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Post by The Kevstaaa on Apr 16, 2019 8:11:18 GMT -5
 WWF WrestleManiaMarch 31st, 1985 | Madison Square Garden in New York, New York | Attendance: 19,121
Recently, I reviewed WrestleMania 35 and called it the best WrestleMania in history. And let me tell you, that claim was met with all sorts of bashing. The 411mania.com comments were filled with people saying I should give up reviewing, questioning if I was on drugs, and some flat out bashing me. While I’m not taking back that statement, I do understand that maybe I was excited in the moment. I really enjoyed the show and got plenty of moments I craved. What if I took a step back and re-evaluated WrestleMania?
That’s where this series comes in. I’m going to watch and review every single WrestleMania. As I finish them, I will rank them based on a variety of factors, from a 1-10 scale and use the total for a final score.
• Match quality – Self-explanatory. Will always be the longest section. • Memorability – How memorable is the show? • Historical significance – The impact the show had on wrestling • Booking decisions – Did the event have logical booking decisions for the stories they told • Presentation – Things like stage setup, video packages, commentary, etc. • Pacing/Flow – How well is the show laid out? Does it drag or move along smoothly? • Entertainment – The non-wrestling elements like promos, celebrity interaction, concerts, etc.
Match Quality
The Executioner vs. Tito Santana ~ The Executioner was played by Buddy Rose. I feel like this was a weird choice for an opener. The Executioner is such a generic character and Tito was clearly the guy billed as the star. That made it so this felt much more like a squash that you would see on Prime Time Wrestling and not a major show like this. And that’s even with the Execution’s “undefeated” record. Tito won in 4:49 with a Figure Four submission. Fine little win for a guy like Tito. I was generous last time I reviewed this match. [*½]
King Kong Bundy vs. SD Jones ~ This was just here to get King Kong Bundy over. He avalanched Jones and splashed to win in about 23 seconds. The WWF tried selling this as a record win in 9 seconds but they were way off with that. [NR]
Matt Borne vs. Ricky Steamboat ~ I loved Borne as 1993 Doink. He was a blast. Here, he’s just a dude. Hey, we’ve got a match I somewhat enjoyed. It was to the point, which was to get Ricky Steamboat over, but they made it entertaining. Borne was able to keep up with Steamboat at some points and make this more competitive than I expected. Ricky’s suplexes and chops looked great. He won with a flying cross body because he’s the ultimate babyface in 4:37. Solid stuff. [**¼]
Brutus Beefcake vs. David Sammartino ~ I’ve never liked Brutus Beefcake in any role and I honestly haven’t seen much of David Sammartino. Bruno was out with David and it just feels right to have him in Madison Square Garden. He got the biggest pop of the night to this point. For some reason, this got more time than any match on the card outside of the main event. That’s nuts. It involved a lot of Beefcake stalling, probably because they didn’t have enough to fill the time it was given. Johnny Valiant had to get involved so Bruno could put him in his place. That woke the crowd up. Because of the pandemonium, a double DQ was called after a LONG 12:43. Inexplicable to go this long. Keep it to five with the same finish. [½*]
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Greg Valentine [c] vs. Junkyard Dog ~ On the graphic, it was listed as the Inter-Continental Champion. Eww. People harp on the midcard titles now, but this is terrible. I get the title had more prestige back then because there wasn’t weekly TV that put the champions in danger to lose often. But man, I’ll take pretty much every recent IC Title match at Mania over this. I’m getting ahead of myself though. Most of this was Greg Valentine trying to work the leg to set up the Figure Four. JYD killed time before making his comeback. Valentine won with a cheap rollup using the ropes for leverage, only for Tito Santana to run out and explain what happened. He’s such a good guy that the referee believes him. But Valentine just decided to not compete and take a countout loss in 7:05. Okay. Waste of time. [¾*]
WWF Tag Team Championship: The US Express [c] vs. The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff ~ The idea behind this match seemed to be that the US Express were the far better tag team, but the heels were willing to take all the shortcuts to win. It’s a tried and true formula that works. Speaking of formula, this match followed tag formula. After a solid start by the faces, the heels took over and isolated Mike Rotunda. It set up the hot tag to Barry Windham and the fans ate it up. Despite that, a cheap shot with a Tag Title led to new champions in 6:55. You know what? I quite enjoyed that. Nothing special, but some solid tag formula in front of a good crowd. [**½]
$15,000 Body Slam Challenge: Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd ~ Our first real spectacle match. The novelty of someone possibly body slamming Andre the Giant was really cool. That made for a slow paced match, but I appreciated how it made sense. Both men would go for the body slam and fail, so they’d have to wear the other one down. Not exciting, but logical. After plenty of plodding moments, Andre slammed Studd to win in 5:53. As I said, pure spectacle. That kept it from being dire. [½*]
WWF Women's Championship: Leilani Kai [c] vs. Wendi Richter ~ The semi-main event or the death spot in the card? It’s actually more of the former thanks to the inclusion of Cyndi Lauper at ringside. So, women’s wrestling wasn’t exactly doing so well in the company at this time. These two went out and wrestled a sloppy match with next to no heat. It’s as if the crowd was just waiting to see if Lauper and Moolah would get involved at ringside. It never happened. Instead, Richter rolled through on a cross body to win the title in 6:13. As a match, this sucked. As a moment involving a celebrity, it worked. [¾*]
Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper ~ The reason everyone came to the show. Mr. T was a huge star at the time as part of The A-Team, Hulk Hogan was the biggest star in wrestling, and you had two great heels. Just seeing Mr. T come face to face with Roddy Piper and exchange slaps was great. Like the Tag Title match earlier, this followed a smart formula. The faces were too much early on, so the heels resorted to using a chair that set Hogan up as the face in peril. Credit to Mr. T for playing his role so well. He did all the cheesy babyface stuff like trying to run in and help only to accidentally distract the referee. Mr. T got the hot tag but didn’t do much with it. I like that as it showed this wasn’t his element. It set up a real hot tag to Hogan, who won it after Bob Orton accidentally hit Orndorff with his cast in 13:13. The match of the night. It was exactly what it needed to be and benefitted from everyone playing their roles so well. It got messy at points, but worked enough. [***]
No matter how much you may enjoy this first WrestleMania, I don’t think anyone believes it is a great show from a pure in-ring perspective. With only one match reaching three stars and capping out there, this isn’t where the show excels.
SCORE: 2.5
Memorability
As the first WrestleMania, this show obviously has some stuff that makes it memorable. To be fair, it’s more of a historic show than one with many individual moments. Everyone recalls the main event, the celebrities, and Andre throwing the money, but the rest of the show is pretty forgettable. It gets a solid score here.
