Sage Cortez
It’s time for WrestleMania III! Years of hard work, poaching talent, and promotion has culminated in one of the biggest cards ever. Celebrity involvement with this card was exceptional, the build for this card was amazing, without question this was very highly anticipated. This card also solidfied the WWF as an entertainment force and ensured they had the money to continue pushing the company forward. The ambition of putting a card in the Pontiac Silverdome was certainly admirable. Filling it was beyond that, an amazing achievement. It was a testament to how good the roster was and how good Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant were at drawing people in. It was only 25 miles from Detroit, so it was also near to the big Ontario market as well. A perfect combination of things, really. I have seen this show no less than 15 times, as I had it on VHS. I am watching the WWE Network version, though.
– March 29th, 1987, from Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan
Vince McMahon’s introduction to this show never fails to make me laugh. You can see in his face that there are a lot of nerves going on with him. Of course, he introduces Aretha Franklin, and for the first time in the many times I’ve watched this show, I notice a few bands of empty seats. So 93,173? No. 90,000? Maybe. 78,000? I don’t know how that’s possible. Anyway, Aretha sings America the Beautiful, and for the first time in a long time, I’m not fast forwarding through it. What a terrible American I am to have fast forwarded all this time.
Up in the booth, our commentators are Gorilla Monsoon, and Jesse Ventura. For the time being, Mary Hart and BOB UECKER are up there! Uecker is the best.
The Can-Am Connection vs. Don Muraco & Bob Orton Jr. (w/Mr. Fuji)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Damn. For the heel team, this appears to be a huge demotion. Tagging with each other, not to mention the importance of their match…much lower than their previous place on the card. In the case of Muraco, absolutely necessary though. The Can-Am Connection is supposed to be getting a big push. Supposed to win the tag team championships, but as we know, they didn’t. Zenk left, Tito Santana took his place in the team, the rest is history. These guys are not my type of team at all. Handsome guys who jump around wearing white trunks…no thanks. Bad asses who wear face paint are better.
Match Review: Martel and Muraco start the match off, at which point I realize that Martel and Zenk look far too much alike. Martel takes Muraco down with a shoulderblock, but Muraco takes him into the corner and beats him up. He misses a charge to the corner, and Martel follows with a hip toss. Then with a monkey flip, and he makes a tag. The Can-Am’s then give Muraco a double monkey flip, and I’m pissed because there’s absolutely nothing to differentiate these guys. Unless the camera zooms in, they look like twins. Orton rushes in for a double hip toss, which was pretty foolish on his part. After that, they reset, and Orton tags in officially. Zenk catches him and bodyslams him, then takes Orton down with an arm drag. Into the turnbuckle they go, and down with another arm drag. Orton tries to get out with a full nelson, and Zenk reverses it. Orton reverses again, and Muraco accidentally punches Orton in the face for a 2 count. Martel tags back in, and down off the second rope with an elbow to Orton’s arm. Martel continues with a wristlock, and tags in Zenk to do the same thing. Muraco uses his long reach to tag in and gets bodyslammed, but when Zenk runs the ropes, Orton knees him in the back. Muraco follows up with a swinging neckbreaker, and tags in Orton, who comes off the second rope with a fist drop. Cover gets 2. After a collision, both men make a tag.
Martel dishes out a beating to both men, with Muraco doing a Flair flip to the apron so that Zenk can slingshot him back in. Orton & Muraco try a double team, but it turns out that Muraco gives Orton a backdrop due to reversals. The Can-Am’s give Muraco a double dropkick, then Zenk sends Orton over the top rope with another one. Martel comes off the ropes with a cross body, Zenk takes Muraco’s legs out from under him, and the Can-Am Connection picks up the pinfall win at 5:37.
My Thoughts: Nice, quick paced match to start off the show. It also had a smart finish to get the Connection’s double team ability over. Not just that, but their speed as well. It’s a bit unfortunate that this team never really worked out. It would have saved us from that AWFUL Strike Force theme. I know a lot of people liked it, but come on. It’s brutal. Sucks for Muraco and Orton to be jobbed out in this way, but it’s their time to go. Sad as it is to say. Orton had a lot of wrestling ability, but character wise didn’t have anything left after splitting with Piper. Won’t be around much longer. I will see him a few more times though! **.
Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Billy Jack Haynes
Pre-Match Thoughts: Video package! The look to the past shows a segment that was supposed to be about Hercules being able to put a full nelson on Haynes or not, but Haynes pushed Heenan…and then was clotheslined by Hercules. Then Haynes was put in a full nelson. I guess that’s how you put together a mid card match. Of course, Hercules cuts a promo before the match. This guy is JACKED. His talk about thousands of years ago is…weird. To put it kindly. First appearance of the mini-rings is right here! Awesome! For a really long time, this was the only Billy Jack Haynes match that I had ever seen. My original expectation for this match was that Hercules would win due to Heenan’s guy (Andre) obviously losing the main event.
