You know, Jimmy went nuts.

- Oh, my gosh,
you would not believe it.

His face--
I mean, eye socket,

like--ugh, it was just--
it was horrible.

Hulk goes, I ain't
missing WrestleMania.

Because Hulk's
from the old school.

No matter if you're hurt
or not, you make your gig,

you make your shot,
and so I said,

Hulk, what are we gonna do?

- I said, Jimmy, we're going
to WrestleMania tomorrow.

So I went and got stitched up
at the emergency room

and flew in.

* *

- Yeah, there was definitely
tension there.

I'm not sure how much
Vince really knew

about what was going on there.

I mean, he's got it
covered up real well.

If you pulled that bandana off
and those sunglasses,

his face did not look good.

It was pretty brutal.

* *

- Hmm.

Vince saw me.
He wasn't happy at all.

- [laughs]

[deep thump]

- We risked a big show
here on nonsense.

You know,
riding Jet Skis

normally wouldn't be
a big deal.

There was a lot on the line,

so he probably was
a little pissed.

- Vince says,
you're not wrestling.

And I said, yeah, I am.

And he goes,
no, you're not wrestling.

You never passed the physical.

I said, well, if I pass
the physical, I'm wrestling.

He goes, OK, because he knew
I wouldn't pass the physical.

- Nevada being
a commission state,

they would not have cleared
Hulk to go in the ring.

So the downplaying
of the injury

to let the commission know

that this is all part of it.

This is all part of the show.

- OK. Thank you.
- All right.

- I went to the doctor.

I said, hey, Doc,
can you believe what we did?

We got this new storyline
to trick the fans,

and we're gonna tell everybody
that Macho Man

beat me up and gave me
a black eye,

and this is all makeup
and all these stitches,

they're fake stitches.

Please don't tell anybody.

Doctor says, OK, OK,
I won't, all right.

So he signed my physical.

I went back and I said,
hey, Vince, look,

I passed my physical.

- Mike and I assured him,

look, we're gonna stay away
from your head.

We'll pound on your back,
we'll grab a leg,

or do something to your gut,

and if we hit you in the head,

it's gonna be
the opposite side.

You know, wrestlers know
where to throw a punch.

- Hey!

- OK. All right.

Outdoors is different anyhow,

because you'll be screaming
as usual,

but it goes up to the heavens.
- Right, right.

- If it feels
a little different,

it will be.
- Yeah.

- Right.

- That was very early on
in me,

you know, having any kind
of rapport with Vince.

- It will be bright, bright,
bright when you're there.

- He was sincerely trying
to explain to me

something about the performance
and starting the show,

and I'm not much in life,
but I can be

pretty laser-focused
when it comes to this job.

* *

- Where I'm standing
right now is where

we had the west bleachers.

On Sunday afternoon, April 4th,

I was standing
with Basil DeVito,

and we were getting ready for
the start of WrestleMania IX.

[crowd cheering]

- I'd given Caesars props...

- We want our tickets!

- About the idea they really
know how to do an event

at their venue, and they'd done
all these boxing events,

with one exception.

One thing that
we never talked about

and Caesars
did not plan about...

- WrestleMania!

- Was the idea that
when you do a boxing event,

they open the gates at 6:00.

The main event
is not till 9:30,

and people filter in.

It's--it's mellow.

When WrestleMania starts,
you got to see it all.

[indistinct chatter]

- It was just
a massive influx of people.

The gates were packed
with people trying to get in.

- Enjoy the matches.

- Our ticket takers,
who were great,

were not used
to that kind of action.

- Make sure it says
WrestleMania on it, guys.

- There was only
two entrances to get in...

- Hottest ticket in town.
- Hot ticket!

- So you had two long lines
of probably about

5,000 people on each line.

- The people are lined
around the pool

15 minutes before this event
is supposed to start.

You can't get them in
fast enough.

Linda McMahon and I

were taking tickets
at the entrances.

- WrestleMania IX,
Caesars Palace, WWE.

[grunts]
Dig it!

- We went in.

I bought my T-shirt,
my program, got to my seat.

Because I know
that every WrestleMania,

you're gonna have a match

that's not gonna air
on television.

The dark match,
just to get the crowd into it.

- El Matador, Tito Santana!

[upbeat Latin music playing]

- That match was Tito Santana
versus Papa Shango.

- The day of WrestleMania,
it was my Super Bowl.

It was my Super Bowl.

It was my hometown.

I was so happy to be there.

- [grunts]

- All these people had
known me as Bear the Biker,

and I'd made it through
the small organizations

and the farm leagues,
and I've finally

made it to Caesars Palace.

You ain't made it
till you play Caesars.

Me and Tito had one job,

come out with a bang.

But we went out there
and had a really good match.

[banging on floor]

[crowd cheering]

[bell clanging]

- It was the dark match,
but doesn't matter.

