As much as wrestling fans give WCW in the year 2000 a lot of flack, the WWF in 1995 was just as bad. The federation wanted to trotted out cartoonish-type "characters" during this time as fans decided to tune out, because of this. The wrestling was also suffering due to the fact that the culture was changing and wrestling fans needed a change. WCW was starting to pick up stream during this time as former WWF talent was joining that company and the WWF was doing desperate measures to coincide that. WrestleMania 11 is an obvious example of this.
WrestleMania 11 brought all the stars like Pamela Anderson, who the WWF promoted to be at this event since the Royal Rumble that year. She was probably paid handsomely for that also. Jenny McCarthy, the middle kid from the show Home Improvement, John Turturro's brother from NYPD Blue, Salt N' Pepa and of course, NFL players coming to support Lawrence Taylor in his match.
The event was held at the Hartford Civic Center and there, right off the bat is the location of this WrestleMania. The previous year, WrestleMania X was held at MSG and the crowd was lit, the wrestling was spectacular and is considered one of the best WrestleManias of all time. Just putting this event in the middle of Connecticut seemed like a step down for the company. And yes, I realize that the company is located in the state, but they could have had better options for the biggest event of the year for the WWF.
The matches were ok, but you really can't pick one and say "I remember this match from this event and it was a wrestling classic". Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title was good, but I think it deserved better. The Bret Hart/Bob Backlund I Quit match was also good, unfortunately, it seemed pretty rushed considering that an "I Quit" match should get the time that it needs to develop. The WWF Championship between Shawn Michaels and Diesel was clearly the match of the night. You could tell both competitors did all they could to produce a top notch match. Sadly, the two valets (Anderson and McCarthy) and the massive media coverage surrounding the ring took the focus off the match. During one instance, Michaels physically pushed a media member to get out of his way. Diesel pinned Michaels to retain the title and continue his long reign
as WWF Champion (358 days to be exact).
The "main event" between Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow was an spectacular with Salt N' Papa singing "Whatta Man" as LT and his fellow NFL brotheren lead him to the ring. I will give LT credit. For a person with very little training, he held his own against Bigelow. He became winded after 5 minutes and showed that even one of the best defensive players in NFL history can be gassed by a physically demanding "sport" as professional wrestling. The WWF went to the narrative of the celebrity with very little experience pinning the competitor who worked most of his life for an opportunity to perform in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. I loathe that type of narrative.
It is considered one of the worst WrestleManias of all-time and maybe, rightfully so. The company's desperate attempt to create attention by bringing TV personalities instead of focusing on the wrestling talent did them in. They had capable people like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker to help the event with their ability to tell a story in the ring. The Undertaker, however, was placed with an clearly over-the-hill King Kong Bundy and that didn't help him. Diesel as champion was considered the worst reigns of all-time, but he was also capable as a performer.
Luckily, the company now does focus on wrestling and cuts back on the celebrities when it comes to WrestleMania.
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