'tis the season - air_raid watches EVERY WrestleMania

[air_raid]

14 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Cab Calloway

A name I’d heard without ever knowing why, and like so many US celebrities on 80s/99s wrestling, I just shrugged and let it pass me by. Like Phoebe mentioning Morley Safer or Soupy Sales on Friends.

[Chili]

An in-depth deep dive of Wrestlemania 2. Man's a psychopath.

[The King Of Swing]

I vaguely remember a poor quality TV recording of WM2, floating around on the internet.

This was years ago so could be remembering wrong but I think the home release of the show was heavily edited.

[AndyUK]

The first half of Wrestlemania 2 is the absolute pits. Gets a bit better as it goes on but definitely one of the weaker Manias.

1 might not look like a great show these days but I quite enjoyed it as a spectacle last time I watched. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

The question is, after watching, are you counting the last match from each venue as a Main Event Of WrestleMania and have therefore been swayed into thinking it also applies to anything at the end of a Night 1?

[Olly1984]

@air_raid preferred reading your cracking write up that watching it pal, also lovely 92 Wallace and Chapman Leeds reference, keep up the good work. Ohh and as for the reference you mentioned was trying to find a " Milky Milky" line or along those lines but got me stumped, well played. 

[air_raid]

15 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

The question is, after watching, are you counting the last match from each venue as a Main Event Of WrestleMania and have therefore been swayed into thinking it also applies to anything at the end of a Night 1?

There are hundreds of matches that have main evented WrestleMania, didn’t you know? IRS has main evented WrestleMania.

EDIT - regulars, you may like to know I have edited my Mania 2 post to include reference to some NON TITLE WHINING concerning the tag title match. Fuck sake, champions weren't even protected in the mid 80s?????

Edited March 18, 2025 by air_raid
Money money money money money, moneeeeyyyyy

[air_raid]

WrestleMania III (1987)

Oooh, shall we have a big one? Comparatively speaking, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was the peak. With an attendance falling (depending on who you believe) somewhere between 78,000 paid and 93,000 in the building, this is one of those iconic shows that better wordsmiths than me routinely fail to do justice to, in terms of how big it was. You may be interested to know that since these glorious days, the site of the demolished Silverdome now hosts an Amazon distribution centre - there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

What was typically going on at house shows in the build-up?
I hope you'll allow me the privilege hereon out of copy/pasting from the Slammy Award Winning thread House Show Happenings, since I've already researched and written it all up once...

Quote

"March the month and the March to WrestleMania III, Hogan's dance card is all about Hercules. Sometimes he's accompanied by Billy Jack, often Herc has Andre with him as well as Bobby Heenan. Sometimes it's non-title, often it's a chain match, sometimes its a handicap match with the Weasel actually in the ring. 1st in St Paul as set up the month before, supported by Piper & JYD vs Adonis & Harley (fuck!), 2nd at the Nassau Coliseum, 6th in Birmingham, 20th in Omaha and a dark match 21st at the Vegas TVs all have Hulk and Herc. The 4th in Indiannapolis its a hadicap against the Brain and Bundy. On the 14th Philadelphia hosts a stop on the Roddy Piper retirement tour as Hogan & Piper go over Kamala and Paul Orndorff. 16th in Denver, its Hogan & The Crusher (really) against Kamala and Honky. Herc doesn't make it to the Rosemont on 19th so Hogan beats Mr Wonderful instead, and then Harley in a dark match on the Phoenix TVs on the 22nd in front of 11,000, and that takes us to Mania.

B and C shows again have a mixed bag. Randy is with the Animal for several shots, there's a few shows where its Steamboat and Steele against Savage and Honky including a decent 9000 sellout in Huntsville on 7th, we have Piper & Tito vs Adonis & Butch Reed on 4th in San Diego and 5th in Albuquerque(though the Harts and Rougeaus go on last), Savage and Honky against Steamboat and the Animal 6th in Providence (7000) and Piper/Jake (sub for JYD) vs Harley & Adonis in Tulsa on the same night, followed by the Harts vs Jake & Hacksaw Duggan(!), there's a repeat of last months eliminator (Piper pinning Savage to survive) 8th in South Bend, IN, and 12th in Syracuse has Ricky, Tito Santana and Billy Jack beating Savage, Bundy and Hercules with former Intercontinental champ Tito standing tall. Next night in Springfield Butch Reed is in for Bundy, the result is the same, then 14th in Baltimore its supposed to be JYD in for Tito but JYD misses it, he's replaced by Koko and HE pins Macho Man to be the sole survivor(!). 15th in Richfield its back to Piper, Steamboat and the Animal over Savage, Harley and Adonis, and fittingly at the early home of Survivor Series as I'm starting to see where they decided this could be a PPV concept. They get to 4 on 4 at the LA Sports Arena on 16th, Blackjack Mulligan subs for JYD and joins Piper, Steamboat and Tito to beat Savage, Race, the Natural and Adorable Adrian. 17th we have Piper/JYD & Jake beating Adonis, Harley & Honky in Waterloo, IA while Savage, Herc and Reed beat Steamboat, Tito and Billy Jack at the Cow Palace. Maybe its fairer to Piper to call some of these "B+" shows rather than C at this point. The next night Steamboats team get revenge in Vancouver, but Piper's got a knock so in Milwaukee so Adonis, Race and Honky lose to Jake, Crusher and Rick Martel, doing double duty after the Can-Ams beat the Dream Team earlier. 19th in Tacoma 6000 come for Steamboat, Tito and Blackjack (in for Piper) against Savage, Adonis and Reed, then the same match headlines Sacramento on 20th for a 11,111 sellout. 

Backtracking, 9th March in Lexington was Piper and Orndorff one on one, 12th in Glens Falls and 13th in Worcester is Piper vs Harley, There's a ton of nights where there are three shows on the same night with no Hulkster anywhere. Some of the "D" shows if we call them such have strong tag team main events, but we've also got a few with Tito vs Butch Reed. Harts vs Bulldogs is the main for several shows including a few through Ontario. There are a couple of big tag team cards which host a tag team tournament with the Harts defending against the winners. 5000 come to the Meadowlands on 8th to see the Can-Ams beat the Dream Team in the final then lose to the Harts with Danny Davis' help, and an 18,000 sell out at the Maple Leaf Gardens see the Killer Bees beat Demolition in that final then do an identical finish with the Harts. Final note on Davis, he can technically say he main evented Berwick High School (PA) on 14th with Koko, although Harts/Bulldogs earlier was the true draw, if you need to name the draw when the WWF runs a high school gym in 1987."

THE OPEN
Welcome to Sunday 29th March 1987! Cheesy sax melody and the logo which splits open to reveal the money shot of the Pontiac Silverdome, and Vince growls his best intro of Aretha Franklin for America The Beautiful, to shots of flags and steel workers… which in McMahonland reminds me of those joke montages of rockets launching and champagne popping. We cut to Gorilla and Jesse (ahh) and their guests Mary Hart and “Mr Baseball” Bob Uecker who like most of you, I only know because of old WWF.  “An unbelievable happening” lets us know we’re really moving, time to go to The Fink.