SCORE: 7.5
Historical Significance
Okay, this was the easiest section to score. It’s the inaugural WrestleMania. Without this, we wouldn’t have the annual event we all know, love, and look forward to each year. When you take into consideration how much was on the line and what could’ve happened if this show failed, it adds even more. Regardless of your feelings on wrestling from the 1980s, you can’t deny how important this show was to the history of the industry. It’s arguably the most important and historic show ever held in wrestling.
SCORE: 10.0
Booking Decisions
I will admit, these first few WrestleManias may be tougher to score here than the later ones. My earliest memories of wrestling are from 1993, so it’s not like I was invested in the stories from this time to fully gauge the booking. However, I have gone back and watched other shows from around this era and read as much as I could about the rivalries. From what I can tell, they mostly made the right calls. The babyfaces won the main event, Andre hit the body slam, Richter won with a star at her side, studs like Steamboat won, and they even made sure a heel team got the Tag Titles to mix things up a bit. I didn’t like the anti-climactic IC Title finish or the Beefcake match going so long for a DQ, though.
SCORE: 8.0
Presentation
When looking at presentation, I take the time period into consideration. It’s only fair as nothing from 1985 will ever look as good as something in 2019. This was fine for the time. I dug the lighting in the arena. It gave the show a dark, intimate feeling. Probably the idea for the era. One bit of presentation I hated was the bell ringing. It sounds weird, but they would introduce someone and ring the bell a ton. It got annoying. I liked Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura on commentary. Ventura wasn’t only supporting heels here, so it made for a team that just sold the matches. They’d talk about how a loss on a show this big would set someone’s career back a few months. Things like that are very good.
SCORE: 7.0
Pacing/Flow
One thing this show did really well was handle the pacing. It moved along quickly. They’d go from match to backstage interviews and back to a match without much fluff in between. I appreciated that. I do think things would’ve gone smoother if they mixed up the card a bit. I understand backloading the card with the important stuff, but it makes the first half of the show feel pretty useless.
SCORE: 7.0
Entertainment
Mean freaking Gene singing the National Anthem was a cool little quirk but he’s not very good. Then, it took a while to get there, but there are some well done celebrity appearances. Cyndi Lauper added a lot to the Women’s Title match, which otherwise would’ve been incredible forgettable. They brought out the big guns for the main event, though. They got Billy Martin as the ring announcer and Liberace for a charismatic dance number with the Rockettes, It all felt very New York, which was perfect for MSG. Muhammad Ali as the special referee was the icing on the cake. It wasn’t overdone, featured big stars, and fit the theme of the city.
SCORE: 8.0
Overall
This legendary show scores pretty high in all but one category. It was a memorable show with a massive imprint on history. I think it was well paced, the presentation was nice, and the fans got sent home happy with some solid booking and fun celebrity interaction. But the show gets held back by some really rough in ring stuff. And it’s hard to be considered one of the greatest shows ever when that crucial element is missing. Still, a solid score overall.
TOTAL: 50/70
WrestleMania Rankings
1. WrestleMania 1 - 50/70 |
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Post by ronnie2hotty on Apr 17, 2019 8:23:02 GMT -5
Cool idea.
I specifically seek out your reviews on 411Mania of major shows. While I did disagree with your assessment of this years Mania, I will say, however, your thoughts made me think on the more positive side of things of the event (all the "right" people won, a few good-to-great matches, etc.).
I look forward to reading these. Also, good luck! This will be an absolute chore to get through all the Manias and still having some sanity left. I watched a video of a guy build a swimming pool with a stick and his hands. At this point I'm not sure which one of you will have it easier, lol.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 9:42:25 GMT -5
Allow me to tell you that I enjoyed your review.
...and to bash you for saying that WM35 was the best WrestleMania.
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Apr 17, 2019 12:56:56 GMT -5
Allow me to tell you that I enjoyed your review. ...and to bash you for saying that WM35 was the best WrestleMania. It's all good. That's why I'm doing this series. To really figure out if it was just a high from getting what I wanted on that show or if my opinion holds up. Plus, I love a good excuse to watch all the Manias. |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Apr 22, 2019 23:26:14 GMT -5
 WWF WrestleMania 2 April 7th, 1986 | Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York | Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois | LA Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California | Attendance: 40,085 (combined)
After the historic first WrestleMania, the WWF returned with an ambitious endeavor a year later. Instead of trying to match the atmosphere at the historic Madison Square Garden, they would run the show at three different locations. Each had its own set of matches and main event.
Could this be better than the first WrestleMania? That’s what we’re here to find out. As a reminder, I’m reliving these WrestleManias and rating them on a 1-10 scale in these seven categories. They’ll be ranked by their total score.
• Match quality – Self-explanatory. Will always be the longest section. • Memorability – How memorable is the show? • Historical significance – The impact the show had on wrestling • Booking decisions – Did the event have logical booking decisions for the stories they told • Presentation – Things like stage setup, video packages, commentary, etc. • Pacing/Flow – How well is the show laid out? Does it drag or move along smoothly? • Entertainment – The non-wrestling elements like promos, celebrity interaction, concerts, etc.