All my people that I really
wanted to see it got to see it.

It let my friends know
that I had made it.

It's meant more to me
than anything.

[dramatic music]

- I can see that we are
just about out of time.

Do not let this unique
opportunity pass you by.

So many tremendous matches
on the way

that will include the exciting
double main event.

- Well, the last couple minutes
before WrestleMania,

everything goes silent.

It is so peaceful,
and you know that

all hell is gonna break loose.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
I'd like to let you know,

at this time, we are one minute
from going on coast-to-coast

on pay-per-view and around
the world with WrestleMania IX!

[crowd cheering]

- This was the opportunity
to go out

and be larger than life
in every aspect...

- We're 30 out now, 30 out.

And when it goes to black,
you come to us.

- This is the event.

It's like being at a movie.

[tape clattering]

- I'm seeing a lot of
this stuff for the first time

since we were there.

And I'm not kidding,

I can actually feel
being there.

I can feel the heat,
the anxiety before the show

began, and all the work
that you've done that day,

all the work that
you've done that month,

all the work that you've done,
you know,

on the road to WrestleMania,

and I remember that feeling.

- This is the countdown to X.
And six...

- Feeling anxious.
Oh, my God, here we go.

We're live.
- Three, two, one.

- Roll X and track it.
- And we're...

- Welcome to Caesars Palace!

Welcome to WrestleMania IX
and the largest toga party

in the world!

I could get used to this.

There'll be a lot of firsts
here in WrestleMania IX,

and here's one of them.

Latest addition to the WWE
broadcast team, Jim Ross.

- Thanks very much,
Gorilla Monsoon.

Indeed, it will be a day of
firsts, ladies and gentlemen.

My very first WrestleMania.

- It was Jim Ross'
first day in the company

doing play-by-play

in a toga.

And no, it wasn't a rib.

- First time that yours truly,
from the great state

of Oklahoma, has ever been
in a toga myself.

This is quite
an impressive outfit.

I did WrestleMania IX in '93.

I had never broadcast
an event outdoors before.

How do you think this is
for pressure?

You've got your dream job.

You worked 19 years
to get there,

and your first assignment
is live, outdoors.

Sun glare on your monitor,
where you couldn't see

the monitor, and it's
only this little event

called WrestleMania,

and you're wearing a toga.

Good luck.

It is indeed the world's
largest toga party.

What a day we're gonna have.

- Every year, one of
the discussions we have is,

what's the set gonna
look like for WrestleMania?

WrestleMania IX is the
first year that WrestleMania

has a specific look.

- May I present
Caesar and Cleopatra!

[crowd cheering]

- Ladies and gentlemen,
our opening ceremonies

here at WrestleMania IX

will certainly be
a memorable one.

- WrestleMania IX looked
completely different

not only from
any other WrestleMania

but from any other show
that WWE had ever done

and, quite frankly,
has done since.

- As you can see,
Caesars Palace transformed

into the Roman Colosseum.

- You need one second of
footage from WrestleMania IX,

and you know exactly
what show that came from.

- It was the first
WrestleMania

that felt like
it had a vibe to it,

like, that whole
Caesars Palace vibe.

You know, you see
the pageantry of Las Vegas.

- Two wide, please.

Four, stay with the elephant
for the coming-up shot.

- Everything's
larger than life.

It was really cool.

- Llama!
Llama.

- Llama, center.

- Macho Man Randy Savage!

- What an ovation
for the one and only

Macho Man Randy Savage.

- Next thing you know,
you see Macho Man coming out,

and he's being fed grapes.

- Grape action there.

- Anybody that was involved
in this was part of the show.

- Take four.

- What a spectacle.

- Wide crowd on five, please.
Ready one. Take one.

Ready two.
- Camel, let's go!

- We had
all these animals here,

and we're kind of picking
who's gonna--

who's going to ride what.

[upbeat music]

- Stop this now.
Will you stop it?

- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Here he comes on the camel.

He's holding on for dear life.

- Come on, stop this camel!

- That was just so funny.
Only Bobby, right?

Very cool idea.

Whoever came up with that
was genius.

- Instead of riding it
out forward,

Bobby spun himself around
and rode backward,

holding on for dear life,

because he just thought
that was funnier.

- He is literally shaking
in his sandals.

- Bobby,
knowing the more humiliated

he looked, the more over
he was going to be,

and he sold it big-time.

Even getting a shot
of the tighty-blueys

he was wearing that day.

- Bobby Heenan, what happened?

- What happened?
I don't know.

They put this huge animal
underneath me...

- By the time
we got to the event,

I'm now in crowd management.

All of the Caesars VIPs
weren't there.

Dan Reichartz,
a German gentleman,

very persnickety,
starts jawing at me

pretty hard saying,
our VIPs aren't here.

We need to start over,
and--

[laughs]
Now, I know the ridiculousness

of this thinking,

but I got no idea
what to say other than,

well, let me work on it.