(1) THE CAN-AM CONNECTION VS MAGNIFICENT MURACO & BOB ORTON JR
Both teams get “already in the ring” introductions, which is good because this is a long show so let’s not waste time. It’s a “tag team contest” - I was always partial to “attraction.” Monsoon and Ventura suggest it’s been a while since they saw each other which is unfathomable to me, I assumed even on days off they’d be calling old matches together on the patio over two dozen or so beers. Ah, the Can-Ams - they’re only the team that Strike Force wish they’d been. This is the first Z-Man match I’ve watched in bloody ages which is absolutely not a reflection on him. Second Mania opener in succession for Muraco and the devious one, Mr Fuji. Gorilla calls Muraco a “tank” as he starts with Rick - you know, whenever Martel bounces around the ring, he’s The Model to me even when he isn’t. Allusions to the Hart Foundation watching on thinking about the winners ; of course, there’s a Battleworld where they, not Strike Force, relieve Bret n Jim. Nice opening exchanges lead to the double reverse monkey flip on Muraco you’ve seen on the Silver Vision montage and a double hip-toss to Muraco. Definitely some sequences here that wouldn’t look out of place in a Rockers match. Gorilla mentions that Bob has “excellence of execution” - so that’s him, DiBiase and Bret that Gino anointed with the fabled quality. But only one brought him to tears. I digress. Zenks legal and at times his movement reminds me a lot of Martels, no wonder they gelled well. The old knee to the back from the apron halts things and there’s a bit of heat until Tom and Bob bang heads and both hit the deck. Beautiful over the shoulders shot of Gorilla and Jesse showing their monitors and view of the ring. Martel and Muraco tag in and there’s all kinds of fun - reverse whips lead to Muraco somehow backdropping his own partner (also from the Silver Vision montage) before he eats a double dropkick and Orton takes a spill to the floor. Crossbody from Martel to Muraco as he trips over a kneeling Zenk is enough for the three - it looks better than it sounds. Jesse complains obviously about the excessive double teaming, JUST LIKE he will of The Rockers. Great fun, perfect opener. Bring 87 we still have old school presentation touches - all four blokes stand around waiting for the bell to ring another time and Fink to confirm the Can-Ams the winners from in the ring. Jesse doesn’t let it go about the refereeing - no shock, it’s Joey Marella, so he’s ribbing his buddy Gino.

Brief video of a recent confrontation between our next two wrestlers then Gorilla sends us back to Mean Gene in the “WrestleMania Interview Centre" - fancy.

(2) BILLY JACK HAYNES VS HERCULES
Interview with the baddies has The Brain insist it’s Billy Jerk, and Herc goes off on one about pulling down the pillars of Rome, and Atlas cowering at his feet. I’m starting to think we might be entering the cartoon era already! Little carts bring the wrestlers down faster than the ones at Mania VI will, and they’re let out by a perm in a Federettes costume. We’re still in the era of far fewer wrestlers having music than those that do. Heel Herc enters second which surprises me - he’s just “Hercules” by now but Gorilla will still call him “Hernandez” a couple of times during the call. These guys are feuding over one of my least favourite holds ever, the full nelson. Even though it features in one of my favourite early Mania matches coming up. Early exchanges have Herc take advantage of Dave Hebner trying to separate them in the corner but Billy Jack fires back with knife-edge chops and a MILITARY PRESS to Herc that he made look easy! Hercules catches Haynes running into the corner with a clothesline that sounds like a shotgun blast - he’s got that spring in his step still from Mania 2 and BJH is far lighter on his feet than I remember, so this is much better than I expected. Herc presses the advantage including a nicely executed suplex and eventually locks the full nelson though - shades of Mania VII - he doesn’t get the fingers locked so Billy Jack escapes then a double clothesline gives them each a few seconds breather. Haynes’ comeback includes the inverted atomic drop, clotheslines, a legdrop and a fistdrop from the middle rope, then he applies the full nelson. Hercules struggles over to the ropes and in a counter I don’t recall, tumbles both of them over to the floor. Billy Jack applies the hold again on the floor and - making him look a bit silly - doesn’t clock Hebner counting them both out. You know, I’ve spent over 30 years thinking I read Herc won by cheating? Huh. The Brain pulls a distraction and Herc gets the fight going back his way, slaps the full nelson on in the ring (fingers locked) then bloodies Haynes by punching him several times with the chain wrapped round his fist. One assumes correctly the finish is indecisive because they’d like you to come to a house show in the hope of seeing the resolution. In 1987 not all the feuds end at WrestleMania, and these two will wrestle chain matches all over the country in the late spring and early summer months. As an appetiser, I was pleasantly surprised.

(3) HILLBILLY JIM, HAITI KID & LITTLE BEAVER VS KING KONG BUNDY, LITTLE TOKYO & LORD LITTLEBROOK
“Mr Baseball” joins the desk for this one. I never bothered reading up how this match came about because frankly I don’t care. Without wishing to sound cruel, Max Mini vs El Torito at Ground Zero is probably the only contribution of little people to the WWFs output I ever remember enjoying and some of their antics in the name of “comedy” have resulted in some of the worst matches in company history, one of which we’ll get to in a couple of weeks time. Blonde perm has been subbed for brunette on buggy duty, they’ll alternate as we go. Jim’s music is again overdubbed but Gorilla exclaims “Don’t go messin with a country boy!” - a recurring theme. At least I can say, with a regular(ish) American accent, a Japanese and an Englishman vs a Native American, a Haitian and a hillbilly, this is possible the most eclectic match we’ll see until the Gimmick Battle Royal. Say whatever you want about Jim, he may have been saddled with a one dimensional character but he used to get around the ring well. Tons of use of “midget” on comms (and by Okerlund earlier) which are left intact, presumably because it wasn’t recognised as a slur at the time of recording. First tag out by Tokyo to Bundy, and Beaver dropkicks Bundy before he leaves as obliged to by the rules - ummm, shouldn’t that technically be a disqualification? He’s a frequent agitant while Jim and Bundy are in the ring prompting Uecker to quip “There’s a lot of Beaver all over this place… inside, outside…” - pretty sure he snuck that one in for the grown ups watching. Rest easy Bob, I only just learn today he only passed away in January at the age of 90 - a good innings, that. Bundy finally's had enough and flattens Beaver for the DQ, Jesse doesn't understand the hypocrisy and neither do I. It's not the last time this afternoon that Ventura and I will be equally aggrieved that the bad guys, actually, have been treated shabbily. Well, I don’t know what the point of that was or what it did for anyone, and it might have been someone’s idea of fun, but it wasn’t mine. In case it’s not clear who I mean… “THATS GOOD SHIT, PAL!”

Backstage, Mary Hart tries to get a word with Liz, asking if she feels trepidation about the match later, and with a mighty "Trepidation is the word!" Randy Savage breezes in and immediately commandeers the interview for himself. It's fantastic, obviously. Back upstairs, we do a brief video package of what's led up to JYD vs "The King"; Monsoon drops a "'Handsome' Harley Race" which I approves of. Dog says "This country ain't never had a king" - is that were teaching in schools in the colonies in the 80s, really? From a TV taping, JYD misappropriates Race's crown and cape and poses in it, prompting Harley and The Brain to take (justifiable) action to recover them. Uecker vacates the desk when he realises Moolah is going to be ringside - he fancies her, is the joke.

(4) LOSER BOWS TO THE WINNER : JUNKYARD DOG VS HARLEY RACE
Harley comes out to the same "King" music that Haku and Duggan will inherit until Macho King will (rightfully) buck the trend and keep his own music which is regal enough, and which Jerry Lawler will end up using for 30 years. Amusingly after Howard Finkel exhausts himself introducing Moolah as both the person that presents the crown to the winner AND the "ladies champion", and manager Bobby, he foregoes giving Race's hometown and weight and just introduces him by name. "Grab Them Cakes, indeed" says Gorilla when JYD comes down. Secret player, Gino? And now my awful brain has the image of Monsoon and Uecker double... let's say "dating" ... Moolah and Mae Young. Anyway. Basic brawling with Harley taking a few daft bumps. Headbutt from the apron to the floor which The King misses, isn't quite as lethal for him as I expect for 86. JYD applies an abdominal stretch and Gorilla is critical, as ever, that the toe isn't round the ankle of the victim. Race escapes with a hiptoss than drops a headbutt to the floored Dog which obviously, is a mistake. More brawling then The Brain distracts Dog just long enough for Harley to get in the belly-to-belly, and Race does actually get the pin but it looks like crap because Dog performs a muted kicked out at 3, its unclear if his shoulders actually get up, and the ref counts regardless. At this point I immediately recognize the ref as the same moron from Bam Bam vs One Man Gang coming up at Mania IV, and it wouldn't shock me if Dog did get his shoulders up. Why do I remember this as being a proper cheating "feet on the ropes" finish? Regardless, Dog bows to Race as contractually obliged then hits him with a chair. Today kids, you're going to learn how to be a sore loser. Jesse points out to Gorilla that if Race did the same "I'd be holding you back" which is a funny image. As the Dog heads out on his little cart having again stolen the crown and cape, they play the "King" music for him anyway and he does the comical wave that all the toys of Liz (Windsor, not Savage) used to do, which is actually quote amusing. Match was nothing.