Match Quality
Don Muraco vs. Paul Orndorff ~ Look at Mr. Wonderful going from the main event to the opener. It’ll be interesting to think about who else has done that. Don Muraco was associated with Bob Orton Jr., a rival of Paul Orndorff. On commentary, Susan St. James said Muraco was using a form of “slow torture” on Orndorff. Slow torture is a good way to describe this match. They fought outside and both got counted out in 4:14. The crowd hated that, chanting “bullshit.” Meanwhile I hated this match. The saving grace was that it was short, but it sucked and had nothing of interest happen. [¼*]
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Randy Savage [c] vs. George Steele ~ The WrestleMania debut of the Macho Man. The idea behind this was that Randy Savage was scared of George Steele. Like, he knew he was a better wrestler, but Steele was too wild for him. That meant a lot of stalling and running from Savage, with bits of him outsmarting his challenger. The highlight had to be Savage’s double axe handle to the outside. Surprisingly, Steele kicked out of the elbow. He still lost when Savage used the ropes for leverage on a pin at the 5:10 mark. While the ring work was dull, I appreciated how they kept the story logical to what the feud was built around. [*½]
George Wells vs. Jake Roberts ~ Yeah. This SCREAMS WrestleMania. This felt like a squash. George Wells got in some early offense, but it was all about Jake Roberts. He did most of the damage and won with the DDT in 3:13. Right to the point. It did its job but was bland. [½*]
Boxing Match: Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper ~ This was legitimately scheduled for 10 ROUNDS. Look, I’m all for spectacle in my WrestleMania. I love that Mania aspect. But I don’t want to see boxing and that’s especially true when the boxing isn’t any good. They kind of just hugged each other a bunch. The first round was even, Piper had the advantage in the second, and Mr. T made the comeback in the third. When Piper realized he was in trouble, he shoved the referee and slammed Mr. T to get disqualified in 13:14. It’s difficult to rate this because it wasn’t really a wrestling match. However, it also wasn’t entertaining and I’ll give it the 0. [DUD]
WWF Women's Championship: The Fabulous Moolah [c] vs. Velvet McIntyre ~ We’ve officially moved from Uniondale to Rosemont. Not off to a good start as Fabulous Moolah dominated and squashed Velvet McIntyre in 1:25. Yawn. [NR]
Flag Match: Corporal Kirschner vs. Nikolai Volkoff ~ I’ve got to admit, this one didn’t sound too good on paper either. It’s basically another case of America taking down an evil foreign country. It’s wild that the WWE still used this kind of angle in the 2010’s as a global company. Another super short match as they did some lame brawling and Kirschner won by intercepting a cane from Freddie Blassie at ringside and using it on Volkoff. That ended it in 1:39. Very rushed and very bad. [DUD]
Battle Royal ~A notable match because it featured both WWF Superstars and various NFL players. When it comes to WrestleMania 2, this is always what comes to mind. I loved the black and blue gear for the Hart Foundation, my mom always got a chuckle out of the leotard worn by William “The Refrigerator” Perry, and Andre wowed me as a kid. It marks the in-ring Mania debut for guys like Bret Hart and Bruno Sammartino. Most battle royals follow the same format. Especially in this era. It was a lot of guys just hugging each other and doing false elimination spots. I thought they would have it come down to Andre and Big John Studd to recreate what happened last year. Perry was the star among NFL players and he pulled Studd over and out after getting eliminated by him. I liked that it ended up as the Hart Foundation against Andre. You’d need a 2-on-1 situation to beat him in this environment. Of course, they stood no real chance. Anvil went out with a poorly sold big boot and Andre threw Bret onto him to win in 9:13. You know what? There weren’t many cool spots or anything like that, but it was kind of fun in a novelty sort of way. [**]
WWF Tag Team Championship: The Dream Team [c] vs. The British Bulldogs ~ The one match from this card that I’ve heard get praised in the past. Ozzy Osbourne came out with the British Bulldogs for…um…reasons. Man, it’s wild watching Dynamite Kid because you just see a ton of what influenced Chris Benoit. From his offense to his mannerisms. I liked the way this match kind of went against tag formula. The babyface Bulldogs were in control for most of it. That worked because Kid was exciting in the ring and Smith brought a bunch of power offense that popped the crowd. I didn’t like how flat the finish was, with Kid getting the pin after the champs collided into each other at the 13:03 mark. The best match in the short history of Mania to this point and easily the best thing Beefcake was ever part of. [***½]
Hercules vs. Ricky Steamboat ~ We’ve officially moved over to Los Angeles for the final stage of the show. This was something of a power vs. athleticism battle. Ricky Steamboat brought all that babyface fire we love from him. His bits on offense were quite good. Hercules, while generally kind of an underappreciated power guy, didn’t do much for me here. There were a few awkward exchanges that made this a a less than ideal matchup. Steamboat won with a flying cross body in a decent 7:27. There were some okay ideas in there, it just didn’t come together. Still better than most of the show. [**¼]
Adrian Adonis vs. Uncle Elmer ~ It’s an Uncle Elmer match. Do you think it was any good? With no rights to “Don’t Go Messin’ With a Country Boy,” the WWE Network just played generic banjo music for Elmer’s entrance. It went on forever. The saving grace of this match was Adrian Adonis. That dude bumped like a madman for Elmer. He put in the effort. Elmer didn’t. He missed a splash and Adonis won with a headbutt in 3:01. At least it was short. [¾*]
The Funk Brothers vs. Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana ~ Tito Santana and JYD feel like a team you’d see on a Saturday Night’s Main Event episode. Like Adonis earlier, one man in this match seemed out to make it work more than the rest. Terry f’n Funk. He threw his body around and even took a wild bump to the outside and onto the concrete floor. Seriously, where was the padding? ECW before ECW. Santana was put in the face in peril role before JYD got to come in and clean house. Those are roles both guys make the most sense in. The heels used the help of Jimmy Hart’s megaphone to knock out JYD and win in 11:42. Solid little tag match. [**¾]
WWF Championship Steel Cage Match: Hulk Hogan [c] vs. King Kong Bundy ~ Hulk Hogan came in with his ribs taped due to an attack from King Kong Bundy. Judging by the recap, they seemed to do a great job booking Bundy as a legit threat. Hogan came out hot in his quest for vengeance. He busted out the cheap tactics babyface Hogan was known for. Bundy took over and peeled off the rib tape like a good heel. I think Hogan did well in terms of selling Bundy’s offense instantly, but he would quickly get up to prevent him from escaping and shrugged off the pain. When Bundy hit the splash, the fans reacted like Hogan was dead. Of course, he Hulked up and made the comeback before escaping the cage to retain in 10:15. About as good as you could have expected here. They told a fine story, but Hogan’s selling was inconsistent and Bundy’s offense was boring. [**]
Honestly, that got off to a terrible start. After six matches there were two DUDs and the highest rating was *½. That’s like, worst show ever territory. Thankfully, the second half of the show was an improvement. The Tag Title match is the best in Mania history through two shows and four other matches got at least two stars. It isn’t a show that wowed me by any means, but I was surprised that it picked up and ended up surpassing the first Mania in this category by a bit.
SCORE: 3.5
Memorability
Two things come across as really memorable on this show for me. One is the battle royal and the other is the novelty of running the show in three different venues. And the latter didn’t go over well, so it was never done again. Other than that, this is a largely forgettable show. You almost never hear this brought up when people are discussing the greatest WrestleManias ever and it doesn’t include anything I would consider a special moment.
SCORE: 2.0
Historical Significance
Ultimately, this show didn’t seem to have much of an impact on anything. I researched the aftermath and most of it is insignificant. The champions moved on with their titles, while Andre The Giant took his battle royal win and began slowing down his consistent in-ring appearances. However, that all could have happened without this show. It is one of the most insignificant WrestleManias ever.
SCORE: 2.0
Booking Decisions
I’d say most of this show was handled well. I thought the Bulldogs winning the Tag Titles was the highlight. They were way over, got the big babyface victory, and it was a nice turn on how the heels won the titles a year earlier. Andre going over in the battle royal, Savage retaining the Intercontinental Title, and Hogan winning in the main event were all good choices. Some of the lesser matches had less than stellar or unimportant results. That finish to Piper/Mr. T felt lame and the same goes for the opener.