* *

I'll work on it,
but let's get your people

in here right away.

* *

I don't know that I ever
even mentioned it to anybody.

I just disappeared.

- What are you making?
- Shawn Michaels' jacket.

- OK, why is it so late
coming together?

- [laughs]

Because I couldn't fit him
until this morning.

- Julie Youngberg,
who always did my gear,

but WrestleMania IX
was one of my favorites.

- Yep.

- It's the biggest show
of the year.

Anytime you can look different,

that you can stand out,
you take advantage of that.

You know, that gear was
so pivotal to my career

and to my character.

Looked like the coolest dude
in the room.

Just was perfect for the time.

- Michaels, a very talented
competitor, quite obviously.

He's the
intercontinental champion.

- Tatanka was always
great to work with.

We're starting out the show.
That's a coveted spot.

Sets the tone for everything
going forward.

[dramatic music]

- Taking a chance,
and what better place

to do it than Las Vegas,
where gambling is legal?

What a match.

- And Tatanka climbing up top.
Oh, my God!

- What a kick!

- I'd managed to make it
to WrestleMania,

but I can promise you,
this was the show

that then had me looking
at wanting to be a guy

that was main-eventing
WrestleMania

and winning the world
championship at WrestleMania.

- Well, Shawn Michaels
retains the championship

in an extremely
hard-fought kickoff

here at WrestleMania IX.

- WrestleMania IX had
a little bit of everything.

You had Bob Backlund
taking on Razor Ramon.

- Whoa!

- The old guard taking on
the new guard.

- And it's Ramon,
inside cradle.

He's got him locked out!

- There's the three count.
- He beat him!

He beat the wrestler
with wrestling, the bad guy.

- And then you had
a pretty good tag team matchup

with the Headshrinkers taking
on the Steiner Brothers.

- The whole world is focusing
on WrestleMania IX.

This match means
so much to the Steiners

and to the Headshrinkers.

- We wasn't nervous.

We're excited...

- Oh, headbutt!

- Let me tell you something,
the Steiner Brothers

is gonna be
their biggest challenge

so far in the WWE.

The Headshrinkers
are unbelievable.

- We're part
of something that--

that him and I had worked
our whole lives to accomplish,

and this was
our opportunity to shine

and show people what we can do
and actually have a stage,

one of the biggest stages
you could ever be on.

- Here we go.

- The beginning of the end
right here.

- Bye-bye, Steiners.

- Then here we are.
Here we go.

- Oh!
- Look at that!

- He caught it in midair!

- What an amazing move!

- What a physical tag team war!

A hard-fought victory
for those two brothers.

- I enjoyed the Headshrinkers
versus the Steiner Brothers.

There was some good matches
on the show

that people don't really
talk about much.

I even enjoyed
the Crush and Doink match.

- Get out of here, man.

- [laughs]

Ah, get that camera off me.

- People don't realize
this Doink versus Crush story

had been told immaculately.

Doink the Clown
showing up in the crowd,

nobody knowing who he was.

There were pranks.
There was brutal violence.

- Did you see that?

Broke his arm off!

- [grunts]

- Hitting Crush
with that fake arm.

This clown wrestler
was going to have

to answer for the tricks
that he was playing.

- After WrestleMania IX,

Crush may be seeing
double vision.

- But the thought was that
once this got in the ring,

Doink didn't have a prayer.

- Crush has been very dominant
here in this contest thus far.

- But Doink
will have something.

He's got a trick up his sleeve.

- The clown--wait a minute.
Wait a minute.

- Oh, no.
- What's going on here?

Oh, another one!

- I remember my dad watching
WrestleMania with me.

My dad, not a wrestling fan.

And another Doink pops out
from under the ring,

and I just hear behind me,
that's great!

Because who saw it coming?

And then when the two Doinks

start doing
the mirror image...

- Remember what Doink said
about double vision?

This is one of the greatest
tricks I've ever seen.

- It's still, to this day,
one of the truly brilliant

pro wrestling finishes ever,
and I will go to my grave

arguing that point.

- A couple of wild fans
over here.

Look at this.
Where are you guys from?

[together]
Southern California.

- And how'd you get out here?
- Oh, we drove out on a Harley.

He was in the sidecar.
- No, he was in the sidecar.

- All right.
Stand up, guys.

Where'd you get the togas?
Come on.

- Motel 6.
- Motel 6 down the--

- Are you gonna
bring them back?

- We tore them off the bed.
No, no.

I'm giving mine to Lex Luger.

- We are wild.
We are in the seats.

All right, all right.

- Of course, one of
the matches that everybody

wanted to see was
the return of Hulk Hogan

and the Mega-Maniacs.

[tense music]

- I was full of stitches,
so you could push my cheek

and it was like baby powder.

You know, I said you had--

you gotta be careful
with my face.

