WrestleMania III

Legacy Review

WrestleMania III

March 29, 1987 from the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, MI

 

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

 

Welcome to the absolute pinnacle of the '80s WWF boom. Not only that, this is the Wrestlemania where WWF settled on a definitive template for the biggest show of the year that's in large part still used today. This show destroyed all records for attendance at a wrestling show, with over 93K officially in attendance in the home stadium of not just the Lions, but also the Pistons at the time. The claimed attendance for this show has of course been a matter of heated debate for decades, but I hate getting deep into the weeds on attendance count fights. Title lineage histories I'll discuss all day, but nitpicking attendance numbers I have no interest in. WWE's official number is still 93,173, others say differently and not without backup, if you want to have a knock down drag out argument about it have at it. Elsewhere. Regardless of counting every single head that stadium is clearly full to the air supported roof that was all the rage for domes in the '80s. It looks spectacular, especially while there's still daylight out coming through the translucent roof, and WWF takes every opportunity to show it off.

 

The show opens with Vince in the ring for the "Welcome to Wrestlemania THREE!" intro, then he kicks it to none other than Aretha Franklin for the National Anthem according to Vince, America the Beautiful. As would become the norm for WWF stadium shows in this era, the ring is on a raised platform to try to give some better sightlines. This is also the first of two WMs to use the iconic motorized carts dressed up as mini rings to get wrestlers to and from the ring so they don't have to walk the whole field. In the broadcast booth with Monsoon and Ventura for some opening ballyhoo are a couple more guest celebrities, Mary Hart and Bob Uecker.

 

The Can-Am Connection def "Cowboy" Bob Orton & The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) in 5:37- The Can-Am Connection (seriously, what happened to "Connection" names for tag team, they were great) are former AWA World champ Rick Martel and young Tom Zenk, who's getting his first real major run after also getting started in AWA. Martel and Muraco start with some lockup stalemates. Martel manages to get Muraco down with a shoulderlock and Muraco doesn't like that at all. Muraco backs Martel into the corner and pounds away on him. Martel floats over the corner, gets a hiptoss, then does a weird takedown that's almost a Gedo clutch into a cradle for 2. Zenk blind tags in and Muraco takes a double monkey flip. Orton runs in and takes a double hiptoss. The heels back off and go the floor, then Orton tags in. Orton gets Zenk down with a shoulderblock, but then runs into a slam. Orton ends up in the wrong corner and Zenk armdrags him. Orton grabs a handful of hair and tries to give Zenk a buckle shot but Zenk blocks it. Another armdrag. Orton comes up with a knee to the gut and puts on a full nelson. Zenk reverses it. Martel gets up on the ropes and Muraco comes in to protest. Zenk ducks and Muraco pops Orton! Zenk covers for 2. Again Orton uses a handful of hair to try to turn things around but Martel was also one step ahead of him as the faces do some arm work on him. Zenk lets Orton lean back just enough to get a tag to Muraco, but as he comes in Zenk slams him. Orton knees Zenk in the back from the apron to finally give the heels some momentum. Swinging neckbreaker from Muraco and Orton hits a fistdrop off the top rope for 2. Orton/Zenk midring collision. Both sides tag. Muraco does an upside down flip into the corner! Ric Flair eat your heart out. DONNYBROOK! Corner whip reversals and Muraco accidentally backdrops Orton. Dropkicks for everyone. Martel hits a crossbody on Muraco, Muraco trips backward over Zenk, and Martel gets the pin! Perfectly fine opener. **1/2

 

Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) double countout in 7:44- There is an ongoing feud here and it's a very simple one, two power guys that both think they have the best full nelson in the business. Hercules has dropped the "Hernandez" from his name and now talks like he really is Hercules of legend. They go nose to nose right as the bell rings. Lockup stalemate. Another rough lockup into the corner and Herc hits the first shot over D Hebner trying to break them up. Haynes dodges in the corner, hits some chops and a press slam. He goes for the full nelson and Herc gets the hell out of town. More chops from Haynes. Herc pops out of the corner with a HUGE clothesline. Backdrops from Herc. He whips Haynes around the corners. Suplex and a slow cover. Herc pulls Haynes up at 2! Bold strategery, Cotton. Even Ventura doesn't like that one. Haynes comes back and tries for a suplex but his back gives out. Backbreaker from Herc. Press slam with a full wedgie for Haynes. Herc gets the full nelson on! But not completely, his fingers aren't locked. Haynes still slowly goes down. Arm drops and Haynes barely keeps his arm up at 3. He powers up and out of the hold, but Herc hits him in the back of the head. Double clothesline. Haynes hits an inverted atomic drop. Clothesline. Legdrop. Fistdrop off the second rope. Haynes gets the full nelson on! Herc just barely manages to reach out and grab a rope, and they both tumble out of the ring. Haynes keeps the full nelson on Herc on the floor. Heenan sneaks up and kicks Haynes in the back as Hebner rings the bell for a double countout. Back in the ring after the bell Herc attacks Haynes with his chain and busts Haynes open. Weak finish, but a not horrible power match before that. **

 

Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid & Little Beaver def King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook by DQ in 4:24- Bundy has gone from the WM 2 main event to the one and only midget comedy match in WM history. During his prematch promo Bundy promises to squash some midgets and scrape them up with a spatula. The rules are, obviously, only same sized guys can wrestle same sized guys. Heenan isn't out with Bundy for this one because he "doesn't deal with midgets". Uecker joins commentary for this match. This is definitely the one you want him for. Haiti and Tokyo start the match and we quickly get into the little four way criss cross and double rowboat spots. While getting out of the heel corner Beaver gives Bundy a little elbow in the gut. Let it be known that a midget hit Bundy first. After that Bundy tags in. Beaver won't tag out! He crawls under Bundy, hits a dropkick to Bundy's gut that obviously does absolutely nothing, then scrambles over to tag Jim. That wakes the crowd up, they didn't give two shits about the midgets. Jim puts Bundy down with a clothesline. Elbow drop and cover. Jim's teammates pile on! Bundy kicks out from under all of them. Back elbow from Bundy on Jim. He puts a front facelock on. Beaver again comes in and hits Bundy! Bundy chases him out, then hits an avalanche on Jim. Beaver attacks Bundy again! He's freaking asking for it now. Bundy slams Beaver! Like I said. Bundy elbow drop on Beaver! That's it, we've got squashed midget. The ref call for the bell for the obvious DQ. Bundy loads up for a murderous big splash on Beaver but all the other midgets, even Bundy's teammates, drag him out of harm's way to save his life. It is what it is but Bundy ruthlessly murderizing a midget was amusing. 1/4*

 

Guest celebrity interviewer Mary Hart is in the back with Elizabeth, who to the best of my memory has not said a word on WWF TV to this point. And, true to form, Savage interrupts the interview before she can say anything. "ELIZABETH, DOWN THAT AISLE! YEAH!". 

 

Loser Must Bow Match: "King" Harley Race (w/Bobby Heean & The Fabulous Moolah) def The Junkyard Dog in 4:22- After coming to WWF in spring '86 Race won the second ever King of the Ring tournament, a sort of consolation prize in deference to his history as one of the greatest ever outside the WWF because at his age they were never going to put a title on him. JYD took issue to the whole "King" thing, until of course he nicked the crown for himself and decided he liked it. As the match name says, the loser of this match must bow to the winner. Uecker sees Moolah coming to the ring and leaves the booth to get to her quicker than a gazelle on steroids. Race comes out to what will later be Jerry Lawler's music. Race tries a cheap shot on a rope break after the lockup but JYD blocks and hits first. Heenan immediately grabs JYD's foot and JYD takes the bait, hopping out to chase Heenan, allowing Race to ambush. JYD still gets the upper hand back and hits a headbutt. Race pulls JYD out to the floor and goes for his patented diving headbutt off the apron. JYD dodges and Race plats on the floor! JYD then pulls Race 360 back into the ring. Another JYD headbutt and Race goes 360 back out! JYD has a hard time deciding how he's going to bring Race back in and settles for a slam. He hooks on an abdominal stretch. Race hiptosses out. He goes for a diving headbutt, but hits JYD's head and hurts himself! Corner whip and Race goes over the top rope again out to the floor! Not a full flip but he did the best he could. Back in JYD starts hitting his crawling headbutts. Monsoon: "On all fours, his favorite position". Not touching that one. Heenan distracts again and Race hits a belly to belly suplex! It looks like JYD gets a shoulder up in time, but that gets the pin! The crowd isn't happy, but the right guy won, especially because it gives Race one WM win in his all time great career. After the bell bad loser JYD gives Race the smallest, most perfunctory bow possible, then attacks Race with his own chair. Race still having a few miles left on the bumpometer is the only thing that made this match halfway watchable. 3/4*