SCORE: 7.0
Presentation
Though a year older, this WrestleMania lacked some of the presentation aspects that worked in the first. For example, the microphone sounded rough at points during “America The Beautiful.” That’s no Bueno. Intercutting it with random shots of the country was also way too heavy handed, especially when it ended with a picture of Hulk Hogan. The usual commentators like Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon were fine, but the celebrity guests didn’t do well and came across very awkwardly. I liked the way they built up the main event. Lots of talk about how it’s a special cage to house Bundy’s strength and selling the hell out of Hogan’s injury with a special interview. A fair amount of the other promos and interviews didn’t click.
SCORE: 5.0
Pacing/Flow
I praised the first WrestleMania for mostly flowing smoothly. They would do a match, interviews with the next set of competitors, and then the match. Wash, rinse, repeat. Here, a lot of interviews overstayed their welcome and it made parts of the show drag. That’s a problem because the in-ring stuff was pretty rough for most of the show. The show didn’t feel overly long, but it took me a few tries to finish it because I found myself bored at points.
SCORE: 4.5
Entertainment
Ray Charles singing “America The Beautiful” was certainly a step up from Mean Gene singing the previous year. I liked the little bits like having Joan Rivers as a guest ring announcer and Daryl Dawkins as the guest judge for the boxing match, as well as having the NFL players in the battle royal. It was a way to get celebrities involved within the flow of the show. That did mean that there wasn’t a lot of non-wrestling related stuff to focus on. The celebrities who had to talk, like the commentators, were pretty bad.
SCORE: 5.0
Overall .
While I do feel this was a slight uptick from the first WrestleMania in terms of match quality, everything else lacked. It didn’t have that special feel we got from the original. The three venue idea was interesting, but it didn’t work. It’s one of those WrestleManias that rarely gets talked about because nothing of note really happened. It’s not a memorable show and remains one of the most unimportant Manias in history.
TOTAL: 29/70
WrestleMania Rankings 1. WrestleMania 1 - 50/70
2. WrestleMania 2 - 29/70
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Post by Johawn on Apr 23, 2019 1:35:09 GMT -5
Great reads, please carry on!
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Post by The Kevstaaa on May 1, 2019 21:04:05 GMT -5
 WWF WrestleMania IIIMarch 29th, 1987 | Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan | Attendance: 93,173
Two shows in and I wouldn’t say we’ve had a good WrestleMania. The first got a solid score more based on what it means historically, but the second didn’t have much to save it. Now, we move onto the first WrestleMania that I’ve really seen praise for throughout history. After all, it features one of the biggest matches to ever happen and a classic Intercontinental Title bout. Throw in the record crowd (yes, I know that wasn’t the real number but it’s what’s listed so I’m going with it) and you’ve got something potentially special.
Where will it rank among the rest of the WrestleManias so far? We’ll find out here. As a reminder, I’m reliving these WrestleManias and rating them on a 1-10 scale in these seven categories. They’ll be ranked by their total score.
• Match quality – Self-explanatory. Will always be the longest section. • Memorability – How memorable is the show? • Historical significance – The impact the show had on wrestling • Booking decisions – Did the event have logical booking decisions for the stories they told • Presentation – Things like stage setup, video packages, commentary, etc. • Pacing/Flow – How well is the show laid out? Does it drag or move along smoothly? • Entertainment – The non-wrestling elements like promos, celebrity interaction, concerts, etc.
Match Quality
Bob Orton and Don Muraco vs. The Can-Am Connection ~ For those who don’t recall, the Can-Am Connection was Rick Martel and Tom Zenk. Being outgunned in terms of size, they had to use speed and athleticism to catch their opposition off guard. Zenk was eventually isolated, setting up the hot tag to Martel. The crowd way into it. The finish played right into the story of the match. The Can-Am Connection had to be smarter than their larger opponents. Martel hit Muraco with a cross body over Zenk on all fours, giving them a slight leverage advantage on a pin in 5:35. Solid tag wrestling with a well told story. [**¾]
Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules ~ Hey, there was an actual recap for this feud. Haynes was sporting a glorious gold and green sparkly jacket. This was built as a battle of two muscle men. Vince McMahon’s favorite. If that kind of match sounds bad to you, you won’t like this. Simple as that. I try to appreciate all kinds of wrestling. These guys worked the match like two men vying to prove they were more powerful than the other. When the Full Nelson got applied, the crowd reacted big, meaning they did their job. Haynes fought out of one tried by Hercules. When Haynes applied his, they fell to the outside and he still had it on. Both men were counted out in 7:44 Probably a minute or two too long. Still, they had the kind of match the build called for. A finish would’ve been nice. [**]
The Haiti Kid, Hillbilly Jim and Little Beaver vs. King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook ~ King Kong Bundy had to have one of the biggest falls in terms of match importance from one WrestleMania to another. From the main event to a midget tag. Not that I’m complaining. The little guys were just there for comedy as the immediately went into that kind of stuff. The crowd popped for Bundy getting evaded by one of them. The finish was surprising, as it saw Bundy get disqualified for dropping an elbow on Little Beaver at 4:12. To be fair, Beaver was being a pest so he got what he deserved. The match was bad comedy, so I wasn’t a fan. [¼*]
Loser Must Bow: Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog ~ The pop for JYD was massive. The story coming in was that JYD didn’t agree with King Harley Race’s idea that everyone needed to bow to him. Simple enough. The best part of this match was easily Race missing his slow motion headbutt off the apron. I laughed so hard. Race also bumped in an entertaining manner on pretty much all of JYD’s offense. It was almost Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2005 levels of over the top. Unfortunately, all it led to was a Bobby Heenan distraction that led to Race winning via belly to belly suplex in 3:21. That finish was hella flat. Points to Race for bumping the way he did but this never really get going. JYD didn’t bow and was a sore loser. [*¼]
The Dream Team vs. The Rougeau Brothers ~ Can the Dream Team deliver back to back good matches at WrestleMania? They held serve for most of this one as Bobby Heenan joined commentary to put over the success of his guys so far. That was even though they haven’t had a great night. In the Dream Team’s corner was Dino Bravo and Johnny V. Brutus Beefcake made a mistake that nearly cost his guys the match. The Rougeau Brothers her it won but a cheap shot from Bravo allowed Valentine to score the victory in 4:03. A rushed match. Beefcake wasn’t happy with how they won and was left behind from the winning team. [*¾]
Hair vs. Hair Match: Adrian Adonis vs. Roddy Piper ~ One of the more memorable matches from this show. The first Mania where Roddy Piper is a babyface and he’s way over. It helped that this was billed as his retirement. Immediately, this became the most entertaining thing on the show so far. We got whipping with a belt, Adrian Adonis bumping over the top, Jimmy Hart taking a slam from the top, and a molten hot crowd. The reaction when Piper got trapped in the Sleeper Hold was insane. The fans believed it was over. Adonis celebrated too early, so Brutus Beefcake came out and helped wake Piper up. Piper then won with a weak looking Sleeper in 6:54. Great sports entertainment. It wasn’t technically strong, but it was wildly entertaining and the crowd added a lot to it. [***]