Backstage interview from the Hulk with Vincent himself, they’re acting like Hogan isn’t just facing up to trying to beat the “unbeaten” Giant (he isn’t) but that he’s in mortal danger. Unlike last years (multiple) interviews Hogans got the full patter down here, mentioning training, prayers and vitamins and ending with “What you gonna do when (bluster bluster bluster) Hulkamania runs wild on you?”

(5) THE ROUGEAU BROTHERS VS THE DREAM TEAM
Jacques & Raymond have their gorgeous sparkly ring jackets even though they aren’t quite Fabuleaux yet. Pre tape airs, I should mention here there’s a curious disconnect between when the interview passes off for being live and when Gorilla makes it explicit “earlier on, Mean Gene” etc. Does it matter? Anyway, Dino Bravo is with Bruti, Hammer and Valiant, Gene asks why the Dream Team even need a third man. Bravo snarls something I don’t understand, so I assume it was French, then Johnny V also grumbles something incoherent, which I assume wasn’t French. Four piece come down (heels enter second again) and Bravo is introduced only by name, he might not be “Canada’s Strongest Man” yet although Gorilla mentions, like always, “former Canadian Heavyweight Champion.” Dino’s another, like Hammer, that got passed around a bit, managed by the pointless Frenchy Martin between Valiant and reuniting with Valentine under the watch of The Mouth. As he admires the sparkly jackets on Bravo and Valentine, Gorilla actually refers to Jesse’s past in the East-West Connection (by name) which is fitting as The Body’s tag partner is up next. This match feels odd to me as Beefcake is better as a babyface and the Rougeaus are miscast as anything other than cheesy heels. Early face advantage but the Can-Ams, Jacques and Ray are not. Tide turns when Raymond misses a turning crossbody from the second buckle (that’s an elimination in an early Survivor Series, IIRC). Nice double team when the soon-to-be Barber presses Rougeau, Valentine drops an elbow to his head off the top, then Beefpiece executes a backbreaker. Brutus accidentally clocks Hammer during a subsequent double team and the future Mountie tags in, on fire. Coup De Grace to Hammer but while the refs ushering out Bruti and Raymond, Bravo sneaks in and gets the drop on Jacques, ref turns around and counts the pin. Not long enough to be boring but nothing special. Valiant, Valentine and Bravo celebrate ringside while visibly chastising Brutus in the ring, protesting his innocence, while Ventura questions what Beefcake’s problem is and calls him an idiot - he’s not wrong there, to be fair. Baddies leave without Bruti, and to my surprise, the match where his impact is best remembered from this show is coming right up.

Video package of Adrian Adonis attacking Hot Rod on various Pipers Pits and Piper destroying the Flower Shop set, pretapes, and today I learn that an era where one’s finish was usually just “the legdrop,” “the big elbow” or “the full nelson,” Adonis’ sleeper was actually nicknamed “Goodnight Irene.” He looks a lot more serious than he did last year and though it goes unmentioned, sports a black eye before the match even starts.

(6) RODDY PIPER VS ADRIAN ADONIS
Not entirely sure why Adrian brings hedge clippers with him, maybe it’s a dig at the condition of Roddys hair. Lest we forget, as well as Hot Rods retirement match (LOL) it’s hair vs hair, the loser will be “shaved clean” according to Fink. Huge response to Piper who jogs down to The Meeting Of The Waters. Always seems strange to me when it isn’t The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie because that’s the one I grew up with him having, and later on in WCW I assumed The Green Hills Of Tyrol was just the result of passing his WWF theme through their emulator. I’m reminded of this quote by someone very wise ; “Despite attempts in old days to rid the country of bagpipers by putting them into battle, these instruments have become accepted as music.” Piper looks very ready before the bell ((thank you, Silver Vision montage). Brawling starts and both end up whipping the other with the belt Piper had concealed behind his back, and Adonis does a trademark crazy turnbuckle spill to the outside. Piper drags Adrian back in and somehow the Mouth gets pulled in too and we get the spot where Rod throws him off the buckle into Adonis (thank you again, Silver Vision montage). Adrian mounts a comeback after a clothesline, then just as Roddy threatens his second wind Jimmy trips Hot Rod and Adorable locks in Irene. Piper looks a beaten man but Adrian, for reasons known only to him, releases before Pipers arm drops a third time. He and Hart start celebrating in the ring and while the ref tries to explain the match isn’t over, Beefcake returns and revives Roddy. Hot Rod clocks Jimmy then avoids a charging Adonis causing him to hit the top rope with the clippers which rebound into his own face, and Hot Rod applies a sleeper of his own. Adrian succumbs pretty quickly, the bell rings, and there’s a good chance you’ve seen the subsequent haircut - while Monsoon notes that Brutus seems to be enjoying the task, he makes no effort to explain why Brutus, a heel in the very last match, would help Piper or his beef with Adonis or Hart. Dear reader, it stems from a six man where Adonis and the Dream Team lost to the Can-Ams and Lanny Poffo (!) in part because Adonis accidentally cut Brutus’ hair, somehow mistaking him for an opponent. Adonis throws a wobbler when he sees his new do - literally, punching the mirror and flailing around the ring. He was a good sport and while I was surprised how early this high profile match was and by the brevity, it was good fun. And thus would he ever be known as Lucas “The Rabbi” Beefpiece Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Future main eventers of both Mania IX AND Starrcade 94.

Brief chit chat from Gorilla, Bob and Mary before cutting to the ring where the heels are already in the ring for the six man tag. For reasons unknown Ventura has made his way to ringside for the Fink to introduce him to the crowd, Monsoon plugs Predator, and Jesse stands with the baddies for the intros. Umm, OK?

(7) TITO SANTANA & THE BRITISH BULLDOGS VS THE HART FOUNDATION & DANNY DAVIS
Fink introduces Danny as just “Danny Davis” but in the pretape that follows, The Mouth coins “Dangerous” as his nickname and also explicitly states he’s the newest member of the Foundation. That would upset some nerds reading that for the first time but hey, it’s canon! Tito, Smithers and cousin Tommy come down as Gorilla blames Davis’ refereeing for both title losses of Santana (to Randy Savage) and the Bulldogs (to the Harts) though I think that does an injustice to the evil cunning of Macho Man.  Monsoon says Savage “literally stole” the ICT from Tito (um, no?) and Danny “literally handed” the belts to the Harts - that ones technically true but later he’ll say Dynamite was “literally knocked into the middle of next week” by Jimmys megaphone. Sorry, the only way Dyno could literally travel to next week would be with a lend of Hulk Hogans time machine. Since I included Savage beating Tito last time out, let's revisit instead the Bulldogs getting screwed. Context - here's the house show match where Dyno does his back, from Hamilton (from about 12:00) ;

Literally the end of the man's greatness. Here's the title switch in its entirety where Dyno can do fook all because he's just had surgery. What I love about this is that Vince wanted them to lose the titles to Sheik & Volkoff but Davey & Dynamite went to bat for Bret & Jim and said they'd only lose them to the Foundation.