 

Vince, not Mean Gene, is in the locker room with Hogan. Hogan has some words for the "non-believers", calls Hulkamania the purest truth there is and tells Andre that power will topple him. 

 

The Dream Team (w/Johnny Valiant & Dino Bravo) def The Rougeau Brothers in 4:03- The Rougeaus are somehow still faces, but that won't last much longer once the company discovers what great weasel heels they can be. Monsoon breaks with usual "nothing exists outside WWF" policy to call Bravo a former "Canadian Heavyweight champion". There's actually a story behind that but even though title lineage histories are my thing I won't bore you with the details this time, they really aren't very significant. Beefcake starts with Raymond. Raymond does a nice flip out of a hammerlock into an atomic drop. Double dropkick on Beefcake from the Rougeaus. Valentine and Jacques lay into each other pretty good. The Rougeaus do some double leapfrogs to work Valentine into a crossbody for 2 as Monsoon does his usual "Valentine needs about 15 minutes to get warmed up" spiel. Diving back elbow from Jacques that Valentine does one of his nice delayed flops off of for 2. Jacques then tries for a springboard crossbody that Valentine dodges. Elbow drops and a slam from Valentine. Beefcake stomps the hell out of Jacques and covers for 2. The Dream Team does a unique double team backbreaker for 2. As Valentine puts a figure four on Heenan storms the booth and claims to be "two for two" so far tonight. Jacques fights over and gets a rope break. Valentine goes for a piledriver. Jacques backdrops out, blocks Valentine's attempted sunset flip counter, and tags out. Raymond backdrops Valentine and puts a sleeper on. Beefcake comes off the top rope and hits Valentine! Whoops. The Rougeaus hit a double team and have Valentine beat, but the ref is distracted. Bravo hits Raymond off the top rope, Valentine covers, and the Dream Team steal a win. Pretty nothing match, this is all about the following angle after the match. I also think they got the result backwards given the ensuing angle. *

 

Said angle is the rest of the team abandoning an irate Beefcake in the ring and leaving without him, clearly kicking him out of the team for screwing up earlier. 

 

Hair vs Hair Match: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper def "Adorable" Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) in 6:54- Believe it or not, this is being billed as Piper's retirement match. I know, seems ridiculous now. At the time Piper thought he had a future as an actor, and it would be during his "retirement" hiatus that he would do his one and only successful film, the 1988 cult hit They Live. Adonis comes in with garden shears that will soon be Brutus Beefcake's trademark. Huge pop for Piper, probably the biggest of the night so far. As soon as Piper's gear is off they lay into each other. Piper kept his belt in his trunks and whips Adonis with it! Then he chokes Hart with it on the apron! That allows Adonis to hit Piper from behind, get the belt and whip Piper with it. Corner whip and Adonis does the flip over the corner out to the floor. Piper gives him no time, dragging him right back in. Hart tries to pull back and gets dragged in too. Double noggin knocker for the heels. Piper tosses Hart into Adonis and they both tumble over the top to the floor! Hart taking some serious bumps tonight. As I type that, Hart climbs up to the top rope and Piper rocket launches him into Adonis! Finally Hart gets one back, tripping Piper from the floor. Clothesline from Adonis. Piper tries the two finger eye poke but Adonis either shrugs it off or doesn't bother selling it at all. They go to the floor and Piper takes a shot on the timekeeper's table. Hart gets a gut punch in. Back in Piper absorbs punches and says he wants more. He tries to slug back. Hart sprays Adonis' perfume into Piper's face. Adonis gets his sleeper, called Good Night Irene, on. Piper backs Adonis into the corner to try to get out but can't and goes down. Arm drops. Adonis lets go before the third drop! Legally that's not a win. Beefcake runs into the ring! Or he never left after the last match. He wakes Piper up and Piper unloads on Adonis. Piper sleeper! Adonis is out and it's over! Not much to the wrestling but it was a hell of a fun spectacle. Hart was working as hard as either of the wrestlers. **3/4