The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana vs. Danny Davis and the Hart Foundation ~ Maybe the British Bulldogs will give us the back to back good matches at Mania thing that the Dream Team couldn’t. Danny Davis was fresh off being suspended for his time as a crooked referee. He looked ridiculous with the pinstripe pants. Tito came out firing, jumping the Hart Foundation before the bell because he was hot. I dug the way Neidhart kind of manhandled him, only to get thrown around by Davey Boy. It really showed off his power. Dynamite Kid played the face in peril and it was great to see the Hart Foundation pick him apart, as well as the cocky cheap shots from Davis. Of course, it all came back to bite Davis in the ass. He proceeded to take a beating from our babyface team. Once this became a pier six brawl, Davis used the commotion to knock out Smith with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone and steal the match in 8:52. Back to back fun matches. This was worked at a quick pace and Davis was used perfectly, playing the smarmy heel you want to see get beat up. Really good. [***¼]
Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware ~ Jesse Ventura said the “B” in Koko’s name stood for Buckwheat. Wow. Though Koko was over, this felt like a cool down. We had two good matches in a row and there’s a big one coming up next, so this got sandwiched to kill some time in between. Being the heel, Reed controlled most of this short contest. Koko’s comeback got a decent response but nothing more. Reed rolled through a cross body and grabbed the tights to win in 3:39. Not much to this one. No flow and it was just two guys doing random stuff for a few minutes. [*]
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Randy Savage [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat ~ Widely considered one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. These two did what I want in a match. They made each movement matter. Whether it was a small toss into a ring post or a big moment like Steamboat lifting him into a choke, it all played a part and had purpose. I hate when matches waste time with filler moves for the sake of it. The crowd was way into everything. You get cool moments like Steamboat skinning the cat, which I don’t think happened often in the 80s. I thought all the near falls were a positive. It really made it feel like both guys were desperate to win. It also made Steamboat feel like a fighter who wouldn’t quit. Everyone was on the edge of their seats for the late close calls. At first, I wasn’t into the idea of a ref bump, but since it led to the ring bell tease, I really liked it. George Steele got revenge by shoving Savage off the top and Steamboat countered a body slam into a small package to win the title in 14:35. An all-time classic. Nearly everything about this match worked. It was revolutionary for the time. I loved the little nuances throughout and how it played off the storyline. [****¾]
Honky Tonk Man vs. Jake Roberts ~ Jake Roberts was with Alice Cooper. I like the rock music against Honky Tonk Man and his brand of tunes. Roberts attacked before the bell. I usually don’t like when babyfaces do that, but Jake was always the kind of character to do it. It was consistent. Honky Tonk Man turned the tide when he sent Roberts into the corner. His heat segment was pretty dull. Of course, Roberts’ comeback was thwarted by a Jimmy Hart distraction. Honky Tonk Man beat him by using the ropes for leverage in 7:44. A slow match that was pretty boring throughout. [*½]
The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff vs. The Killer Bees ~ I’ll always hate the angle where someone can’t sing their National Anthem. If the goal is to stop them, it should be because they’re bad singers and nobody wants to hear. Jim Duggan showed up to stop Nikolai Volkoff from singing and I’m just like, “Well nobody was rude enough to interrupt Aretha Franklin at the start of the show. Why is this okay?” Anyway, the match was about as basic as it can get. Nothing of interest happened and then Duggan ran in to cause a DQ in 5:44. A nothing match but at least it wasn’t offensive. [*]
WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan [c] vs. Andre The Giant ~ I’ve always loved the build to this match. The crowd was insanely hot for this. Hogan immediately went for the body slam and failed, setting the stage for the contest. That failure put Hogan in severe trouble. Andre used his massive size to just wear him down. Hogan having to sell for the entire match was rough. Like, there was a spot where he took a back body drop outside and it looked ATROCIOUS. Still, Hogan made the big comeback and did the slam heard ‘round the world. A Leg Drop later and he retained the title in 12:01. Technically, this isn’t any good. However, I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as some people do. Meltzer gave this -****. It did one of the most important things a match can do, and that’s give the fans what they wanted while telling the correct story. It may not be exciting, but it was the right match at the right time so I give it props for that. [**]
Definitely the best card of the bunch so far. Savage/Steamboat is easily the greatest WrestleMania match to this point, there are two other matches at ***, another came in close, and I thought the main event was fine. The rest of the card did nothing for me, but it was mostly enjoyable.
SCORE: 6.5
Memorability
I gave the first WrestleMania a good score here for obvious reasons, but this one ranks a lot higher. First of all, that crowd is memorable. Everyone knows that 93,000 number, even if it has been debunked and debated over the years. “The irresistible force meeting the immovable object” is an iconic line. We all remember the spectacle of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant and the athletic display put on by Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat. There’s a reason those still come up to this day when anyone discusses the history of WrestleMania.
SCORE: 9.0
Historical Significance
Similar to the memorability factor, the historical impact of this show was huge. Think about what Andre vs. Hogan really did. It drew a ridiculous amount of people to a wrestling show. It was the biggest match in the history of this industry at the time and still might be to this day. While that always gets the shine, I do think other stuff was significant. Steamboat/Savage really put the Intercontinental Title on the map. It was the first IC Title match at a WrestleMania to feel like an important contest. It set the tone for the two key factors about the championship. One, it set it up as the “workhorse” title where midcard guys can put on great matches. Two, it cemented the title as a stepping stone for future WWF Champions because of where Savage eventually finds himself on the card.
SCORE: 9.5
Booking Decisions
Honestly, I’d say most of this show was booked well. It felt like the right people went over in the most important matches. Ricky Steamboat overcame the 414 day reign of Randy Savage to get revenge. Hulk Hogan overcame the greatest odds ever. Roddy Piper bested Adrian Adonis and went out for his “retirement” on a high note. I question certain things, though. The Billy Jack Haynes match ending via countout felt cheap and I’m not sure about Danny Davis winning the six man tag. I think he really needed his comeuppance here. I do feel they went to the dirty finish too often.
SCORE: 7.5
Presentation
From a pure presentation standpoint, this has to be top of the list so far. The sheer size of the crowd adds a ton. Everything looks important when so many people are watching. The whole setup was really good. The lighting, especially during the daytime matches, was beautiful. It is the first WrestleMania that really feels like a massive deal. I also want to give a shoutout to the commentary team of Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura. They played so well off each other. One negative was the lack of a special intro video. Even if they weren’t produced to look great, at least the first two Manias had that.
SCORE: 8.0
Pacing/Flow
Here’s a place where I feel this edition of WrestleMania struggled a bit. While there was a fair amount to like, it does happen to be a three hour show that drags at points. I appreciated the effort to throw in breaks of lesser matches in between the good stuff. It partially helped the flow in the later stages of the show. The first portion is kind of a slog to get through.
