Modern wrestling fans have a tendency to complain. They complain about poor stories, an over-reliance on athleticism in comparison to storytelling, the inability to truly work a crowd in favor of popping them with high spots, as well as other issues pertaining to most wrestling promotions in 2022. If the modern wrestling fan were to watch WrestleMania 9 live in 1993, they may well have exploded. WrestleMania 9 was the first time when Vince McMahon went for style over substance, a theme that has unfortunately begotten WrestleMania in recent times with the need for it to be gimmicked. The matches didn't feel particularly special, even the World Title bout between Yokozuna and Bret Hart was a short and deflating match that didn't get either of them over, and while the Hogan run-in popped the crowd, it simply did not make sense outside of Hogan must pose logic. Yet the Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales truly stands out as being the worst of the worst, it also put a red mark on the Undertaker's Streak long, by winning via DQ - still a victory, but one WWE has quietly tried to erase from the Undertaker's canon.

Undertaker And Gonzalez's Feud Highlighted Both Performers' Weaknesses

Without wanting to pile on Giant Gonzales, who by all accounts was a very kind man, he was not the most gifted wrestler in terms of ability or presence. His lack of ability could be forgiven when the fact he was 8-foot was taken into account, at that height being able to work a match is more of a bonus than a necessity. What was unforgivable, however, was the lack of menace and threat, every move he performed looked stilted and stifled, a wrestler does not need to work stiff to be seen as menacing, but it certainly helps if the moves look a little snug compared to barely touching the opponent. Alongside this was the ridiculous gear that Gonzales was forced to wear, at 8-foot, it must be very difficult to have any real muscularity, yet the bodysuit just made him look ridiculous.

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It has been established that Gonzales was not good many times by his peers, what is not spoken about as much is how limited The Undertaker was for much of his early career. Until that feud with Mankind in 1996, The Undertaker was, despite the gimmick, quite a traditional territory big-man heel, he did not sell, and could not be hurt. This didn't make for a particularly entertaining watch from a work rate perspective, and then trying to have someone who works in that way lead Gonzales through a match was frankly a criminal offense on the part of McMahon aiming for spectacle over any semblance of quality.

via wwe.com
via wwe.com

The Match Was Bad, The Ending Was Worse

Sometimes the best thing you can say about a match is that it was short, and coming in at just under 8 minutes, Gonzales vs Undertaker was short, but when a 7:30 minute match feels like 20 minutes, there is real trouble. It isn't as if nothing happened in the match, both 'Taker and Gonzales really do try to make something of it and work around Gonzales' limitations, they just struggle to do so. What really pushes the match as one of WrestleMania's worst has to be the ending, the actual match's reputation is probably worse than the match itself (it might even be worth a recommendation sheerly out of morbid curiosity) but the ending puts it into irredeemable territory. A chloroform rag is used to knock the Undertaker out and claim a DQ victory, it was as silly as sounds and is up there with a cattle prod to Goldberg in flat-out bad endings that made it to major shows. How anyone thought this was an ideal way to set up the return bout boggles the mind, why anyone thought after watching this they should do the return bout at SummerSlam boggles the mind even more.

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giant gonzales

WrestleMania 9 was a bad event, 'Taker vs Gonzales was the bad match at the bad event and its reputation as the worst WrestleMania match has stuck with it ever since. This may be slightly unfair to the match, it isn't so bad that it becomes offensive (in the same mold as Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole), but from a pure wrestling standpoint, there is nothing to see here except an 8-foot man wearing a bodysuit with abs. It's a match that WWE has accepted as having happened, but they don't look back on it kindly, and with all due respect, why should they? It truly is one of the worst offerings WrestleMania has provided.