 

After the bell Piper lets Beefcake take the lead on cutting Adonis' hair off, cementing his face turn and his future gimmick as "the Barber". Much ceremony is then made of Piper's farewell. For now. We all know he'll be back. And back. And, going into his WCW years, probably back too long. A fan is overcome with emotion (or beer) and runs into the ring to try to hug Piper, earning him a security tackle and likely a night in the drunk tank.

 

This would turn out to be Adonis' last major WWF match. He was fired in May for what Meltzer called "dress code violations", which seems like a cover for something else. He'd do stints in both the AWA and New Japan after, while also losing a ton of weight in the hopes of getting back into WWF. Sadly he'd never get the chance, as he and several other wrestlers were killed in a car accident in July '88.

 

There's a pretty obvious edit at this point of the official WWF copy which I'm pretty sure was for the intermission. When we come back Ventura is on the floor for the Fink to give him an in ring intro. He stays ringside for the next match while Monsoon plugs Ventura being in Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, opening in June. Buy your tickets now. Oh wait, no early internet ordering, don't do that. Mary Hart and Uecker take over color commentary for the next match. We're getting into sunset now and the arena is starting to darken.

 

WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation & "Dangerous" Danny Davis (w/Jimmy Hart) def The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana in 8:52- We've got a good old "referee turns evil" angle here. Davis was the ref for both Santana's IC title loss to Randy Savage and the Harts defeating the Bulldogs for the tag titles. The former he just happened to be the ref for, the angle hadn't started yet but was retconned to be included, while the latter he got actively involved in helping the Harts win. Soon after that he was fired as a referee by President Jack Tunney and joined Jimmy Hart's stable as a wrestler. Tonight is officially his wrestling debut, but he already had wrestling experience, for several years he'd been secretly working as a masked jobber named Mr. X. As soon as the faces get in the ring their bulldog mascot Matilda goes right for Hart. She clearly wants to play, or get whatever goodies Hart has stashed in his jacket to attract her, but Hart sells it like a savage attack on the level of Sting being bitten by Rick Steiner's dog and runs away. The Harts get whipped into each other on the floor while still having the belts on, then the bell rings to start. Davis went down at some point in there too. Start proper with Santana pounding away on Bret. Bret tries a corner floatover but Santana catches him and drops him right on his head. We get a shot of Ventura leaving with Matilda on one of the ring carts. Dognapping. Not sure if that was ever followed up on or not. Bret manages to scurry away from the face corner and get a tag to Anvil. Anvil and Davey Boy have a power vs power showdown. Bret tries to catch Davey Boy from the apron but Davey Boy was ready for him and gives the Harts a double noggin knocker. Bulldogs double headbutt on Anvil. Anvil uses a hair pull to back Santana into the heel corner and Bret chokes him there. Santana leapfrogs over an Anvil backdrop attempt and tags out. Davey Boy backdrop on Anvil. Anvil begs off then blindsides Davey Boy with a running double ax handle. Davey Boy dodges a Bret second rope elbow drop attempt and tags out to Dynamite. Corner whip and Bret does a Bret bump. Standing clothesline from Dynamite. Anvil breaks a pin up and gets chased off. Bret pounds Dynamite down in the corner. Dynamite fires back and hooks up for a suplex but Anvil runs in to break it up. Anvil tags in and puts on a double chinlock. Future Demolition Decapitation Device style double team from the Harts. Davis tags in, hits one weak stomp, and tags back out thinking he's done awesome. Fantastic, and as planned it gets the crowd even more riled up against him. The Harts continue the double teams on Dynamite. Another tag to Davis. He struts in, hits TWO kicks, and struts out. The Harts get ambitious and try to slingshot Davis into a splash on Dynamite. Dynamite gets his knees up! Tag to Santana! He's all over Davis! Backdrop. Flying forearm! He doesn't want a pin, instead giving Davis some ground and pound. He goes for a figure four but Anvil breaks it up. Tag to Davey Boy. Davis is still legal and takes another pounding. Davey Boy LEAPING TOMBSTONE on Davis! He doesn't want a pin either. Delayed suplex on Davis. Running powerslam! Now he covers and Anvil breaks it up. EVERYONE IN THE POOL! Davis nails Davey Boy with Hart's megaphone, covers and gets a pin to steal it. Very fun match. All the Davis stuff worked great, but just imagine how awesome a straight Harts/Bulldogs title match could have been. ***1/4

