WrestleMania 7 is one of the strangest shows for WWE on the biggest stage. The company made multiple drastic changes during WrestleMania season by changing the entire landscape. Ultimate Warrior dropped the WWE Championship to Sgt. Slaughter at the Royal Rumble 1991 event almost a year after he won the title from Hulk Hogan, with
WWE now wanting to go with the story of Hogan facing the now heel Slaughter after he turned his back on the United States. Warrior losing the title that close to WrestleMania was a bold move as he shifted into a semi-main event feud with Randy Savage. The show was fine, but it could have been so much better. WWE not booking the big Hogan vs Warrior rematch was a huge missed opportunity.
Warrior’s Title Reign Was Ultimately Wasted
The Ultimate Warrior winning the WWE Championship from Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6 was a defining moment for wrestling fans of the Golden Era. No one had beaten Hogan cleanly in WWE since he became the face of the company until then. Warrior gaining strong momentum as a face and getting more cheers led to WWE booking the ultimate dream match.
The idea of two top faces having a match was rare at the time, but Warrior received the crowning moment wrestlers dreamed of at the time. WWE however lost a lot of confidence in Warrior when he failed to match the success of Hogan in the top spot. The decision to take the WWE Championship off of him wasn’t bad, but the timing was a huge mistake.
Warrior dropping the belt to Sgt. Slaughter made less sense since fans never viewed Slaughter at that top level. Slaughter did get heat with the anti-American promos, but it was a forced heel turn done to rush the story before WrestleMania 7. Warrior losing the belt in a quick program without much interest was the worst possible way to take the belt off him.
Hogan Never Got His Win Back From Warrior
Hulk Hogan's run as the top star of WWE saw him scoring victories over just about everyone he faced. Roddy Piper refused to get pinned by him, but WWE still booked tag matches where Hogan would gain the winning pin over his partner to win the feud. Ultimate Warrior remained the one wrestler Hogan never got his win back from despite passing him to once again become the face of the company.
The loss clearly was something that impacted Hogan enough to want his win back since WCW booked the rematch over seven years later. Warrior specifically came in for a one-shot feud with Hogan and took the loss before Eric Bischoff stopped booking him. Hogan’s ego has been accused of growing to the detriment of the WWE program, but this was a win he should have had.
Warrior losing the title never saw him winning it again in WWE. The company lost all confidence in Warrior representing them in that top spot. Hogan should have been the one to take the title off him since the ultimate plan was to make Hulk the WWE Champion again. The story made more sense for Hogan’s character to beat Warrior than rushing a feud with Slaughter.
A Rematch Would've Had Huge Box Office Appeal
Even though the Ultimate Warrior didn’t have a great run as WWE Champion, he was still one of the biggest stars for WWE. Warrior had enough fan support to make his semi-main event with Randy Savage a huge deal at WrestleMania 7. The star power of Hulk Hogan vs Warrior created a spectacle at WrestleMania 6 that helped build the stage of what the show became. WWE punting on the rematch left too much money on the table.
An argument can be made that their first match was the most important in WWE history at the time it took place. The hype for a rematch would have seen the audience badly wanting to witness it one more time. Warrior had the momentum of being the new hot act in the first match, but Hogan would have had more fan support heading into the rematch.
WWE wanting Hogan to win back the WWE Championship would have set this up perfectly for potentially the biggest title win of his career. Everyone knew that Hogan was going to beat Sgt. Slaughter, but Warrior being a face and having a clean victory over Hulk could have added doubt heading into the rematch. Most importantly, the interest would have led to greater box office success for Hogan vs Warrior 2 main eventing WrestleMania 7.