And of course,
Mr. Titanium over here,

you know,
he's got face problems too.

He had that big mask made.

That really was
to protect him,

even though
it looks really cool.

- The storyline being
that the damage to my face,

we were gonna use this
to protect me

because we knew they were
gonna go for my face

and blah, blah, blah.
This is...

[tapping mask]

Rigid and hard.

Not easy to wear
on your face and stuff.

So it added some spice
to the whole, you know.

Yeah, it was so clumsy.

I felt--I felt really weird
wearing it.

Yeah.
Yeah.

- We gonna kick some ass!

We gonna kick some ass!
We gonna kick some ass!

- Hulk, you need
your ass kicked.

- We gonna kick some ass!

- I'm recovering
from a horrible accident,

and he just had a bad accident.

- We gonna kick some ass!
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- He wasn't really sure
how he was gonna feel

when he got in the ring.

The main thing was just,
let's get through this match

without either one of us dying.

- Jesus, can't believe
I got hit in the face

24 hours ago by that Jet Ski.

That's crazy.

If you get that energy
locked in, man,

you can just feel
what they want, you know?

Just--you can feel the vibe.

And, you know,
it kind of, like,

gave me my confidence back.

[upbeat rock music playing]

[crowd cheering]

- Listen to this.

- This place
is gonna go nuts.

- A standing ovation for
the return of Hulk Hogan!

Look at his face.

Hogan's face has been damaged.

- I saw Hulk Hogan
with a black eye,

and I'm like, what the heck
happened to him?

- Had to be a cheap shot.

- I think it was Randy Savage
that did it,

but I can't prove it.

[chuckles]

- Well, obviously,
he got himself a boo-boo.

- Probably a whole lot more
to the story.

- He knows who's behind it.

- We heard Hulk Hogan
got into a little accident

coming out of the gym
last night.

That's what money can do.

It goes with the storyline,
right?

It just enhances the story
that we gave Hogan a black eye.

- The visual was pretty crazy,
if you really

got a good look at my eye.

But I knew Brutus' gimmick
was over,

I knew my stuff worked,

and we were in there
with two of the best pros

in the business.

- And Hulk Hogan...
- Ring the bell.

[bell clangs]

- You can see right there...

- Brutus was the guy
who was gonna take our

punching and kicking
and what have you.

- They're working over
Beefcake right away.

- We protected him.

- Hurt his hand.
Tried to go for the face.

- I could carry the match
a little more, you know,

keep him on the side there
and bring him in,

let him do the easy stuff.

- And there's a tag.

- Let's see
what he's gonna do.

I don't think he can
see out of that eye.

That eye is swollen shut.

- I just couldn't see
out of it.

It made it really hard
with depth perception,

especially throwing a punch.

I didn't realize
with just one eye,

I couldn't judge distance.

- Would you say that
Hulkamania is running wild?

- I don't work tag matches.

I was like Stevie Wonder
on a surfboard, man.

I was like--

- Uh-oh, DiBiase from behind.
- Oh!

- Referee down.

- Mike and I,
we made a good tag team,

and, you know,
everything went as planned.

- He's using that--
- He's got the titanium thing!

- I had one of my jackets done
like a referee shirt.

The referee was knocked out,

so I took my jacket off,
turned it inside out,

put the shirt on.
- No, no, no, no, no.

- A striped jacket,
like he's the referee.

- One, two, three!
- That doesn't count.

That doesn't count.

- Counting one, two, three!

It was kind of a cute finish
for everything,

and after all,
it is entertainment.

- How can you just make
the rules up as you go?

- Without a referee's license,

Jimmy Hart declares Hulk Hogan
and Brutus Beefcake

the winners of this match.

- Here comes another official.
- I'm not sure about this.

- But Money Inc.
still ended up retaining

the tag team championships.

- The winner of this bout as
a result of a disqualification

and still World Wrestling
Entertainment

tag team champions,

Money Incorporated!

- And then they had
to reverse the decision

so that Money Inc.
won the match.

- What's Jimmy doing now?

- He's telling the Mega-Maniacs
not to level Danny Davis.

- Who wanted to keep--
- Oh, he wanted to do it.

- Awesome!

- Jimmy Hart threw
the referee over the top.

- We made it through the match
and everybody was still OK.

You know, I'm very excited
about that, just--

just to have made it through.

- That's Money Incorporated's
briefcase.

- That is--
that's not their property.

- I'd like to know
what's in that.

- So after the match,
Hulk Hogan opens up

the briefcase
and finds all this money.

- Cash!
Cold hard cash.

- The Million Dollar Man's
money!

- On this beautiful windy day,
that money could go everywhere!

- They're not
trying to keep it.

That's what I thought.

- Hogan is giving
the money away!

- I can't believe it!

- The money that Hulk Hogan was
throwing around was real money.