 

Mean Gene is in the back with stone faced Andre the Giant and Bobby Heenan, now changed into his gold trimmed white tux for the main event. Heenan says the WWF line that Andre is undefeated for the past 15 years (not true but hey, there's no internet, who's going to figure it out) and claims all the books and everyone else has Andre as the favorite tonight. 

 

Butch Reed (w/Slick) def Koko B Ware in 3:39- Ventura is back in the booth. Reed is another WWF acquisition from the sinking ship that was UWF (formerly Mid-South), and not the last we'll see tonight. Slick also came to WWF with Reed as a package deal, they had met and started working together when Reed did a tour in the Central States territory soon before it was bought out by Jim Crockett. Ware himself also came to WWF from Mid-South so these two knew each other already. Off the lockup Ware dodges a Reed cheap shot attempt. On the other side Ware breaks clean but Reed complains about a phantom hair pull. On the ropes again this time Reed hits some shots. Ware goes into dodge mode and dropkicks Reed out to the floor. Back in Ware puts Reed down with a couple of punches and Reed begs off. Reed counters a backdrop to put Ware down. Punch to Ware's throat. Ware reverses a corner whip and hits a hiptoss. Quick jabs on Reed, followed by another dropkick for 2. Small package for 2. Ware tries a crossbody, but Reed rolls through, grabs a handful of tights and gets the pin. After the bell Ware wants to keep fighting so Slick pounds Ware down with his cane. Santana runs in to save Ware, then tears Slick's fancy duds off. Yet another TV loss for future Hall of Famer Koko B Ware. 1/2*

 

