WrestleMania IX: Лас-Вегастағы Төрттік Партия және Чемпионаттар Күресі

1993 World Wrestling Federation pay per view event

WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay per view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The event took place on April 4, 1993, at Caesars Palace in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. It was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors. WrestleMania IX was built around two main storylines. The first was the seemingly unstoppable Yokozuna challenging Bret Hart for the WWF Championship in the main event, a right he earned by winning the 1993 Royal Rumble. The other major storyline was the return of Hulk Hogan, who had departed the WWF following WrestleMania VIII but returned to team with Brutus Beefcake against the WWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster). Hogan and Beefcake lost the tag team match, but Hogan later faced Yokozuna for the title in an impromptu, unadvertised 22 second match after Yokozuna defeated Hart to win the championship. In addition, Shawn Michaels retained the Intercontinental Championship, though he lost his match against Tatanka. The event has been panned by critics and fans alike. The most frequent criticism has been related to the match between The Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez, Hulk Hogan's title win, and the Roman togas worn by announcers. Both the pay per view buyrate and the attendance for the event dropped from the previous year's WrestleMania.

WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship pay per view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It is held annually between mid March to mid April. It was the first of the WWF's original four pay per views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were eventually dubbed the "Big Four". WrestleMania IX was scheduled to be held on April 4, 1993, at Caesars Palace in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. Because WrestleMania IX was held in Caesars Palace, the WWF promoted the event as the "World's Largest Toga Party". The arena was made to look like a Roman coliseum, and the event featured guards, trumpeters, and several live animals. The company built on this theme by having the commentators, including debuting announcer Jim Ross, wear togas. Ring announcer Howard Finkel was also renamed "Finkus Maximus" for the day. Randy Savage came to the broadcast booth accompanied by women throwing flower petals and feeding him grapes while he rode on a couch carried by guards. Bobby Heenan made his entrance wearing a toga and riding a camel backwards. Hulk Hogan's visibly damaged eye was explained in the storyline as the result of Ted DiBiase hiring a group of men to attack Hogan before the match. In reality, the cause of injury has been open to debate. One theory is that Randy Savage punched Hogan because he believed that his ex wife Elizabeth Hulette had an affair with Hogan while Savage and Hulette were married (the couple divorced in September 1992). WWF officials claimed that the injury was the result of a jet ski accident.

The event was attended by 16,891 fans, who paid a total of $1,100,000 in admission fees. The pay per view drew a 2.3 buyrate, which was lower than the previous year's 2.8 buyrate. It was higher, however, than the buyrates for any of the following four WrestleManias. WrestleMania IX received overwhelmingly negative reviews. The event has received criticism for what some reviewers have perceived as a poorly booked event. Writing for SLAM! Wrestling, John Powell states that, aside from the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championship matches and the scantily clad women that accompanied Lex Luger to the ring, the rest of the broadcast was poor. He is also critical of some of the outfits worn for the event, notably Jim Ross's toga and Giant Gonzalez's spray painted suit. RD Reynolds, owner of the website WrestleCrap, has inducted the event into the site's list of "the very worst in pro wrestling". He cites Giant Gonzalez, Papa Shango, Luger's "narcissist" gimmick, and Jim Ross wearing a toga as his reasons for including the event in the list. Matt Anoa'i, who wrestled for WWE as Rosey, and was the brother of Roman Reigns, cousin of Yokozuna, Samu and Fatu, has identified The Headshrinkers performing a double splash on Scott Steiner at this event as his favorite moment at WrestleMania. WrestleMania IX was released on VHS by Coliseum Video. It was then released as part of the WWF's WrestleMania: The Collection (1985–1997) box set in 1997. The video was re released six years later in March 1999. That month, it was also released as part of the WWF's WrestleMania: The Legacy box set. It was also released on DVD for WWE's History of WrestleMania I IX box set on September 14, 2004. In the United Kingdom, the event was released on VHS on July 5, 1993. Packaged together with WrestleMania X, it was released on DVD for the WWE Tagged Classics series on May 8, 2006.

A feud began between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect after WrestleMania IX as a result of Michaels attacking Perfect. They faced each other at SummerSlam 1993, and Michaels won by countout after his new bodyguard, Diesel attacked Perfect. Perfect then feuded with Diesel until leaving the WWF. Money Inc. won the belts back in a rematch on June 16, but the Steiners won them again three days later. Money Inc. received several rematches but were unable to regain the title; they soon focused on singles competition, and DiBiase retired at the end of August. The Undertaker continued to feud with Harvey Wippleman. On the June 12, 1993, episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Wippleman, Giant Gonzalez, and Mr. Hughes attacked The Undertaker, and his manager Paul Bearer, and stole the urn that was said to be the source of his power. Bret Hart later claimed that during a conversation with Vince McMahon, he was told that Hulk Hogan refused to drop the WWF Championship to him. However, Hulk Hogan stated that, during a conversation with Vince McMahon, a deal was made for Hogan to drop the belt to the top heel at the time, Yokozuna, at the following King of The Ring. All three men eventually wound up in a meeting, where McMahon outlined the plan to have Hogan drop the belt to Yokozuna and denied telling Bret that Hogan refused to drop the championship to him. After regaining the title, Yokozuna challenged any American athlete to bodyslam him on the deck of the USS Intrepid on July 4, 1993. After many challengers failed, Lex Luger arrived by helicopter and bodyslammed Yokozuna. Luger became a fan favorite and changed his gimmick to an American patriot. He faced Yokozuna for the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1993; he won the match by count out but did not win the title. Lex Luger and Bret Hart each earned a title match against Yokozuna the following year at WrestleMania X. Luger was disqualified in his match, but Hart won the championship later that night. 32 years after WrestleMania IX, the event will once again be held in the city, with the 41st edition taking place at the Allegiant Stadium on April 19 and 20, 2025.