- They were grabbing me,
trying to get

the money out of my hands.

And I just went...
[blows raspberry]

And threw it up in the air.

- Everybody's a winner
at Caesars Palace.

- I was in the fourth row.
I actually did get a $5 bill.

There was $20s
and there was $100s in there.

I only got a $5 bill.

- What a pair.

- When I was laying
in the hospital

trying to just survive,
and I never had

an idea that I was gonna be
one of the main events

in WrestleMania.

- Double struts
in all their glory!

- It was nice to have
that last match with him,

because I didn't know
if we'd ever have another one.

- Well, it was
my last WWE match.

I was grateful that I actually
got to go out on top,

so to speak.

Pretty great moment, you know.

- It was great.
It all worked out.

They were so great together
on everything.

- Well, plenty of exciting
and unexpected things

happening here
at this WrestleMania IX,

and you can be sure
there'll be plenty more.

- And then when I get
in the back, Hogan goes,

look, I might be doing
something else tonight too.

[dramatic music]

- During the event,
somebody said,

hey, Vince wants to see you,
and I went backstage,

and in the middle
of WrestleMania IX,

Vince says to me,
go up to the main cage.

He said, get $25,000
in $20s and $50s

because I want to give it
to the boys

to go out and play
at all the tables.

We'll give Caesars
a real benefit of 30,

40 guys out
all over the casino.

So I went, and our CFO
was a guy named Doug Sages.

And I said,
Doug, come with me.

And we went up,
I took an empty briefcase,

signed out $25,000,
put it all in, counted it up.

When you walk
right in Caesars,

they had this famous pit

where all
the craps tables were.

So we're walking back
from the main cage, and I--

I'm a gambler.

And I said to Doug Sages,
Doug, take $12,500.

Put it on the pass line.

We win, we get $6,000 each,
nothing.

If we lose, we got
another $12,500 to get even.

He grabbed that briefcase
from me,

and he ran through Caesars.

I couldn't catch up to him
till we got to the back.

Now, I was only kidding,
I think.

- The Narcissist, Lex Luger!

- So we're used to gauging
what we're doing in the ring

just by the crowd noise,
the constant crowd,

and the roar of the crowd
all the time.

It's weird because
the noise escapes upward.

That part was
a little unusual,

a little different.

It was windier when
I got out there to the ring.

There's my hair blowing.

Look at the pyro.

It's almost blowing
completely perpendicular.

Those poor girls,
because they were getting

all of that pyro
blowing on them.

- Showgirls,
they're all holding mirrors

and they're smiling,
and he's looking up,

and he's flexing,

and now all the pyro
is going off.

The presentation
was just incredible.

- I loved the entrance,

and then working with
Curt Hennig, oh, my gosh.

- A man that does it all,
well, perfectly, Mr. Perfect.

- Curt's, like,
one of the greatest workers

in the ring ever.

So I'm like, man,
they handpicked me a good one.

I got, like, a night off.

I thought
I'd be really nervous,

but I was so not nervous,

but Curt, he was either
over-caffeinated or something.

- The Lexer--
the Lexercist--Lar--

- The Narcissist, Lex Luger.

- I'm gonna go do it
right now.

I've had it.
I'm so excited.

It's WrestleMania.
Watch what happens.

[crowd cheering]

- He's more experienced,
so he's gonna just

lead us through the match.

- I don't know
if I've ever seen

a more gifted all-round athlete
than that young man there.

- You're right.
Lex Luger is something else.

- Curt's known
for being a ribber.

We lock up, he goes,
what are we doing?

What are we doing?
What are we doing?

What are we doing?
I'm like, oh, come on, Curt.

- Collar and elbow.
Tie him.

- I'm serious.
What are we doing?

What are we doing?

I go, you don't know
what we're doing?

He goes, no.

I thought at first
he was ribbing me

on the first couple lockups,
but he actually

completely blanked out.

Oh, damn it!

I learned a lesson there.

Always be prepared in case
you have to lead the match,

because we botched
a couple of spots.

- Irish whip, far side.

Oh!
- Oh!

- Something's wrong here.

I'm trying to lead Curt
through a match?

But Curt's so good,
it still turned out OK.

- Oh, he caught him!

He caught him with that--
that big forearm, that elbow.

- He is out cold!

- And now Perfect
is motionless.

He has been knocked out.

- Perfect is hot.
He's mad.

And ordinarily,
you'd see it cut off

as soon as you see him
storm backstage.

Oh, what happened?
I don't know.

- Yes,
we're gonna stay right here.

- Stay with Mr. Perfect, man.
He's hot.

- To have the camera
follow him back there

was just groundbreaking.

- I was, like,
pausing my VHS tape,

trying to just take in
every detail

of what was going on behind
the scenes at WWE at the time,

because you just
never saw that view.

- Walking outside here--
- There he is.

- There's Luger
with Shawn Michaels.