Recap of the Intercontinental title feud. Savage used a top rope double ax handle against the guardrail and the ring bell to completely destroy Steamboat's larynx. When Steamboat made his big return longtime Savage foe and Elizabeth admirer George Steele took his opportunity to once again try to drag Elizabeth away from Savage, so he will be cornering Steamboat tonight.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (w/George Steele) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) (w/Elizabeth) in 14:35- You may have heard of this match. It's really starting to get dark now and as great as the stadium looked with a fully lit crowd, it might look even more amazing now. Savage definitely gets a moderate pop on his entrance. He won't be a heel for much longer. Savage is hitting 414 days as IC champ tonight, less than two weeks shy of Pedro Morales' longest reign record. The original classic IC title belt has only been in circulation a couple of years but it already looks like it badly needs a refresh. Lots of the color paint and all the sheen has come off. After a couple of quick lockups Steamboat gets an arm takedown. Savage hops out and repositions Elizabeth away from Steele. Steamboat dodges around Savage and hits a couple of DEEP armdrags, then lifts Savage up in a choke and tosses him out to the floor. Steamboat chases and Savage catches him coming back in. He immediately starts targeting Steamboat's formerly hurt throat. Even Monsoon admits that while Savage got the title by nefarious means he's held onto it since and hasn't ducked anyone, he's been a fighting champion. Steamboat dodges and Savage crashes into the corner. Steamboat starts working on Savage's arm. Savage uses a handful of hair to whip Steamboat into a back elbow. He tosses Steamboat over the corner to the floor! Elbow to Steamboat's throat. He snap mares Steamboat back in. Elbow to Steamboat's head and a bit of an amateur cradle for 2. Kneedrop for 2. Steamboat blocks a buckle shot and gives Savage one. Chop from Steamboat and Savage gets tied up in the ropes! Good job of making that look like a real accident there. Savage manages to fight Steamboat off with a possible low blow and get free. Series of whip reversals and Steamboat gets a crossbody for 2. Another DEEP armdrag. Quick shoulderblock for 2. Another one. Savage pushes Steamboat chest first into the ropes and hits a jumping knee to his back. He tosses Steamboat over the top. Steamboat skins the cat back in! Savage sees it and clotheslines him back over! Another running knee to Steamboat's back on the floor and he goes over the timekeeper's table and over the guardrail into the front row! Steele picks Steamboat up and carries him back to the ring. Savage says thank you and tosses Steamboat back out the other side! He goes up top. Double ax handle to the floor! Steamboat hit the guardrail going down too. Savage rolls Steamboat back in and goes up top again. Another double ax handle. Running elbow from Savage for 2. Savage does his patented running snap clothesline over the top rope and in one smooth motion gets right back in the ring and covers for 2. Atomic drop for 2. Suplex for 2. Steamboat starts to fire back. Savage cuts it of with an eye rake. Gutwrench suplex for 2. Steamboat flips out of another atomic drop attempt and hits some more chops. Savage counters a backdrop attempt. Steamboat backdrops Savage over the top rope to the floor! Back in Steamboat goes up top and hits a flying chop. Cover and Savage barely gets a foot on the rope before 3! The crowd bit hard on that. Running chop from Steamboat for 2. He starts dropping chops and Savage rolls to the apron to try to get some space. Steamboat chops him down to the floor. Sunset flip from Steamboat coming back in. Savage holds the rope to block it but Steamboat pulls him free for 2. Steamboat rolls into a series of rapid fire covers trying to get a pin. These guys haven't stopped for a breath the whole match. Steamboat slingshots Savage into the post and cradles him for 2. Roll up off the ropes for 2. Savage reverses it with a handful of trunks for 2. Savage tights pulls Steamboat shoulder first into the post. Corner whip reversal do-si-do and DHebner goes down. Savage hits a diving clothesline and goes up top. The elbow hits! But the ref is still down. Savage goes over and tries to wake him up. Seeing Hebner's still out, he goes out and gets the bell. Steele takes the bell away! Savage gets it back and goes up top. Steele pushes Savage off the top rope into the ring! Savage tries to slam Steamboat. Steamboat rolls up a Paul Smackage and gets the pin to win the title! The first truly great Wrestlemania match, and it will always remain as one of the best ever. The level of athleticism here was unheard of in WWF at the time and was up there with the best of what JCP was doing. On top of that it's a perfect feud blowoff. This will start a run of Savage having the best match at nearly every WM the next 5-6 years. He was Mr. Wrestlemania before Shawn Michaels. *****

 

Steele literally carries Steamboat into the cart and they leave celebrating. After that there's a fantastic shot of despondent Savage with Elizabeth trying to console him riding off to the back on their cart. As was Steamboat's wont at being a much better chaser than chasee his reign would only last a couple of months before dropping it to the Honky Tonk Man, who would go on to set the record for longest IC title reign that would last for decades until Gunther got his Ring General hands on it. The loss certainly wouldn't hurt Savage any as he was already earmarked for even bigger things. He won the King of the Ring tournament later in '87, and during the summer had his big face turn. 

 