Matilda gets ahold of Jimmy and chaos erupts, the fight starts before Rule Britannia finishes or the bell sounds while Jesse oddly stands on the apron. Mary Hart drops some humour on us assuring that her and Jimmy are not related, and while she’d like to be supporting the Hart Foundation, she simply can’t because of their affiliation with Davis. As the ref restores order The Body is shown leaving in a little cart, seemingly dognapping Matilda. I guess now it makes sense? Early going exchanges between Tito and Bret then Davey Boy and Anvil see advantages shift - Dynamite is still firmly labelled “come back too soon” from the big back injury so we’ll see how much or little he does. Hitman vs Smith has Monsoon say over the last few years Bret has improved more than any other wrestler has seen, and that he has “excellence of execution.” Bret misses his flying (as opposed to driving) version of the elbow from the 2nd rope, like he always did, and Davey tags Dyno. Clothesline, snap suplex and falling headbutt all go down but it’s not Dyno at his dynamic best and soon he’s double teamed for the heat, including Jim & Brets version of the decapitation elbow. Davis tags in, stomps Kid once then tags out again, drawing Pontiac’s ire. Minutes later he’ll do the same, kicking Dynamite twice before making good his exit. Eventually, overconfident, he’ll attempt a slingshot splash from outside the ring in (!) and meet only the knees of Dynamite, who tags in Chico. He goes nuts on the bent ref, Bob Uecker actually sounds like an enthusiastic fan exclaiming “He’s waited a year for this!” Tito ABSOLUTELY CLEARS OUT Davis with the version of the flying firearm where he’s whipped him into the opposite ropes and it looks fantastic, I swear someone could get that over as a finish today. Anvil breaks up the pin, the last IC champ tags in David Boy to administer his own revenge on Danny. The pride of Golborne ANNIHILATES Davis with the best tombstone you'll see this side of 94, but decides being bizarre is more important than going for the pin. He hits his vertical suplex, then an absolute vintage version of the running powerslam (thank you, Silver Vision montage) but Anvil again breaks up the pin ; HE is then wiped out by the Flying Jalopeno and all six are in the ring. The ref struggles to keep calm, and Dangerous clocks Davey Boy with the megaphone for the naughty win. I mean, technically the heels won because they cheated but root cause, they won because oor Davey was too stupid to go for the pin when Davis would completely done. After The Fink gives the official word in the ring and the heels scarper, Uecker says what we’re all thinking, that the babyfaces might have won off the piledriver but didn’t go for the pin. It's been a while since I saw this match and while I remember it being good, fuck my eye - I was not ready for how much I enjoyed that. State of the art, constant motion, told a story, lovely stuff. Probably a given considering the majority of it was Harts vs Bulldogs but... yeah, fantastic. The most I've enjoyed a match so far during this project. Will I still say that by the end of this post though??

Backstage interview where The Brain matter-of-factly tells The Hulk that it’s over for him, that Andre’s never been beaten in 15 years (twaddle) and Hogans never wrestled anyone as (superlatives) as him (more twaddle). Andre just stands there staring menacingly. Look, I know they had a PPV to sell, but there’s still going to have been enough fans all over their circuit with long enough memories to say “Hey, I saw that match” from their run in 1980. Timing wise, it’s like if Mox returned to WWE today and they acted like he’d never wrestled Cody or Punk. Anyway.

(8) KOKO B WARE VS BUTCH REED
“The Natural” is introduced first, I always thought he got a raw deal in the WWF. Let’s myth bust - it’s been claimed he was supposed to win the ICT from Ricky Steamboat before Honky got the nod, but that’s been refuted by both Bruce Prichard and Ricky himself. It’s even bigger bullshit that Butchi didn’t win the belt because he no-showed Buffalo that day, because they filmed a backstage celebration with heels and Honky including Reed, so he was 100% in the building. Whoever came up with that (Honky himself?) is talking out of his arse. They announce Butch as just 255lbs here which I have a hard time buying, he’s a tank. Koko comes out to his first theme which isn’t Piledriver because that hasn’t been released yet. I’m reminded of a conversation with sometimes-keffer tsve during Mania 21 when I suggested Shelton might have an outside chance in MITB, and he remarked “Don’t be stupid, black men aren’t allowed to win at WrestleMania.” I referred to this very match, and he said “That’s even worse ; brother vs brother for whitey’s entertainment.” Of course in the years since we’ve learned that WWE isn’t racist. Not at all. Ahem. Jesse says he thinks Frankie would make good soup - I don't know what to say! I don’t have high hopes going in because I already know they were given about 3 minutes to tell the story. Big strong Butch getting backed into the ropes by Koko then complaining about a hair pull is funny, I’ll give them that. Koko is wearing a single Michael Jackson glove - wonder if this is where Hot Rod borrows the idea coming up later. Big dropkick soon after sends Reed outside (thank you, Silver Vision Montage). Brawling gets Reed the advantage, during this match we learn by his own admission Gorilla adopted “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades” from Mean Gene. Koko gets back on top reversing a whip into the corner and hitting a hip toss, moments later The Natural rolls through on a crossbody (the Bret/Ted finish from Survivors 90) and grabs the tights for the pin. Nothing particularly wrong with it but now I’ve seen it once, I never need to again. After the match Tito Santana comes out and attacks Slick to make amends for some unsubstantiated grievance and strips the clothes from him - not content with being the biggest loser of the early Manias he's also exposing himself as a total busybody. Keep in your own lane, Tito.

We get a video package of the history between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat. Axe handle from the top with Ricky draped on the guardrail (thank you Silver Vision montage) where Steamboat starts selling breathing difficulties (a bit comically, for me) plus the now iconic ring bell from the top rope, plus Steamboat's return which is punctuated with George "The Animal" Steele (ugh) kidnapping Liz. Sometimes, when I remember this match as being one of the best ever, I forget that its tainted by George's involvement. Fairly restrained pre-tape for Savage's standards ; "History beckons for the Macho Man!" Indeed, Randy, indeed. 

(9) ICHT : RANDY SAVAGE VS RICKY STEAMBOAT
HERE WE FUCKING GO. Champion out first? Not for me, Clive. Good pop for Elizabeth's introduction, probably already inevitable that the pair will get turned babyface - apparently he even got smattering of cheers wrestling Hogan on the road. Good lord. Monsoon again mentions Randy "literally stole the Intercontinental title" from Tito and Ventura, like myself, is fed up of the whining. There's mention of the near 14 month duration of Randy's title reign - I always find it weird that they started talking up Honky as the greatest champ of all time quite a way out from hitting the 454 at which Warrior terminated it, despite it coming not long after Savage managed 414. Pedro Morales had managed 425 between regaining it from and losing it back to the Magnificent one, which is even more forgotten. Ho hum. Pre-tape with the challenger, Okerlund mentions it could be his last chance. Ricky's promo is, let's be fair, crap. His "menacing" voice is rather silly. "This Dragon is breathing fire! This Dragon will scorch your back!" Umm.... why back? Never mind. Of course, in both recap and match intro, the incredible “Sirius” is dubbed over with video game music. It’s always sad rewatching old wrestling where they haven’t paid for rebroadcast rights, especially harkening back to Mania I where you can see actual Cyndi Lauper on screen but not hear her song. Mind you, it’s not a first - there’s literally a film called Girls Just Wanna Have fun where Cyndi even makes an uncredited cameo, but they couldn’t work out rights for the song, so somebody else’s version plays. Incredible.

Here's a Honky vs Dragon rematch from MSG if you'd like to remind yourself what an entrance with Sirius was like :

...plus Honky's old theme, which we'll get to.