- Cameras are everywhere.

Mr. Perfect and I got into
a scuffle in the backstage.

- Shawn Michaels from behind.

- Intercontinental champion
with a cheap shot.

- It is the normal now,
but it was new for us then.

It was a different atmosphere.

[bell tolling]

- Let's see this.

- Yeah, this is gonna be
something.

- The Undertaker!

[ominous music]

- I've worked really hard
to make people believe

in the supernatural powers
of this character.

I'm concerned about
what this vulture

is gonna do at any given time.

- Look at the vulture!
Look at the vulture!

- It was much calmer
in the live show

with all the people there
than it was at rehearsal.

The bird did all right.

He didn't crap on me
or knock my hat off.

Yeah, the vulture is still
kind of flipping out.

If there's ever
a more appropriate time

to have a vulture, it was--

it was for this match.

It's one of the rare times
where I'm standing there

and my head is cocked
all the way back trying to,

you know,
have a face-to-face with him.

There's not many times
I was ever

in that position in my career.

- Look at this for
a stare-down, or a stare-up.

- That was probably
the highlight of that match.

- There are days
the Undertaker

still won't speak to me

because I put him
in the ring...

[laughs]
With, you know, the Giant.

- Once you got to match time,

you were very limited
in what you could do.

- It was a hard job
for 'Taker to lead that guy.

- He took up a lot
of real estate.

He had trouble with bumping
and falling.

- Well, it's relatively quick.

It seemed much longer.

- He's smothering
the Undertaker!

- What's that smell?
What's that smell?

- It's chloroform!

- Everybody,
it's stinking up the--

- Oh, what a stench!

Referee's calling
for the bell here.

- Everybody can smell it.
- Oh.

- The match ends with
the Undertaking winning

but by disqualification.

It's almost as if,
like, for a second,

the streak
may not have existed.

- The Undertaker
being carted out of here.

- Kind of one of those
matches made in heaven.

Or hell.
[laughs]

This one particularly,
probably hell.

- Well, you can still
smell the stench--

what's that?
- That's the Undertaker.

- Oh, no!
- Wait a minute!

Here he comes!
Here he comes!

Gonzalez can't believe it!

- Now we have to try
and make chicken salad

out of chicken crap.

And that was what I was doing.

- The Undertaker rocks
the Giant Gonzalez

with right hands.

- The moment
that you really take away

is when the Undertaker
is still able to get up

and stand tall.

- And he takes
the big man down!

- He's down!

- Gonzalez down!

- It gives me chills,
and not for a good reason.

- Give me the gimmick here.

- I was watching
my cousin there,

and I know he was
getting in his zone.

He was main event
against Bret Hart.

He was a person that welcomed
that type of responsibility.

Because when
you're the main event,

all eyes on him.

- The oddsmakers
here in Vegas have Yokozuna

as the heavy favorite,
we are told.

- Wanted to prove that he can
go with the best of them.

- We must point out,
it has been tough

for Bret Hart.
He's giving away 271 pounds.

- Vincent told me that I would
be a champion for long-term.

My position was rock solid,
or at least I thought it was,

and so all I thought about

was how I was
gonna wrestle Yokozuna.

- I just left the WWE
champion's dressing room,

Bret "The Hitman" Hart,
and the one thought

I want to leave him with
was that all the Hulkamaniacs

and Hulk Hogan
are in his corner.

[dramatic music]

- Oh, my gosh.

I'm standing there with--

I feel like I got
a big knife in my back

and that I've been cut short
by politics.

Tried to be a good soldier
that day

and just do
what I was told.

- That belt means so much
to Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

- Never felt more betrayed
by Vince McMahon

than I did that day.

- Listen to this ovation.
The WWE champion.

- I actually went
to the ring that day

to give Yoko the best match
of his career.

- The excellence of execution.
Running dropkick.

Takes the big man
back into the corner.

- I put a lot of thought
into our match.

- And a martial arts kick!

- I was just off of ringside

for the championship match

between Bret Hart
and Yokozuna.

I never sat down.

The talent that they have,
you put them up against

the best athletes
in the world.

- And he bulldogs!
Yokozuna down.

- With a guy like Yoko,

you can tire him out
pretty quick.

- Every split second
that goes by

is precious to the Hitman.

- When a guy like Yokozuna
runs out of gas,

he runs out of gas,

and he went into the ending
prematurely.

And all of a sudden
Yoko goes into the ending,

and I'm putting him
in a sharpshooter.

- Bret Hart's got
the sharpshooter on Yokozuna.

- Mr. Fuji isn't ready.

It took forever,
and I'm, like, holding Yoko.

- He's been in the sharpshooter
right now longer than anyone.

- Fuji, what's he doing?
- Oh, man.

- He threw something
right in his eyes,

and the referee could not see--

- The ref did not see that.

- Yokozuna hooks the leg!