SCORE: 6.0
Entertainment
For the second straight year, the WWF stepped their game up in terms of “America the Beautiful.” Aretha Franklin sung the hell out of that song. I thought a lot of the celebrities brought in were used better than last year. Alice Cooper getting the spot with Damian was a cool moment that is remembered by many. Bob Uecker was hilarious on commentary. I found the post-match haircut antics for Adrian Adonis to be delightful. All in all, they made good use of the non-wrestling portion of the show.
SCORE: 8.5
Overall
The first time that a WrestleMania truly felt like a spectacle. This scored way high in presentation, entertainment, memorability, and historical significance for good reason. The score for booking was solid and it didn’t come up short in any category. That gives us a new top WrestleMania in these early rankings. A recommended show for sure.
TOTAL: 55/70
WrestleMania Rankings
1. WrestleMania III -55/70
2. WrestleMania - 50/70
3. WrestleMania 2 - 29/70 |
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The Ichi
Patti Mayonnaise
AGGRESSIVE Executive Janitor of the Third Floor Manager's Bathroom
Posts: 37,302 
Member is Online
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Post by The Ichi on May 1, 2019 21:17:58 GMT -5
This is really good, thank you for posting.
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Post by Deputy Muscle on May 2, 2019 1:30:09 GMT -5
Enjoying these. Bring on IV
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Post by chronocross on May 2, 2019 15:47:22 GMT -5
I enjoyed the read, WM2 was a mess with lots of issues there, they tried having a 3-way press conference with LA/Chicago/NYC and it fell apart halfway through, you can watch it on the WWE Network, it's hilarious.
WM1 was great from a historic standpoint, but aside from the main event, not much worth watching IMO.
WM3 is my favorite Mania as a kid, we rented this more than the other Coliseum Video tapes at the time, a huge spectacle and they got tons of mileage out of the wide shot of the Silverdome in highlight videos over the years. Hogan/Andre and Savage/Steamaboat were my favorites, couldn't get enough of that match. Bob Uecker was a fun addition and looked like he wanted to be there, also Mary Hart on commentary wasn't as cringeworthy as Susan St.James the previous year.
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Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,075
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Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on May 3, 2019 9:30:25 GMT -5
I'm surprised the Can-Am Connection didn't bust out some more high spots. They showed some old shows here on TV and I was shocked at Martel doing Hurricanranas pretty.
Would have been great to have something like that at the biggest show ever.
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Post by Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie on May 3, 2019 11:01:04 GMT -5
WM3 was one of, if not my first WWF bought videos, and it was phenomenal to watch!
from bundy doing in that little pest i laughed a LOT at that, to arguably the greatest ever match in it's history with it's 27 pin attempts, to really solid matches ..... and then THE GREATEST MATCH IN IT'S HISTORY, which very few matches have even got close to matching in terms of atmosphere, maybe not in terms of quality because of andre's condition ..... but my god did it bring it!
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Post by The Kevstaaa on May 10, 2019 19:45:13 GMT -5
 WWF WrestleMania IV
March 27th, 1988 | Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey | Attendance: 19,199
WrestleMania III marked an uptick in quality, giving us the best show to that point. We’re now reaching the era I’m most familiar with. 1988 is usually the furthest back I go to watch stuff for fun. This WrestleMania scaled back from the record crowd the previous year and into the small Trump Plaza. Yes, the guy who is our President hosted WrestleMania. Twice. The theme of this event was a one night tournament to crown a new WWF Champion because it was held up in controversy. Andre the Giant beat Hulk Hogan for the title in a Mania rematch but due to some referee issues and him giving the title to Ted Dibiase, it was vacated. That has led us here.
Where will it rank among the rest of the WrestleManias so far? We’ll find out here. As a reminder, I’m reliving these WrestleManias and rating them on a 1-10 scale in these seven categories. They’ll be ranked by their total score.
• Match quality – Self-explanatory. Will always be the longest section. • Memorability – How memorable is the show? • Historical significance – The impact the show had on wrestling • Booking decisions – Did the event have logical booking decisions for the stories they told • Presentation – Things like stage setup, video packages, commentary, etc. • Pacing/Flow – How well is the show laid out? Does it drag or move along smoothly? • Entertainment – The non-wrestling elements like promos, celebrity interaction, concerts, etc.
Match Quality
Battle Royal ~ The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal! I mean, they literally just threw in everyone not involved in the tournament or one of the title matches here. Notable names included the Hart Foundation, Harley Race, JYD, Bad News Brown, Nikolai Volkoff, and various tag teams. With each guy in the ring, they were given a little introduction which was cool. Sam Houston had the dubious honor of being the first man eliminated. I loved Jesse Ventura explaining that it happened because Houston is light and that doesn’t bode well for this kind of match. George Steele went the cheap route and pulled Neidhart out by the goatee from the floor. The final four were Brown, Roma, JYD, and Bret. Brown and Bret, the heels, teamed up to be the final two. Like a dummy, Bret celebrated as if they’d split the winnings. Brown quickly broke the alliance and eliminated him at 9:47. Your run of the mill battle royal. [*½]
WWF Championship Tournament First Round: Jim Duggan vs. Ted Dibiase ~ The Million Dollar Man had Andre the Giant in his corner. Also, Virgil. The crowd was hot for this given Duggan’s popularity and Dibiase being a top heel. They had a history outside of WWF, so the chemistry was there. Duggan hit all the good old babyface stuff as you’d expect. When he seemed to be on the verge of winning, Andre tripped him up. Dibiase pounced and won with the fist drop in 4:54. A decent way to start the tournament. Fine little match with a hot crowd. [**]
WWF Championship Tournament First Round: Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco ~ The steroid era at its fines. Two powerhouses, though Bravo wasn’t quite on the level of Muraco. The work was sloppy throughout. Botched spots and slow offense all over the place. Muraco got his neck trapped in the ropes in a spot I never enjoy seeing. And it all led to a ref bump where Bravo pulled him in the way of a Muraco forearm. Bravo seemed to win but the bell was called as the referee miraculously recovered and called a DQ on Bravo in 4:53. A really bad match with an even worse finish. Yuck. [DUD]
WWF Championship Tournament First Round: Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat ~ THE WRESTLEMANIA DEBUT OF RICHIE STEAMBOAT! Ricky came out with his baby son, who would ultimately end up in NXT. Right off the bat, this match felt different from the rest. It was worked at a quicker pace, which I didn’t expect from Valentine. I popped for Valentine selling a chop like death. The same happened when Ricky hit a flying tomahawk chop. Like Steamboat’s match at the previous Mania, this was filled with near falls. It didn’t have nearly that amount of drama, but still worked. Surprisingly, Valentine rolled through a cross body with a handful of tights to steal this in 9:12. The best match on the show so far. It had good action and kind of worked as a preview for Steamboat/Flair in NWA that year, but in a much less successful fashion. [***]