Early lock up and Savage jumps out to move Liz round the corner away from The Animal. Steamboat gets an early advantage with one of his trademark armdrags and a double handed choke lift, Macho Man escapes again to the floor then catches the challenger coming back in, after Monsoon reminds us a count-out doesn’t help the Dragon and “he wants the strap” - possibly the only time I’ve heard a title called a “strap” out loud by anyone but my mate Chris in the last 30 years. He holds the advantage briefly including an early 1 count (don’t get enough of those these days) before Ricky comes back with arm work, during which Gorilla and Jesse again imply that it might be Steamers last shot - at the time, this might have given away that, perhaps, he’s winning? Dragon runs into a back elbow and Randy throws him outside, when he tries to get back in Savage elbows him in the throat, brings him back in with a snapmare over the rope then drops his distinctive kneedrop. Ricky fires back with more brawling and knife-edge chops during watch Savage gets tangled in the ropes - Jesse questions if Ricky is a sportsman for not letting Randy get free, humourously. The Dragon fires back with a crossbody for not-that-close 2 and shoulder blocks, but gets cut off again via a knee to the back, attempts to counter being thrown out again by skinning the cat but no longer is he back on his feet than he's clotheslined over and out. Maybe that's where Shawn and Sid got the spot from? Ventura has a laugh at Steele - “There’s The Animal, Rhodes Scholar that he is, bound to give him some good advice.” Knee in the back knocks Ricky clear over the timekeeper table, over the rail and into the crowd. Back in the ring, instead of counting, the late Dave Hebner ticks off Savage with rather OTT gesticulation - clearly it ran in the family. Steele pulls The Dragon back over the rail and hauls him into the ring which renders the Body irate - “I’ve already counted to 20.” I’m with Jesse here, George’s involvement is making me slightly wish Randy was going to defy the odds and win - bastard he may be, but at least he’s fighting his own battle. Undeterred, the champ throws Steamboat out on the other side, which amuses me. Savage goes up top for the axe handle to the floor which Monsoon insists “if he hits this, forget about it” - really? - which he does, as Jesse implores him to repeat the “larynx crushing” like before. Champ throws the challenger back inside and hits another double axe handle from the top giving Ricky rubber legs, then a running elbow to the crown of the head takes him off his feet and Macho covers for 2. He follows up with more two counts from the running “Macho neck snap” as it came to be known, an atomic drop (!) and a suplex, but he still can’t slay The Dragon. Steamboat tries to answer with strikes but there’s not much behind them and Randy gets another 2 off a gutwrench suplex. Latest comeback attempt by Steamboat looks thwarted when he puts his head down off a whip and gets kicked in the face, but Savage comes charging in and is sent absolutely sailing over the top rope by a terrifying backdrop to the floor.

The Dragon follows him out, throws him back in and strikes with a chop off the top that for him to hit he has to vault clear over Hebner ; he gets a 2 count when Randy puts his foot on the ropes and Dave pats Ricky on the back to let him know - fans with the wrestlers between them and the ref think he’s counted 3 and pop accordingly! Ricky doesn’t let up and gets another 2 off double knife-edges to a running Savage then drops a series of chops as Macho Man tries to get up, before Randy eventually rolls out for a respite. When he tries to catch Ricky on the way back in again, Dragon foils him with a sunset flip from the apron for 2 - NOT neglecting to get his legs up over the arms as many do today. Savage swings wildly and then falls victim to rapid nearfalls off a schoolboy, jacknife pin and small package. Steamboat hits a body slam, slingshot to the buckles then scoops Randys legs for (in truth) about a 1.5 count. Savage swipes at the ref in desperation, the challenger takes advantage with an O’Conner roll which Randy reverses with a handful of tights but Rickys too strong and kicks out. Savage stays desperate and pulls Ricky into the corner by his tights but they’ve messed up the distance a bit so Steamboat has to take an extra step before launching himself shoulder first into the ring post. An Irish whip attempt changes direction and is double reversed so The Dragon clatters into Hebner. Shenanigans! Macho Man follows up with a clothesline then goes up top for the big elbow (thank you Silver Vision montage) and has a clear and obvious three count for the taking, but there’s no refbot. Randy goes outside and retrieves the bell from a startled timekeeper and heads back up. The Animal grabs the bell out of his hands and Macho kicks George in the head, which I always felt was justified and a little fun. Savage recovers the bell and clambers back up, but as Hebner stirs, Steele pushes Macho Man off the top and he takes an ugly fall to the canvas. Back up and selling the back, Randy tries to press the advantage while it’s still his and goes for a bodyslam but Ricky holds on and rolls through - called a small package by Gorilla, somewhat generously - and gets the three count to lift the IC(H)T. Jesse immediately complains about “miscarriage of justice” and describes the interference as “flagrant” at least three times and I’m with him on both counts. The new champ looks fucking knackered but every bit the triumphant gladiator as he raises the loveliest version of the IC belt. Liz is crying, Finks so caught up he forgets “Heavyweight” and just declares “the winner of this contest, and NEW Intercontinental Champion” to be the Dragon. Heavyweight made it a mouthful, though nothing compared to later years of “the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship” - no bloody need. 5 for 9. Obvious fucking belter, for years one of the best matches in company history. Meltzer gave it 4 1/2 and I think that’s about where I land too. I don’t give much credit to anyone’s ratings but if we incorporate Dave’s idea that 5 makes a match essentially perfect, then no, I wouldn’t call it that, because the story they told wasn’t. The “good guy” had help more than once, Randy barely achieved any successful cheating (excluding tight pulling) and had his opponent clearly and cleanly pinned off his finish.  Jesse hammers the point home by saying the Dragon should “cut that belt in half” and give half to Steele. Quite.  If you were wondering, the 30 year old reference to "strap" I was thinking of was when Shawn and Diesel promised ahead of the September 95 In Your House "triple header" match, that the two "dudes with attitudes" were about to become "two cats with four straps." Which they did, for a few hours.

Gorilla confusingly states we’re heading to Gene with “Alice Cooper and Jake “the Snake” Robert’s and friends” - not sure what friends Monsoon is expecting, perhaps he’s had a few too many crêmes de menthe. They replay Honky Tonk Man bonking Jake over the head with (unintentionally) a non-gimmicked guitar on The Snake Pit and it’s a hard watch, armed with that knowledge. Jake isn’t quite his menacing best yet but there’s still a gravitas when he warns our Honky “When you take a shot at a man like me, you better make that shot count, and you didn’t” because he’s still walking. Alice says he’s going to be Jimmy Harts nightmare and “this is my hometown, and the hometown of heavy metal.” Technically wrong on both counts, Pontiac technically not being Detroit Rock City. Mind you if we’re going by last years appearance by Ozzy, the hometown of heavy metal is Manchester. As we prepare for the next bout Monsoon pulls out “the greatest wrestling extravaganza of all time” because that’s who he is, in reference to the ICHT match Jesse says he doesn’t think he’s seen a better match in “my 11 or 12 years” then puts it to Gorilla if he has in his “50 years in wrestling” which caught me off guard completely, but Gino either doesn’t catch or no-sells the insult and just agrees with the quality of match, adding “You’ll never see a better match if you live to be 100.” Company rhetoric about this being the best match of all time, starting before the PPV has even concluded, surprises me a little. But call a spade a spade - it was FUCKING good.

