WrestleMania VII was the seventh annual flagship pay-per-view event of the World Wrestling Federation. It was held in Los Angeles, California at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on March 24, 1991. The subtitle for the event was Superstars And Stripes Forever, and is remembered for its theme of American patriotism (American flags were hung all over the arena and the ring apron and banners were colored red, white, and blue), which was the basis for the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Championship. WrestleMania VII is mostly remembered for the emotional reunion between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and his manager, Ms. Elizabeth, which occurred following Savage losing a "Retirement Match" to the Ultimate Warrior.
WrestleMania VII was originally supposed to be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Buildup to WrestleMania VII began during the original pay-per-view broadcast of WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990, with commercials predicting that 100,000 fans would fill up the Coliseum for WrestleMania VII. These commercials ran throughout 1990 and into 1991, but by January 1991, only 16,000 tickets had been sold. With only two months left until the pay-per-view, it was decided to move the event from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the Los Angeles Sports Arena which was right next door. The WWF claimed the reason for the venue change was because a bomb threat had been issued towards the company on the day of WrestleMania VII. The WWF/E has held on to this claim to this very day.
Another story tells of the possibility of an assassination attempt on Sgt. Slaughter due to his Iraqi sympathizer character, as the Gulf War had come to a close only a few weeks prior. The L.A. Sports Arena can only hold about 16,000, so the event was a sellout, although the pay-per-view buyrate was significantly lower than WrestleMania VI's buyrate. Still, the WWF proclaimed WrestleMania VII to be "the most watched pay-per-view of all-time" for a few months following the event.
Match Results
- Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty (The Rockers) defeat The Barbarian and Haku (w/ Bobby Heenan)
Michaels pins Haku with a Flying Crossbody (8.47)
- Texas Tornado defeats Dino Bravo (w/ Jimmy Hart)
Tornado pins Bravo following a Discus Punch (2.47)
- The British Bulldog defeats The Warlord (w/ Slick)
Bulldog pins Warlord with a Running Powerslam (2.29)
- WWF Tag Team Championship - Jerry Saggs and Brian Knobbs (The Nasty Boys) (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeat Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation) (c)
Knobbs pins Neidhart following a Megaphone shot (8.58)
Roberts pins Martel following a DDT (6.11)
- The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) defeats Jimmy Snuka
Undertaker pins Snuka following a Tombstone Piledriver (4.23)
Warrior pins Savage following a Diving Shoulder Block (20.46)
- Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao defeat Crush and Smash (Demolition) (w/ Mr. Fuji)
Tenryu pins Smash following a Powerbomb (3.02)
- Intercontinental Championship - The Big Boss Man (w/ André the Giant) defeats Curt Hennig (w/ Bobby Heenan) (c)
Bossman wins by disqualification following interference from Barbarian and Haku
Earthquake pins Valentine with a Butt Drop (3.16)
- Hawk and Animal (The Legion of Doom) defeat Paul Roma and Hercules Hernandez (Power and Glory)
Hawk pins Roma following a Doomsday Device (0.49)
- Virgil (w/ Roddy Piper) defeats Ted DiBiase
DiBiase is counted out while attacking Piper outside the ring (4.51)
- The Mountie defeats Tito Santana
The Mountie pins Santana after stunning him with a shock stick (1.18)
- WWF Championship - Hulk Hogan defeats Sgt. Slaughter (w/ General Adnan) (c)
Hogan pins Slaughter following a Leg Drop (18.39)
Trivia
- This was André the Giant's final WrestleMania appearance.
- This was the first WrestleMania to not feature Jesse Ventura as a color commentator. Gorilla Monsoon hosted the event with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Whenever Heenan had to manage at ringside, Monsoon was joined on the commentary by "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. In addition, Regis Philbin helped commentate on the main event.