WWF Championship Tournament First Round: Butch Reed vs. Randy Savage ~ The first time we’re seeing babyface Randy Savage at WrestleMania. Had Steamboat won, we’d have gotten the Savage/Steamboat Mania rematch. At the start, Butch Reed used his power advantage to wear down Savage. Of course, this was more about Savage. Reed made mistakes like stopping to talk trash and taking too long to capitalize on chances. Savage hit the elbow to advance in 4:07. Not much to this one. Kind of a way to Savage to chill before a big night. [*]
WWF Championship Tournament First Round: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. One Man Gang ~ Bigelow had some awfully unfitting music here. I always forget that he was around in 88. BIG LADS WRESTLING. I can appreciate a good hoss fight but this wasn’t it. They lumbered around and bored me outside of Bigelow busting out a cool cartwheel. Slick pulled down the top rope, sending Bigelow crashing outside. Bigelow got back to the apron and brawled with Gang but was somehow counted out in 2:56. What? That was an awful finish. The only reason this doesn’t get a lower rating is because it was at least short. [¼*]
WWF Championship Tournament First Round: Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude ~ Two guys who I usually enjoy from this era. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those times. It seems like this company only does time limit draws during one night tournaments (think KOTR 93 and 95). It’s a weird decision considering how much time would get used up on a show featuring over 14 matches. Anyway, knowing they were going quite long, they worked a match fitting of that story. Lots of rest holds and stuff that would logically lead to this kind of finish. However, it doesn’t make much sense in this kind of tournament. You should try to come out firing because time is of the essence. The draw came at 15:10 or so. A disappointing, boring match that should’ve ended in a double countout or something around five minutes. [*¼]
Hercules vs. The Ultimate Warrior ~ Weird that this is on the card with nothing on the line. Commentary billed this as a battle of the powerhouses. So you know, an 80s WWF match. It was surprisingly evenly matched with Hercules getting in way more offense than I expected. I know Warrior was relatively new, but still. Hercules slapped on the Full Nelson and both went down. Warrior got lucky that he was on top and got the three in 4:29. A really weak finish to a lame match. [¾*]
WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan ~ Last year’s massive main event going on in the midcard. What a time. Hogan went right after Andre, looking for revenge after losing the title. That advantage didn’t last long and Andre put him on the defensive. He wore him down with rest holds and as much as I don’t like it, I understand that Andre was getting less mobile by the year. Ultimately, Ted Dibiase brought a chair into play from ringside. Both Hogan and Andre used it and the official called a double DQ in 5:22. Hogan used it first so he should get DQed. The crowd was hot but the match was bad and didn’t have the historical context that saved it last time. [½*]
WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Don Muraco vs. Ted Dibiase ~ Winner gets a bye. I’d say these two worked this about as basically as they could have. They didn’t do anything special from a spot standpoint. However, Dibiase made this styles clash work more than it should have because he was game to bump. Even on his own stuff. He missed a stalling elbow off the top and basically flipped on his head in entertaining fashion. Muraco used his power for most of his offense, but fell to a stun gun after 5:44. A simple, yet relatively effective match. Still below average, but I’ll take that on this show. [*¾]
WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage ~ A battle of elbows. Savage ruled and Valentine had a good match in the first round. And yet, this never clicked. Savage spent most of the match getting worn down and Valentine’s offense nearly put me to sleep at times. Instead of a big, entertaining comeback by the Macho Man, he just pulled Valentine into a small package when he tried the Figure Four to advance in 6:06. I liked the idea of Savage getting beat up and winning on something of a fluke. It plays great in a tournament like this. But the match suffered because of Valentine’s dull offense. [*]
WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Honky Tonk Man [c] vs. Brutus Beefcake ~ Since this is before his big accident, Beefcake was moving around well. He seemed much more energetic than I’m used to and it felt like he was putting in one of his better efforts. Granted, that’s not saying much, but still. Like the Valentine/Savage match, this one had the heel in control for a lot and it wasn’t all that interesting. It was a bit better than Valentine’s, though Beefcake’s selling was less believable than Savage. Split the difference. Beefcake had it won with the Sleeper Hold but Jimmy Hart jumped on the apron and cracked the referee with the megaphone. Honky Tonk Man went to sleep but no official was there to call it. Beefcake ended up chasing Hart around and cut his hair, but the match was called a DQ win for Beefcake. It went about 6:30 and was kind of just there. [*¼]
Bobby Heenan and The Islanders vs. The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware ~ If this were 2019, this would be a random Raw six man tag or something. Anyway, this was the blowoff to a dognapping angle that many consider to be terrible. Obviously, the Islanders handled most of the in ring stuff here. Heenan would only enter when the faces were already damaged and he still did poorly. Koko played the face in peril but never really got to make the hot tag. Instead, The Islanders hit him from behind and dropped Heenan on him for the three in 7:31. I didn’t really like this. Not even Heenan was as entertaining as he usually is. [¾*]
WWF Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: One Man Gang vs. Randy Savage ~ For a babyface to pull off this kind of tournament effort, they usually have to go through at least one big guy. Bret did it with Bigelow in 1993 and Savage did it here. Instead of telling any kind of compelling David vs. Goliath story, they opted to just do a lot of nothing. Slick and Elizabeth had a weird altercation before OMG tried using Slick’s cane as a weapon. The referee caught him and that was a DQ in 4:06. This was bad. [¼*]
WWF Tag Team Championship: Strike Force [c] vs. Demolition ~ On paper, this should work wonderfully. You have the overpowering heel tag team against the fiery underdog babyfaces. It writes itself. Tito Santana played the face in peril for most of this and Rick Martel’s hot tag saw him nearly win with the Boston Crab. Of course, that’s when Tito inadvertently distracted the referee. Mr. Fuji also had a hand. Demolition used his cane to hit Martel and win the titles in 12:33. Oh. So another cheap finish with the cane. Why not just have Demolition win clean? Even as heels, they were overpowering. Anyway, a disappointment that followed generic formula and got overbooked late. [*¾]
WWF Championship Tournament Finals: Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase ~ We’re finally at the end of this absurdly long card. Almost instantly, Andre the Giant tripped Savage at ringside. That sparked “Hogan” chants. That put Savage in immediate trouble. Even when Savage got going, Andre would do something to stall his momentum. It caused Savage to send Liz to the back for help in the form of Hulk Hogan. That is one absolute glory hog of a man. With the odds evened, Savage got going, only to miss the big elbow. Dibiase put on the Million Dollar Dream and Andre knocked Savage’s hand away from the ropes. Hogan hit Dibiase with a chair like a cheater and Savage won with the elbow in 9:27. A solid main event. I don’t believe it needed all the Hogan/Andre stuff, but whatever. [**¾]
There are a whopping 16 matches on this show and only one of them cracked three stars and two others passed two stars. That’s it. That’s a horrible number. There’s just so much to get through on this show and almost none of it works from an in-ring standpoint.