(10) JAKE THE SNAKE VS HONKY TONK MAN
Still being where we are in time, Jake still doesn’t have Snake Bit. Heels out second not for the first time, Honkys original theme “That’s Alright Honky Tonk Mama” playing. Why play off one big name if you can rip off two, I guess. They cut back to ringside before he finishes waffling in his pretape, that’s funny. Gorilla is bemused that Jimmy Hart is introduced as “Colonel” which I always liked as a little twist for when it was Honky he was seconding. Jake attacks Honk before the bell, keen for revenge. Included in an opening salvo that sends Honky to the floor is a big kneelift and I worry for the rest of the match because Jake only has 2 moves left! The Body is upset The Snake didn’t give Honky Tonk chance to take off his “Elvis suit” which I find jarring because my recollection of Honkys homage was that while it was bloody obvious who he was meant to be, they never explicitly mentioned Presley by name. Ho-hum. Slam on the floor by Roberts and it’s getting pretty heavy for 87! Back in the ring Honky retailiates but absorbs another jab flurry and the short arm clothesline (1!) but wary of the DDT Honky Tonk escapes to the floor. Reversing a whip into the ring post turns the tide in his favour then Jake goes into the guard rail. Fistdrop from the second buckle in the ring keeps up the pressure but Honky draws criticism from both our friends in the booth for not going for the Shake Rattle N Roll - when he finally does, Jake backdrops his way to an escape (thank you, Silver Vision montage). Honky does mounted punches in the corner but absorbs an inverted atomic drop for the second true switch in momentum. Second backdrop sends Honky flying and he gets caught in a “rocking chair” motion swinging between the ropes off Jake’s punches. Jake closes in for the DDT but to the refs blindside The Mouth of The South grabs at everyones legs. Jake gets distracted and a schoolboy holding the ropes gets Honky the tainted win. Alice dives in during the melee and Honky decides discretion is the better part of valour escaping before the Damian shenanigans but returning just in time to stop our favourite python having Hart “for dinner” according to Monsoon. I enjoyed that more than I expected, I didn’t think their styles would mesh but it was meant to be a grudge match, and played like one. As an aside I’d have loved to have lived through the world finding out the band Alice Cooper was no longer the band but just the main bloke, he was “Alice Cooper” now. Although there’s an argument that’s basically what happened to Guns N Roses (chortle).

Mean Gene is introduced to claim a “world indoor attendance record” of 93,173 which Ventura alludes to the WWF beating the “Rolling Stones in New Orleans” - that one being 87,500 at the Superdome in December 81. Gorilla agrees that it’s a “happening” and with the benefit of hindsight that word feels more and more like a Vinceism. Stupendous. Of course, if the real paid number of 78,000 is true after all, I guess Hulkamania wasn’t the strongest force in the universe, it was Mick Jagger. Jesse asks if that number includes the two of them and demands a recount if it doesn’t ; not the last time he’ll use a variant on that joke before we’re done. Moving swiftly on.

(11) THE KILLER BEES VS IRON SHEIK & NIKOLAI VOLKOFF
At long last we get to the Fink announcing “a tag team attraction” though I don’t know how attractive it is. Heels out first and I had completely forgotten Slick had managed Sheik & Volkoff before The Bolsheviks formed - checking the dates, that means if the Bulldogs hadn’t stood their ground about only losing the belts to Bret & Jimmy, the Doctor of Style would have had managing the tag champs once on his c.v. instead of being driven to a drinking problem downing shots with Mr Fuji and Harvey Whippleman every night over why they each thought Warload was going to lead them to glory. Still, at least each of them landed on their feet eventually. Fuji found Yokozuna, Harv became the only wrestler in history to be both a regular referee AND hold the Women’s title, and Slick… umm… joined the church and managed Kamala to the same heights he had Warload, Roma, Zhukov et al. Volkoff starts singing the Soviet anthem but out marches Hacksaw Duggan (ew) looking the least himself he ever will on a WWF PPV with black trousers and vest and a bandana, clearing the ring with his 2x4. Gorilla says he’s promised Volkoff will never sing again, which looking how things worked out in the long run, you’d have to say, it’s one war the stars n stripes didn’t win. Duggan gets on the mic and yells some jingoistic nonsense about “The land of the free and home of the brave” and gives the crowd a thumbs up (thank You, Silver Vision montage). As he stays at ringside for the match Monsoon amuses me by thinking the audience members are yelling “Yooooo.” Jesse asks what rights Duggan has to be ringside for the match, Gorilla has no problem with him keeping an eye on Slick which is some major hypocrisy which we will expose in a later edition - that also invokes Duggan funnily enough. The baddies attack before the bell but they don’t hold advantage for long. The Bees take the lead with a double hiptoss and we get some archaic moves like the Tango/bellringer or that horrible tease of a piledriver but you just do a camp little jump instead - Can-Ams it ain’t - though right as Monsoon is talking up Brunzell has having the best dropkick on the planet he nails an absolute peach of one to a good pop. With another shot of Duggan, the “armed guard according to Gino, Jesse asks why Jack Tunney would allow Duggan to be ringside. This is the first mention of On-The-Take Tunney I’ve caught in these early WrestleManias and it’s very much welcome. Jumpin’ Jim gets caught and double teamed, including a mercifully short bear hug by Volkoff it’s a fairly generic heel beatdown apart from a gutwrench suplex from Sheiky Baby. They do the old “ref misses the tag” spot (when was the last time you saw that?) and the official ushers Blair out of the ring just as Sheik applies the Camel Clutch to Brunzell. Duggans had enough - though of what, it’s not entirely clear - and slides into the ring then in full view of the ref belts Sheik across the back with the 2x4 for a clear and obvious disqualification. Another spell on the mic for Hacksaw and he leads a USA chant - the Bees coming across as bit of an afterthought here, they didn’t even get a comeback before the finish. Ventura says “Jack Tunney should fine and suspend this maniac” and can you really argue with him? He doesn’t know why the Bees are patting Duggan on the back and neither do I. Gorilla says he was saving Brunzell because it was clearly curtains for him in the grip of the Clutch but doesn’t really explain why losing the purse by DQ is any better than by submission. Let’s make it clear - I hated Duggan at first sight and we’ll get to why when we hit a later Mania, but I’m pretty happy that if THIS had been my first Silver Vision borrow, I’d have hated him just the same. Fucking busybody, stuck his nose into somebody else's match right from the off, interfered just for shits and giggles, cost the Bees the match. He's not hard, he just carries a plank. Would you mind fucking off? Match did nothing for anyone, and while it was too short to be considered "bad," you'll forget it immediately apart from Brunzell's dropkick and Duggan ruining it. Cunt.

For reasons unknown we have to cut to Mean Gene with Andre & Bobby again before the main event. Andre is again straightforward and not the snarling beast he could be, The Brain is himself and asks Hogan “Are you ready?” - I bet he is. Little video package next, recapping the build (some of you will know some of it from the Mania IV tape) starting from Andre congratulating Hulk right after beating Sheiky baby up to Hogan accepting the challenge - I think it’s been lost to mists of time what an instigator Ventura was in the situation. Hogans interview with Gene is, if I can be a cynic, very typical Hogan - he refers to “the big nasty Giant” and it could be any of his “monster of the month” matches on the horizon, there’s fuck all allusions to how he feels about losing a friend, it’s just another baddie. He refers to another 90,000 (?) Hulkamaniacs trapped on the interstate outside Pontiac and asks “What are they gonna think when (bluster bluster bluster) and the whole world shakes at my feet?!?” Well, that’s different. I do like in these olden days shows there are more references to the “World Heavyweight Champion(ship)” as it seemed more of an effort to aggrandise the status of it than simply “World Wrestling Federation Champion.” Even if that was the best way it came out of Fink. Howard introduces Uecker as the guest ring announcer, assisted by two Federettes who probably have their hands on the pepper spray, as Jesse says hi to “Teri, Tyrel and Jade back in Minneapolis” for the first of four consecutive Manias, ahh. That’s his wife and kids, if you never guessed. Bob introduces Mary Hart as timekeeper, and as she's helped into the ring The Body says “Look at that old Jack Lanza, you know he’s trying to get close down there!” ... careful now, Jesse! We can't out one of our own, surely!

