WrestleMania VI

First off, only 67,000 fans were in the Toronto Skydome to see Hogan/Warrior. Secondly, not only wasn't it the largest American crowd, it wasn't even American, as Wrestlemania 6 was in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Regardless, it's still an incredible show, with a few good matches, and an especially hot main event.

This event defined an era of wrestling entertainment that, I believe, is not equaled today. The colorful characters - in their stereotypical garb - brought a certain charm to the show that has since been raped by society and overexposed. Wrestling had a bit of an innocence back then. A kid could watch it without watching an episode of Jerry Springer.

Looking back now (I was 5 at the time), although I loved both Warrior and Hogan, I think I enjoyed Warrior more because of his mystique. Hogan was the branded hero who weilded an impressive public image. The Ultimate Warrior, on the other hand, was a masked man of few words - an out-of-the-limelight hero for a different audience.

This rivalry was so exciting as a kid because of this duality in me duking it out for each combatant. I had a place for both of them. Because there was bloodshed too in this long, heavy battle, the stakes were high - at least to me as a kid. On a similar note, because of Hogan's defeat, this made him more human - I remember feeling kind of sorry for him.

All of these emotions at play in the juvenile boy's soap opera made Wrestlemania VI such a great time to witness this game.

This event ranks right up there with WrestleMania's I, III and X as a truly spectacular event with a brilliant main event and an awesome undercard.

This event took place in April 1990 and for the first time in WrestleMania history two good guys fought for the belt. Hogan and the Warrior battled in an explosive match for over twenty minutes in a match that could have gone either way. Those two guys were sweating at the end of the match. And who can forget the crowd? Just like WrestleMania III where Andre the Giant fought Hogan the crowd cheered like they were crazy. The electricity in the building was amazing as Hogan and the Warrior tore into each other.

If the main event isn't enough for you there were plenty of other great matches such as The Rockers VS The Orient Express, Tito Santana VS The Barbarian, Roddy Piper VS Bad News Brown and many other great matches. My favourite match on the undercard pitted tag team champions Demolition VS The Colossal Connection.

A smashing event!

Usually, the main event of any major wrestling event was "babyface" (good guy) vs. "heel" (bad guy). Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant would be a big example of such a main event. With Wrestlemania VI, however, two incredibly popular wrestlers at the time in Hogan & the Ultimate Warrior put their respective belts on the line in a main event that split the crowd in half in terms of cheering support. Good guy vs good guy!

Of course, an event is not made by its main event alone, and this is a great wrestling card that earns its 5-star rating. I won't go into detail on every match here, but here are some of the highlights:

-Mr. Perfect continuing his great brand of wrestling against Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. -The Hart Foundation taking on The Bolsheviks with some hilarious pre-match comedy featuring Steve Allen. -An interesting semi-heel turn from newly-branded "Macho King" Randy Savage by pairing up with Sensational Sherri instead of the traditional Elizabeth. -Any Big Boss Man match (this time vs. Akeem) is usually pretty entertaining because he is such a great character.

There are no terrible matches in this entire event. They are all entertaining in some facet or another. The commentary from Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse "The Body" Ventura helps set the perfect tone once again.

Then, "Hulk vs. Warrior" blows the lid off! This was one of the most anticipated battles of all- time, and it pretty much lives up to the billing. Neither big man is a particularly talented wrestler, but the hype is just so big and each man plays his part perfectly.

This is the best Wrestlemania in the series so far, just ahead of the tournament from W4.

I was at Wrestlemania VI in Toronto as a 10 year old, and the event I saw then was pretty different from what I saw on the Wrestlemania Collection DVD I just watched. I don't understand how the wwE doesn't have the rights to some of the old music, since most of those songs were created by the WWF they shouldn't have to worry about the licensing and royalty fees that prevent shows like SNL from releasing season sets. Its pretty stupid to whine about, but for me hearing Demolition come out to their theme music at a Wrestlemania in person was a memory that I never forgot, and it didn't exist on this DVD. What is the point of them even owning the rights to this huge library of video if they have to edit it so drastically to use it?