SCORE: 2.5
Memorability
We all remember one thing from this show. The moment of Randy Savage winning the WWF Title and celebrating with Miss Elizabeth. Other than Hulk Hogan’s grandstanding, that’s such a beautiful moment. The only other thing that I think is memorable is the simple fact that this was a WrestleMania dedicated to a tournament, even if it wasn’t good. But yeah, that Savage stuff is a huge deal.
SCORE: 6.0
Historical Significance
Again, the Macho Man championship win is the most historic thing to happen on this show. It’s going to be the focal point of most of these topics. There are a few other bits that stood out. The fact that this is the one tournament to fully take place at a WrestleMania gives it points there. This show also marked the start of the record setting Tag Team Title run for Demolition. All in all, a better than expected score here.
SCORE: 7.0
Booking Decisions
Obviously, they got it right when they chose to put the title on Randy Savage. He was fresh off some great years with the company, was super popular, and marked something different. The Tag Titles going to Demolition was a good move, as was booking Ted Dibiase to make it to the finals of the tournament. However, they missed the boat on a lot. Not giving us Steamboat/Savage II was a missed opportunity. And those finishes. There were so many bad finishes on this show. The stupid countout of Bigelow, the use of a cane as a weapon in back to back matches, something dirty happening in most of the card. It was rough.
SCORE: 3.5
Presentation
This had no chance to look as good or epic as its predecessor. Moving to Trump Plaza cut things down to under 20,000 in attendance. In that respect, it felt like a regular show and not the spectacle you want from a Mania. I do believe the venue actually looked pretty good. The ceiling was set up with some cool looking colors. The intro video looked cheap even for the 80s. I do believe the commentary was solid again. I’ve always been a fan of the Gorilla Monsoon/Jesse Ventura pairing. They play well off each other and do all the little things to add to a match. Also, it’s a small thing, but I really liked Macho Man and Elizabeth wearing different outfits for each match.
SCORE: 6.0
Pacing/Flow
Here’s a place this show really struggled. At three and a half hours, it was a long show. That’s okay if you can keep things moving smoothly. This show wasted a lot of time. There’s literally a point where they just have Jesse Ventura pose and flex for no reason for a minute or two. Why? Robin Leach came out and read a “tournament proclamation” which just felt like more time being wasted. I also didn’t get the idea of starting with the battle royal, as it felt awkward. With so many matches to get through, many of them didn’t develop the way they should have, while others went on for too long. This was a slog to get through.
SCORE: 2.0
Entertainment
There was a surprising amount of non-wrestling portions throughout this. The celebrities involved were used in decent fashion. Gladys Knight was another good choice to sing at the start, while Bob Uecker was his witty self. I didn’t care much for Robin Leach’s uses and then there’s the Vanna White stuff. Uecker and Ventura kept making these sexual jokes about her throughout the show and they were just never funny. Meanwhile, White spoke as if she had never seen wrestling before. None of the promos on the show stood out either.
SCORE: 5.0
Overall
There was potential on this show. I think if you cut down the tournament from 14 participants to 8, it would allow things to run smoother. As is, there were too many matches and if only one or two are solid, then the show is going to suffer. It did well in presentation, memorability, and historical significance, which kept it out above the last spot.
TOTAL: 32/70
WrestleMania Rankings
1. WrestleMania III - 55/70
2. WrestleMania - 50/70
3. WrestleMania IV - 32/70
4. WrestleMania 2 - 29/70 |
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Post by Deputy Muscle on May 11, 2019 2:28:35 GMT -5
IV could have been so much better but they really made the title tournament more complicated than it should have been.
Avoid the screwy finishes and just book it straight and it could have been much better.
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repomark
Unicron
For Mash Get Smash
Posts: 3,050
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Post by repomark on May 12, 2019 5:02:32 GMT -5
Couldn’t agree more on how inexplicable it was that they didn’t do Savage v Streamboat 2.
I liked the Beefcake v Honky Tonk match a lot more than you did though, but it is one of those I first saw as a kid on a best of Wrestlemania compilation and I am letting nostalgia win.
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Post by AJ Smudgico on May 12, 2019 6:42:31 GMT -5
These reviews are excellent
So far I completely agree with everything as far as standings go. I felt opening with the battle royal at IV was the correct decision but that's a minor thing
Keep it up though, these are a great read
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Post by ronnie2hotty on May 13, 2019 8:52:57 GMT -5
I actually understand the whole idea of not doing a Savage/Steamboat 2. This would've meant a face/face matchup, which is rare in 1988 terms. There would have been a chance that Steamboat losing could have split the crowd and possibly turned some of them against Savage. In a show where they already had Hulk Hogan needing to interfere and help Savage win the title, having a portion of the crowd already splintered against Savage would have really made him look weak.
If the WWF really wanted to do Savage/Steamboat 2 match, then it would have been better to do it on the Saturday Night's Main Event show that followed WMIV (instead of facing One Man Gang). Or on the SNME show that preceded WMIV. The WWF needed to build Savage as the biggest babyface they possibly could so that way his turn on Hogan meant so much more. Any face/face match that involved Savage could have undercut that.
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MWC
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,824
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Post by MWC on May 13, 2019 9:14:35 GMT -5
God that Jake Roberts/Rick Rude match is painful and a chore to get through. Otherwise, the tournament format for WM4 always held a special spot for me as a kid. I watched that Mania a lot growing up. Now that I'm older it doesn't hold up as much, but still fun to revisit here and there.
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Post by 'Foretold' Joker on May 13, 2019 9:47:25 GMT -5
WM 4 is an odd one as the idea of a tournament is great, but the execution of this tournament is really bizarre.
For a start there are two too many byes.
The top half of the bracket is alright (i'd swap duggan with bam bam though) apart from the hogan andre match, I'd have Andre win that so Ted could then pay him to take a dive in the semis.
The bottom half though needs fixing. Steamboat, valentine, Savage & Reed are fine leave as is.
However I'd change the second half to Jake Roberts vs OMG & Rude vs Duggan. Rude gets Jake CO during his match, but in doing so gets DDT'd by Jake. Have him sell that like death for his match with Duggan and lose quickly. Duggan vs OMG with OMG winning, tournament continues as usual.
I know it was supposed to be setup so Savage has to overcome the odds but as fan I always felt a bit cheated by the results of these other matches.
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on May 13, 2019 10:52:47 GMT -5
This is one of my favourite Wrestlemania events. It's long, some of the matches are tedious, some odd booking decisions, but I love it.
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