(12) WWF(H)T : HULK HOGAN VS ANDRE THE GIANT
Andre and The Brain come down in their little cart as Gorilla says The Giant has been "brainwashed" and refers to the perpetrator as the guy in the "white waiters jacket" which I think is a bit harsh on Heenan. The two are pelted with rubbish as The Body runs down the "tale of the tape" about Andre's dimensions.. big lad, yes. The rumbling of Hogan's pop kicks off at "His opponent" out of Mr Baseball, they don't even wait for Real American to start. Absolutely, the truest "Hulk Hogan at his peak" entrance seen on a Mania yet, he's the only wrestler of the night other than Piper to march himself down the aisle instead of taking the buggy ride. You've no doubt seen this one, his bandana ends up in his mouth at one point but it doesn't detract from what a superhero he looks like. Gorilla rattles off one of his favourites, “Greatest professional athlete in the world today” in regards to the Hulkster and Jess does another "tale of the tape" including the phrase “Biceps a phenomenal 24 inches” - I'm guessing you already knew that measurement. Honestly, if it was a Fink introduction and instead of wearing the WCW Television title (for the last time) Hogan was sporting the "winged Eagle" (umm, all eagles have wings??) this would be peak Hulkster entrance material. Jess tells us “This is the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling” and I believe him, and refers to the pressure on Joey Marella (eep) to ref it. Monsoon gives us "the irresistible force meeting the immovable object" and the two spell out the difference in size for us - “Look at the size of the Giant! I mean Hogan is six foot eight!” “Andre is seven foot five.” The bell rings! Face to face is an iconic moment. Jesse wonders what Hogan could be saying but when the camera angle shifts he says “He’s Hulking Up right now!” as the champ is shaking with rage/determination/whatever. Exchange of shoves and The Hulkster blocks the first punch and hits three of his own before going early for the bodyslam but collapsing under the weight, which garners an early 2 from Joey Marella. “Was that 2 or was that 3? Oooh, that was close Gorilla!” It should be stated that here, possibly not to undermine the magnitude of the match, The Body calls this match fairly straight-laced and just saying what he sees, playing up to Andres status as favourite to win (which he was) but not being overtly “heel.” He’ll do similar at Mania VI. At V… not so much. Anyway this is the famous “controversial” count they’ll refer to over and over for the next year but honestly, it’s nothing. If Joey wasn’t to the cameras blind side when he goes for the third count, we’d have nothing to talk about. VAR would have needed less than a minute to rule no goal. The Giant works over the champ with clubbering and a bodyslam as Jesse wonders aloud if Hogan psyched himself out. Andre takes it to the corner with chops, shoulder barges and that butt smash he liked to do, but when he tries a headbutt our Terry moved and Andre nuts the buckle. Hogan comes roaring back with punches, an Axe Bomber (“Axe Bomb-ahhhhhh”) and bounces Andre’s head repeatedly off the buckle.

Hulk makes his second mistake however when he comes charging in and meets nothing but boot, which looks great. Super selling by Andre trying to “clear the cobwebs” in the corner as The Brain audibly shouts “Are you alright?” Andre regains his composure and looks threatening in profile (thank you, Silver Vision montage) then closes in with our favourite fatty rest hold, the bear hug. Ventura thinks we might get a submission, when Monsoon brings up Hogans toughness Jesse concedes “the man’s a tremendous champion” but brings up that he’s never wrestled a man of these dimensions and that hasn’t lost in “15 years.” Hmm. Hogan keeps his arm up at the fateful 3rd lift and punches his way free but running again is his error and he goes right into a knife edge chop. Off a whip, The Giant boots Hulk in the midsection and he goes careening out between the ropes. Andre closes in but again his own head is his undoing as Hulk moves and the challenger headbutts the ring post. Curiously on Netflix the camera angle changes so we miss the impact ; I wonder if this was an edit in concussion-wary times? Regardless Hogan gets desperate, lifts up the floor padding and is deluded enough to think he can piledrive the 7 foot monster - poor Andre can barely bend into position for the setup. The Giant backdrops his way out but the impact is far from brutal, firstly because it takes place in slow motion and secondly because Hogan is dumped largely on the apron and just slides to the floor. Back in the ring Andre is still in control, whips Hulk in but Hogan avoids another boot, bounces off the far side and lamps Andre with a clothesline that brings him cleanly to the mat, with a sound like thunder. “Andre The Giant has never been taken off his feet like that!” exclaims The Body ; Gorilla has just enough time to mention "greatest professional athlete in the world today" a second time, and Andre waddles into the immortal bodyslam to, understandably, a massive pop. A big legdrop and just like that The Hulkster captures the three count. Both Monsoon and Ventura are, understanbly, incredulous. Maybe not the longest main event you'll ever see, understandably, but you can't really fault it given Andre's physical limitations by this point. Everything they did had purpose, the crowd were heavily invested every second of the way and it plays like the colossal collision it was. I enjoyed it more than I expected, probably 20 years since I last watched it in full, at least. Worthy as a piece of entertainment to close the biggest show of all time even if it wasn't a "mat classic." It was a believable battle, and it was gratifying seeing The Hulkster defy the odds and slay the Giant. The Fink escorts Bob into the ring to declare Hogan the winner - we still announce winners from the ring - and Real American cues right back up. Ventura admits "I didn't think it could be done" amongst other soundbytes. Andre and the Brain (face squarely in palms) depart on the little cart to their second hailstorm of litter of the night. Hogan goes through his posing routine including a fierce double bicep crunch (thank you, Silver Vision montage). Nice "behind the backs" shot of Gino and Jesse as they watch on, it's definitely a "happening" but Ventura finally lets the mask slip and refers to Hogan as an egomaniac and he says "I might even have to come out of retirement to take that title" - not the first time he'll mention that and it won't be the last. Monsoon says "I'd pay to see that, Jess" but it's all bluster, Jesse is well and truly finished by 87. Hogan's already made his way to the curtain by the time we finally get a replay - production note, you can always tell when you're watching a really old show because the replays are only ever the version that aired live but slowed down, the production truck won't be able to show different angles of the same action until a bit later.

We cut to a facing-camera wrap by Jesse and Gorilla, I'm surprised at how much hair Gino still has. Oddly the match they dwell on is the ICT match with The Body repeating that Macho Man was shafted. We have a closing video of still highlights to the sound of Arethra again belting out America The Beautiful and that's our lot. It's probably hard to grade the show overall as there was some EXCELLENT stuff between the wrestling and the entertainment, but it was a bit spread out and there was a decent amount of nothingness (roughly 41% of the matches, and the numbers don't lie). But on balance... yeahhh, it's fucking obviously the best Mania I've watched so far and one of the best of all time if you consider the opener, celebrity involvement, Piper's swansong (LOL), the ICHT match and six-man (MOTN for me) and the spectacle of the biggest main event in company history - no hyperbole, it actually was at the time, in terms of gate and PPV buys. It made them a ton of money, and gave them a bargaining chip with the PPV carries in battles to come over the next 12 months, so realistically you can't understate how important this show was, as opposed to just being "the biggest show of the year" - this was the biggest event of any year to date.

Up next, famed double-tape job, WrestleMania IV.

..... do I fucking have to?

NUMBER OF WRESTLEMANIAS WATCHED : 3
NUMBER OF WRESTLEMANIAS GENUINELY ENJOYED : 2 (67%)
NUMBER OF MATCHES WATCHED : 33
NUMBER OF MATCHES GENUINELY ENJOYED : 18 (55%)

What did the house shows typically look like out the back end of this Mania?
 