- Oh, we got a new champion!

- Yokozuna has won the title!

- We've got a new champion!

- I was so proud.

You know, my cousin
loved the industry,

and he wanted to be
the best at it.

And then I think
that's when Hogan came out.

- Here comes the Hulkster!

Here comes Hulk Hogan!

- I was just backstage and
saw him going down to the ring.

- Everybody's going,
like, what?

[dramatic music]

- Fuji threw something
right in Hart's eyes.

Yokozuna took advantage of it.

- So Yokozuna,
with the help of Mr. Fuji,

cheats to beat Bret.

And then all of a sudden,

here's Hogan
to right the wrong.

- Hulk Hogan here.

- Fuji grabbed the mic.

He challenged me.

- My Yokozuna
issue you a challenge.

- Now you're gonna just
give Hulk a shot right here?

- The champion wants
to challenge Hulk Hogan

after the champion
has just won the title

by main-eventing WrestleMania.

OK.

- Mr. Fuji
has said that they will

put the WWE title on the line
right now against the Hulkster.

- I'm waving Hulk on
and telling him to go in there

and win the title for me.

- Bret was holding his eyes,
and he was saying,

Get in there.
Get in the ring.

- Bret Hart's telling Hulk
to go for it!

He said, go for it, big man!

- So with Bret's approval,
the fans getting behind Bret,

I rolled in there and...

- Hulk Hogan's in the ring!
- Ding, ding!

- Jumped me right away.

He's going for the salt,
throwing the salt.

- Salt or whatever.

Oh, right in the eyes
of Yokozuna!

Hogan knocks Fuji down.

Hogan with a clothesline,
and down goes Yokozuna.

Hogan drops the leg.

Hogan to the cover.
- No!

- Hooks him in.

Hulk Hogan won the title!

- I cannot believe this!

- Like I had predicted,
Hogan came to WrestleMania

and won the title,
although I never thought

it would happen that way.

* *

- Got a ton of heat
from everybody.

I mean,
Macho Man was very upset.

[as Macho Man]
Why don't you give him

the tag belts
while you're at it?

Why don't you give him
the whole show?

[normally]
So...[laughs] Whatever.

- There was definitely some
eyebrows raised in the back

because nobody knew
that was gonna take place.

It was just kind of like--
like, really?

- Hulk comes back in and wins--
wrestled for two minutes

and wins the belt.

It's kind of a, you know,
slap in the face, really.

- That was the time when
we all felt like we were going

to be moving on into this
new generation of people,

and Hogan came back,
and obviously Bret

was very upset that day

and was, you know,
discussing with a lot of us,

you know,
his displeasure in that,

and of course, we were--
we were in agreement with him.

- There was heat in
the dressing room with Hogan

and a lot of the boys,

but, you know,
business is business.

- Rubbed a lot of people
the wrong way.

I see both sides of it.

I see the draw power
of a Hulk Hogan,

but I also see the side
of the guys that are

working to be
the next Hulk Hogan.

Coming in
and winning the title

right out of the get-go
was just like, oof, OK.

[inhales sharply]
Politics.

[chuckles]

I'm sure there was quite a bit
of politicking going on.

* *

- I found out
on a Friday night.

When I went to Vince's room
on Friday,

I got the whole ending.

Hogan's gonna come out.

And I remember I was like,
Hogan's gonna come out?

Vince might as well have
hit me over the head

with a sledgehammer
when he told me,

because it went
against everything

he'd told me up to that day.

I said, are you doing this
because I wasn't good enough?

He said, no, it's just
a change in direction,

which I didn't accept
as a very good answer.

- Oh, I knew ahead of time.

I told Vince, I said,
look, if I'm coming back

for this tag match,
let's do something different.

Vince had already
talked to me

about passing the torch,
you know?

He talked to me about
passing it to Yokozuna,

and the plan was
to get him over and,

the very next pay-per-view,
drop the belt back to him,

and Bret got
very upset about that.

- I was misled
in a lot of ways,

because I was
under the impression

that they were really happy
with everything I was doing

and that everything
was full steam ahead,

and it wasn't.

- Hogan knocks Fuji down.

Hogan with a clothesline,
and down goes Yokozuna.

Hogan drops the leg.

Hogan to the cover.
- No!

[crowd cheering]

- Like, no one saw that coming.

You could never see
that ending coming.

- Hulk Hogan has won the title
for the fifth time!

What a startling--

- It is something to be said

for endings
that you never expect.

- Never before in the WWE
has a WWE title changed hands

two times in one night,
and it is deafening

here at Caesars Palace.

- Today's audience would say
it's a holy shit moment.

- People are going crazy!

- There were a lot of people
that were very happy

that Hulk won
the title that night.

- What did you enjoy the most?
- Hulk Hogan winning the belt.

- Hulk Hogan
winning his title back.

Yeah!
Whoo!

