The main event of WrestleMania 9 has gone down in infamy among WWE fans. The bout saw Bret Hart defending the WWE Championship against the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble match, Yokozuna.
Towards the end of the match, The Excellence of Execution was able to knock the mammoth challenger off his feet and somehow lock in the Sharpshooter. However, Yokozuna’s manager, Mr. Fuji threw salt into Hart’s eyes. This distracted the champion long enough for the Samoan star to break the hold and get the pinfall victory, much to the dismay of the audience.
However, the night didn’t end there as none other than Hulk Hogan ran to the ring to save Bret Hart from further harm. He then challenged Yokozuna and was granted a match right there and then. Only 22 seconds later, Hogan had claimed the victory and stood tall as the new WWE Champion.
Hulk Hogan’s black eye
One thing that stands out in many people’s memory of the night is that Hulk Hogan was inexplicably sporting a black eye during the event.
Now, the mystery of how he got it has been solved by WWE Hall of Famer and longtime friend of the Hulkster, Brutus Beefcake.
During an interview with WSI – Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Beefcake claimed Hulk Hogan got the injury in a speedboating accident and it was a lot worse than it appeared onscreen.
“I told him [Hogan] do not stand up on it, because you won’t be able to control it,” Brutus said. “So, we’re out there, next thing you know he’s standing up, and big wave hits him, and it actually just throws the wave runner into the air and it spins around, and the waverunner itself cracked him in the skull.
“That was actually fractured, he had broken bones there, and the guy said, the doctor said, he was lucky. He nearly lost his eye. He was knocked out, we had to drag him out of the water, into the hospital and stuff.”
H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the above transcription.