The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts (w/Alice Cooper) in 7:04- WWF finally bowed to the obvious and turned Roberts face in late '86. The last straw was when they tried to set up a program for Roberts to challenge Hogan on the house show loop and at least part of the crowd was still behind Roberts, even during peak Hulkamania. Honky attacked Roberts with his guitar on the set of The Snake Pit to set this up. Why Cooper is paired up with Roberts you've got me. Gets another celebrity at WM though. There is an obvious contrast between Cooper's music and Honky's. Honky's dancing on the apron during his entrance so Roberts attacks him from behind and pulls him into the ring! Still got the heel edge. Classic Roberts jabs. He counters a Honky backdrop attempt with a kneelift. Honky goes to the floor to try to get his Elvis suit off but Roberts stays all over him, then helps Honky finish disrobing. Roberts slams Honky on the floor! Back in Honky gets a knee up in the corner to finally get Roberts down. After some shots on his arm Roberts reverses and hits his short clothesline. He calls for the DDT. Honky feels it coming and gets the hell out of town. Again Roberts chases on the floor. Honky whips Roberts into the post and he flops all the way into the barricade. Cooper helps Roberts get up and back into the ring. A Honky knee sends Roberts flying off the apron and into the barricade again. Slam from Honky back in. Fistdrop off the second rope. It looks like Honky could finish it off, but he continues with slow kicks and punches. Commentary gets on him for it. Back elbow from Honky. Now he finally hooks up for the Shake, Rattle and Roll. He only gets to Shake before Roberts backdrops out! Roberts falls into the corner and Honky gives him a running knee to the back. Mounted punches from Honky. Roberts inverted atomic drop counter! Roberts starts up a comeback flurry and Honky begs off. Backdrop from Roberts. Honky gets caught in the ropes and Roberts see saws him with punches. DDT call. Hart gets up and grabs Roberts' foot. Honky rolls Roberts up, grabs the ropes and gets a pin! After the bell Roberts destroys Honky's guitar against the ring post while aiming for Honky. Honky runs off and leaves Hart to die, trapped in the ring. Roberts holds Hart while Cooper gets Damien out and Hart gets a close up introduction. Honky actually comes back to save his manager. Roberts was trying but this went on longer than what Honky had to offer. The wrong guy won too. The only reason for Honky to win here was, as I mentioned, he was already scheduled to win the IC title. *1/2

 

The Fink announces Mean Gene to the ring with a special announcement. As you'd expect, this is the announcement of a brand new indoor attendance record of 93,173. Again, if you want to argue that number have at it.

 

The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) def The Killer Bees by DQ in 5:44- Slick's suit is still all torn up from earlier, a nice bit of continuity. While Volkoff does his usual Soviet national anthem singing Hacksaw Jim Duggan runs in and stops it! Duggan had just signed with WWF, another guy coming over from UWF before it died. The heels do the Suzuki-Gun jump as soon as the bell rings. The ring is still completely full of trash from the anthem singing. The ref needs to clean that up. It's like peak era NWO levels of trash in there. The first couple of minutes is a full 2v2 brawl with some corner whip goofiness before the Bees finally knock Volkoff out to isolate Sheik. Double hiptoss on Sheik. Brunzell hits his big dropkick and Volkoff runs in to break the pin up. In the confusion after that the heels get Brunzell trapped in their corner. That puts Brunzell in peril as they continue to work around all the trash in the ring. Brunzell tries to counter but runs into a Volkoff bear hug. He bell rings out but still is cut off from a tag. Gutwrench suplex from Sheik for 2. Regular suplex for 2. Brunzell manages to catch Sheik with a high knee. He scrambles over to tag, but Volkoff has the ref distracted and doesn't see it. Double back elbow on Brunzell and he falls out of the ring. Duggan starts chasing people around the ring. Sheik camel clutch on Brunzell to break his back and make him humble! Duggan's chase of Volkoff leads him into the ring, and he hits Sheik with his 2x4 right in front of the ref for an obvious DQ. Duggan was never the sharpest tool in the barn. Duggan tries to get the crowd back with a "USA" chant despite the fact he straight up cost the Bees the match. Not a lot going on before that either. 3/4*

Main event recap time, the buildup for what's genuinely the biggest match in WWF and probably all of wrestling history to this point. Certainly the most mainstream successful, and they have the full stadium to prove it. Hogan and Andre were BFFs. Andre was legitimately the first person in the MSG locker room to celebrate with Hogan after he won the title. On a January edition of Piper's Pit, WWF President Jack Tunney presented Hogan with a trophy to signify him reaching three years as champion. Andre came in to join in the celebration but was clearly annoyed. A week later, Tunney presented Andre with a much smaller trophy for being undefeated for 15 years. Hogan came in to congratulate Andre but, being Hogan, sucked all the oxygen out of the room and Andre just turned around and left the set. A week after that Ventura told Piper that he can produce Andre next week if Piper can produce Hogan. Piper agreed. On that following Piper's Pit Andre showed up with longtime Hogan foe Bobby Heenan as his manager for the first time and challenged Hogan to a title match at Wrestlemania. Hogan couldn't believe this was happening, so Andre showed how serious he was by ripping his shirt and crucifix necklace right off him. That's all Hogan needed to agree to the match.