- Hulkamania is alive
and well and running wild.

- Hogan is the champion!
- Unbelievable!

- I cannot believe this!

- To get that reception,
it was amazing.

Gave a good vibe
to the end of that 'Mania.

- My best friend Vladimir,
interviewing him

after WrestleMania IX,
he was just in heaven.

- Hulk Hogan was the most
exciting match tonight!

I'm glad he won the belt.
He's number one!

- I would have preferred
Bret Hart.

- Should we go ahead?

Can we ask this gentleman
right here?

- Yeah.

- Well, right now,
I don't think so.

We got to do
something special.

Hang on, OK?
[button clicks]

- See that right there?

That's Nick Khan,
president of WWE.

- Thank you, everyone,
very much for coming today.

- He was an usher
working the event

in 1993, 30 years ago.

- From being an usher
to being the CEO.

He's running
the whole damn show.

[chuckles]

- It just shows that, you know,
the American dream

is something that's alive.

Nick Khan was a Hulkamaniac.
That's great, man.

I love that.

- [laughs]

That's crazy.

From that green Caesars shirt
to a tailored suit.

Nick was built
to do big events.

He was built for big moments.

That's great.
[laughs] That's so good.

- Thank you, everyone,
for getting together today.

It's important that Paul
and I have an opportunity

to always speak with you
directly about the progress

that you are making,
you being the company

and the integral members
of the company.

- Being here at WWE
and where I am right now

and looking back
over the years,

you're, like, blessed.

You feel special that you've
been able to be part of this.

- Just being a fixture,
that's a big deal.

- Things that I'm most
proud of for this company

is that nothing stops us
from doing our thing.

Always know the context
and where you're at.

We may not hit a home run
every time,

but we get pretty damn close.

- Seeing a lot of this stuff
for the first time.

I'm fortunate enough
to be here 30 years later.

It just brings me back, man,
and it's kind of--

it's a little bit
emotional, man.

We're talking 30 years,
so yeah.

[projector clicks]

- Oh, the fireworks going off!

- WrestleMania IX was the peak

of my personal responsibility

and involvement
around WrestleMania.

I didn't want it to end.

- What a day it has been!

Thanks for being with us,
and so long, everybody!

- Once we went to black
at the end of WrestleMania,

I was looking forward
to the next one.

- To have been maybe even
a small part of that

is something that
we look back on

and say, hey, that was great.

- I was very proud
walking away

at the end of the night
thinking, damn it, we did it.

- This is absolutely
top-notch entertainment.

It doesn't get any better
than this.

- Yeah!

- Vegas wasn't
the big celebration

that I expected it to be.

I was robbed.

But from my standpoint,
it was a fun event.

I wish I could have been a fan
going to that event.

It's a spectacle.

This is a show that
we want people to think about

for a long time.

- WrestleMania IX,
have a good time!

[camel grunts]

- Jesus!

- Oh, I want a box of doughnuts
for Christmas.

- I want some Twinkies.

- This is the making
of WrestleMania.

- It is so amazing
to have this time capsule...

- Of WWE in a position
where they're trying

to figure out who they are.

- Welcome to WrestleMania IX!

- What I think that show
showed everybody

is that there are no limits
to what this company can do.

- [screams]

- That was our showcase.

- It was awesome
to be a part of it.

- When you do something
like that,

then it's expected
to be a spectacle.

- Unbelievable!
What a night!

- It is the greatest
live event

in all of entertainment.

It is an event that has turned
into a worldwide phenomenon.

- This was really
the first step

towards sensationalizing WWE.

- You don't evolve
without taking chances

and doing different things,

and that's what
WrestleMania IX was.

It laid the building blocks.

We don't get to 41
without what we did at IX.

- It is deafening
here at Caesars Palace!

[dramatic music]

* *

- I appreciate everybody
coming out to WrestleMania.

* *

Can't believe this
is the fifth time for me.

* *

Had a great time tonight,

and I'd like to thank
Caesars Palace.

That's pretty cool.

- I knew from the moment
I walked into the casino

here at Caesars,
mirrors everywhere...

Hair is pretty good
for after the match.

- Rolled the dice
for about 25 minutes.

One guy won 45 grand
at the table.

I was just rolling the dice.
I didn't even know how to play.

- So many of the OGs in this.
My goodness.

- Everybody around me went,
that's Perfect.

- Now, where's all the sushis
you guys ate, man?

- Hey, you ate all the sushi.
- You ate them all.

- [laughs]

- Thank you, Gene.

Stick to your day job,
if you would.

What does George Clooney have
that I don't have?

- Seeing Shawn
and all of us at that time,

it was a fun time.

- Ah!

- How you doing, camera?

- Got it! Yeah!

- I've never seen
any of that footage,

so thank you
for sharing that with me.

That is really cool.

- You guys are...
[retches]

[sparse applause]

- Fabulous.