Quote

"There are surprisingly few domestic house shows in April, no doubt because the office had a lot to do counting the pennies after Mania. Between 7th and 15th they run 7 towns in Quebec including Quebec City and Three Rivers, many of which have the Cam-Ams (Tom Zenk and local hero Rick Martel) beating Harley Race and Hercules on last. In a few of them there are show-closing battles royal, invariably won by Harley. Baltimore on 25th has Randy beating new Intercontinental champ Steamboat by count-out but he gets revenge the next night in Indianapolis beating Savage in a cage as well as 29th in Syracuse and 30th in Troy (NY). 26th at Maple Leaf Gardens and 27th at the Montreal Forum, Harts vs Bulldogs draws respectable numbers and back in the States they’re in a cage 29th in Dayton and 30th in Hershey.  27th in Columbus, OH sees one return to the elimination format where three rivalries from Mania continue with Ricky, Jake and Billy Jack beating Savage, Honky and Herc. On the same night, while the Harts/Bulldogs crew are in Montreal, there’s a shot in London, Ontario where The Barber pins Adrian Adonis in Adrian’s last match in the WWF, before Brutus wins the show-closing battle royal. The battles royal are a theme of the C shows, won by a variety of guys including Beefcake, Haku and even Paul Roma. Highlights of the undercards are usually only as strong as Brutus vs Johnny Valiant, Moolah defending the womens title against Velvet McIntyre, and Demolition going over either the Young Stallions or the Islanders. The exception being the 28th, where so much of the A/B talent is at TVs that severely depleted cards see Peterborough, Ontario get a show closing battle royal win by Koko, and Rochester finish with Beefer beating former manager Johnny V in a cage, but they at least had Billy Jack v Harley Race and the Rougeaus v the New Dream Team underneath. If you wonder why Beefpiece is working a manager, it’s because they fired Adonis right as that feud was going on the road, for a variety of issues with his attitude outside the ring.

What did Hulk do in April, you may ask? 25th he’s back at with Kamala in Buffalo with a DQ finish when Kimchee interferes, unmasking as Honky Tonk Man to set THAT run up. With a really strong crew in Baltimore, the top storyline matches underneath are Beefcake vs Adonis and Danny Davis beating Tito by count-out. The next night with a Steamboat/Savage crew in Indianapolis and Harts/Bulldogs in Toronto, they present 5 matches at Phoenix Municipal Stadium as an add-on after the Firebirds game (baseball) including The Hulkster going over Bundy. Finally on the 28th - I find this incredible - near 10,000 at the South Bend TVs get Hogan and Ken Patera against Andre and Hercules as a dark main. I’d usually ignore dark matches from TVs in this kind of recap unless they were especially noteworthy, and this is ANDRE so it is."

"WrestleMania (3), SummerSlam (89), Survivor Series (88), Royal Rumble (89), UK Rampage (91)...."

What was the UK number one on the day of this Mania?

Respectable indeed.
 

Edited April 12, 2025 by air_raid
What you gonna do?

[gmoney]

This was the only official wrestling video I had a child, bought for me for a birthday. When I'd gone off and got back into wrestling in late 98, I was a bit older and had pocket money so could save up to buy my own, but from 90 - 95 this was all I had. You'd think it would make me very fond of it, but actually I was a bit resentful. It wasn't quite the colourful WWF of a few years later and it featured a lot of characters I didn't give a shit about then; Bob Orton, Adrian Adonis, Danny Davis, George Steele all seemed very shit to me (sorry Bob and Adrian, love you now). Even then, I still watched it until the tape wore out.

Also, at that age Randy vs Steamboat was no more exciting to me that Hogan vs Andre or Jake vs the Honky Tonk Man. I liked all three equally, because they all had the stars I loved in them. The people were going nuts for all of them. I can remember being a bit bemused when I later found out that it was supposed to be an all time classic. I can see why now, obviously. 

[davertfnewman]

When I got the black WWF sticker album circa 1990 I was initially confused as to why "The Mouth of the South" was listed as Colonel Jimmy Hart - realised afterwards because it's shorter to put on the sticker. Even though Honky was gone by the end of 1990, pretty much not coming back after Christmas (but appearing on Superstars commentary until the Royal Rumble), Gorilla gets one last "the Colonel" out of his system during the Mountie/Koko match.

Always liked that Mary Hart could see Davey going for a powerslam but doing enough to adjust it to a tombstone ("A piledriver? Oh no!") to differentiate between the two.

[BomberPat]

I had Wrestlemania 3 on VHS, many years after the fact, and somehow got into a semi-regular habit of a mate crashing at my place after nights out when we were in our late teens/early twenties and watching it until we both fell asleep. He wasn't really a wrestling guy but he loved Wrestlemania 3 just a load of daft colourful characters. The second or third time we watched it, he decided we should play "Drink When You See Jimmy Hart", which is fucking lethal, because he puts a real shift in on this show.

[Chili]

It's a great show is Mania III. Few little extra rumours, bits and pieces.

The celebrities on this are all brilliant, but we nearly had more. There were talks (she's mentioned by name on a episode of Prime Time) that instead of the disgusting Fabulous Moolah, it was scheduled to be Samantha Fox, yes the same one you are thinking of, as the keeper of the crown. I'm going to assume she has a record out in the states or was doing decent over there and being British etc with the crown/royalty tie in.

Also on some update segments, they allude to the Can-Am Connection and Hogan himself having 'possibly someone special' in their respective corners. No idea about the Can-Am's, but the scuttlebutt was always Lou Albano being in Hogan's corner before Vince or whoever woke up and realised it was unnecessary garnish.

Demolition, The Islanders, Kamala, Sika, Paul Orndorff and Corporal Kirchener are the only active roster 'superstars' who were not booked on the main card. Story has always been both Orndorff and Kamala were reserves in case Andre couldn't go, but I just reckon they couldn't build anything substantial for any of them.

Roddy Piper walks to the ring because the ring card suffered a mechanical fault and was waiting in the cart before deciding 'fuck it', he probably also thought it in his head it made a better visual having him march out.

Edited April 9, 2025 by Chili

[The Reverend]

On 4/9/2025 at 6:50 PM, Chili said:

It's a great show is Mania III. Few little extra rumours, bits and pieces.

The celebrities on this are all brilliant, but we nearly had more. There were talks (and it may have been mentioned once on TV somewhere) that instead of the disgusting Fabulous Moolah, it was scheduled to be Samantha Fox, yes the same one you are thinking of, as the keeper of the crown. I'm going to assume she has a record out in the states or was doing decent over there and being British etc with the crown/royalty tie in.

 

IIRC they also tried for Arnold too. Ventura and McMahon apparently flew to some Mexican jungle where Predator was filming. The story is they got to the area later than they intended, and the pilot spend considerable time circling looking for a tiny landing strip in the fading light. They then did manage to land, spent the night with Arnold but weren't able to persuade him to do WM3. There's a rumour that he didn't because he had been influenced by Ventura and his talk about his unionisation idea being nixed by Vince. 

Edited April 11, 2025 by The Reverend

[Chili]

10 minutes ago, The Reverend said:

IIRC they also tried for Arnold too. Ventura and McMahon apparently flew to some Mexican jungle where Predator was filming. The story is they got to the area later than they intended, and the pilot spend considerable time circling looking for a tiny landing strip in the fading light. They then did manage to land, spent the night with Arnold but weren't able to persuade him to do WM3. There's a rumour that he didn't because he had been influenced by Ventura and his talk about his unionisation idea being nixed by Vince. 

I've always found that story relating to III interesting as it's literally a year before when they made Predator, but it makes sense to try and possibly tie him down to something, but also no idea how Arnold's schedule might have changed by the time the showdown at the Silverdome occurred.

[Olly1984]

8 hours ago, air_raid said:

 

Great write up as always @air_raid, now I'm also stuck with the dream team image of Monsoon and Uecker err " tussling" shall we say with Moolah and Mae Young so hats off to you sir??.