 

Before the main event we get our top two guest celebrities one more time to do jobs during, as was WM tradition established at the first one. Uecker is the guest ring announcer, while Mary Hart takes over as guest timekeeper.

 

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) def Andre the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) in 12:01- More NWO levels of trash are tossed at Andre and Heenan as they ride the cart in. Hogan eschews the cart ride and chooses to walk to the ring. Andre stands in the middle of the ring and stares Hogan down his entire entrance. Hogan does a quick shirt tear without ever taking his eyes off Andre and slowly walks out of the corner toward him. The big fight feel is off the charts and Monsoon drops his "irresistible force meeting the immovable object" line, which was actually a regular line from him but it's become associated with this match. Definitely never better timed, that's for sure. Long midring staredown. Both guys shove. Hogan is first to the punch. He tries to slam Andre but Andre falls on him! Hogan barely gets out from under Andre before 3! Andre and Heenan think it was 3, and they will argue for months after that it was in fact 3 and Andre should be champion. Hogan is clearly favoring his back and Andre is all over it with slow clubbing blows. Hard slam from Andre. Another one. He walks over Hogan's back! Andre wants Hogan to get up but Hogan can't. Finally Andre pulls Hogan up by his trunks and whips him into the corner. Corner shoulderblocks from Andre, then he turns around and squashes Hogan. Headbutt from Andre. Hogan ducks another headbutt and Andre headbutts the top turnbuckle! Running punches from Hogan. Running elbow. Chops as he gets Andre backed into the corner. More buckle shots. Hogan runs again, but right into Andre's size 80 or whatever it is boot. Big chop from Andre. Bear hug! There we stay for a while and after a long fight slowly starts to fade away. Arm drops and Hogan looks like dead weight until barely keeping an arm up at 3. Hogan gets a last burst and punches his way free. Running shoulderblock from Hogan that staggers Andre. Another one. He goes again but runs into an Andre chop. A "big" boot from Andre sends Hogan out to the floor. Hogan dodges and Andre headbutts the post! That's something that's been re-edited in modern times. On the original VHS tape you could clearly see Andre didn't get even close to hitting the post, now it quickly cuts to a hard camera shot the instant Andre makes "contact". Hogan pulls up the floor mat! Monsoon calls it concrete but it's actually wood, the ring being on a platform. Hogan tries for a piledriver but Andre backdrops free. Back in Hogan dodges another big boot and hits a running clothesline! DOWN GOES ANDRE! For the first time all match. Hogan Hulks Up! He scoops Andre up and slams him! The Slam Heard Around the World, still iconic today. The legdrop hits! Hogan gets the pin to retain! Mission accomplished against all odds. Even Ventura is impressed. We get another great "loser" shot as Heenan has his head in his hand the entire cart ride back, while Andre is still yelling at Hogan making it clear this isn't over. In a vacuum is this a good wrestling match? Not at all. Andre was already severely hampered and could barely move. But if you add in the crowd, the atmosphere, the really good layout and all other intangibles the overall package comes together to make this a good match worthy of the hype as much as possible. ***

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- This is one of those classic shows where if you look at it from strictly a match by match quality basis you wouldn't think it's much, but the show as a whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. The company was humming along like a well oiled machine, the huge crowd was into it the whole night and it's clear watching it this is the tentpole event of the entire WWF '80s boom. Plus it has Savage/Steamboat, which isn't nothing. Hogan/Andre is also a must watch match for any wrestling fan no matter how lacking the wrestling part of it might be, it's WWF spectacle at its best.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-

 

v2.0 published 7/7/26