Match Review: Big staredown before the match, getting over that these two guys want to destroy each other. It’s a Vince McMahon type of match too, look at the BODIES ON DISPLAY here. The two men lock up, and thanks to the official, Hercules takes advantage of an attempt to break. He follows with a hard knee to the gut that Haynes sells very well, but Hercules misses a charge shortly afterward. Haynes gives Hercules a gorilla press slam, which was really impressive. Haynes goes for the FULL NELSON after that, but Hercules jumps into the ropes. Haynes follows with some cool chops, and gets hit with an enormous clothesline. One of the best in the business at the time. Haynes once again sells very well, after that. Hercules gives Haynes a backdrop now, and sends him hard into the turnbuckle. Hercules also gives him a suplex, and covers him…but picks him up after 2. I don’t like that at all. Haynes fights back, and tries a suplex…which gets blocked. Damn. Hercules gives the Oregon native a backbreaker, and follows with some very realistic looking worked punches. Hercules gives Haynes a press slam of his own, and now it’s time for the FULL NELSON. Hercules locks it in, but Haynes breaks it! LOOK AT THAT STRENGTH. Both men clothesline each other, and Haynes follows with an inverted atomic drop. He’s been selling his back very well. Haynes gives Hercules a clothesline, and yet another one. He drops a leg, and heads up to the second rope for a fist drop. Now Haynes signals for the FULL NELSON, and gets it! The two combatants tumble to the outside now, where Haynes locks on the full nelson again. Unfortunately, he doesn’t pay much attention, spits all over Hercules, and both guys get counted out at 7:52.
Oddly, Heenan walks over to knee Haynes in the back, getting him to break the full nelson. Is he dumb? No, he’s not dumb. He’s a man with a plan. Heenan gets on the ring apron, distracting Haynes long enough for Hercules to wrap his chain around his fist and clock Haynes with it. Haynes gets some color off of that, which is a little surprising. Wouldn’t have expected a lower card guy to be allowed to do that. While gushing out blood, Hercules continues to beat him up with the chain, then locks on the FULL NELSON. Damn, he owned him.
My Thoughts: Strong match for these two. Slightly unexpected, but both guys did a very good job. Hercules went over very strong despite the result of the match, and generated a lot of heat for himself. I enjoyed the power moves on display and thought they worked the bout quite quickly. **1/2, with a very strong post-match. It’s not the best Hercules singles match of all time, but it’s pretty close to the best I’ve seen. Seems like he shows up at WrestleMania’s, at least. Rightly or wrongly, I think the way Hercules went over is a sign that they had longer term plans for him. Like I said, could be wrong.
King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook, & Little Tokyo vs. Hillbilly Jim, The Haiti Kid, & Little Beaver in a mixed tag team match
Pre-Match Thoughts: Two slugs and four midgets. I genuinely could not care less about this. Bundy and his team are interviewed before the match, and Bundy’s the only one who talks. What an ass. Uecker is back in the booth! Of course Bundy’s partners are evil foreign midgets. That’s kinda fucked up though. Hillbilly Jim is interviewed by Gene Mean as well, and he’s a much nicer guy. DON’T GO MESSIN’ WITH A COUNTRY BOY…DUNDUNDUN…DUNDUNDUN. The mixed tag rules are simply that big guys face big guys, midgets face midgets.
Match Review: Little Haiti and Little Tokyo start the match, chain wrestling as best they can. Then all the midgets run into the ring and do a criss-cross. Oh year. Haiti gives Tokyo an atomic drop, and tags in Beaver, who slaps Tokyo in the face. Littlebrook is in now, but only for a few seconds, as he then tags in Bundy. The midgets want to fight Bundy, who tries to get them, but Beaver finally tags in Jim to a nice cheer. Ha. Jim gives Bundy a clothesline, and drops an elbow as well. Then his whole team pins Bundy for a 2 count. Crowd liked that. Bundy comes back with a back (ha) elbow, but Beaver enters the ring illegally to slap him with his shoe. That’s cheating! Bundy gives Jim the AVALANCHE, then when Beaver enters the ring again, Bundy slams him. Ha! Then he drops a huge elbow to get himself disqualified at 4:21.
After that, Bundy wants to squash the little guy, but all the midgets come in to save their peer. Jim clears Bundy from the ring, and that’s it.
My Thoughts: There’s not a lot to say about this one. The crowd liked it, but I did not. It was funny seeing Blackjack Lanza trying to get these guys out of the ring so the show could move forward. 1/4* for Bundy beating up the midget, this was by no standard better than that.
Before the next match begins, Mary Hart interviews Elizabeth. Oh wait, here comes the Macho Man.
Harley Race (W/Bobby Heenan & The Fabulous Moolah) vs. Junkyard Dog in a LOSER MUST BOW match
Pre-Match Thoughts: Interesting to see Moolah in Race’s corner. THE QUEEN OF WRESTLING WITH THE KING OF WRESTLING. The lower must bow before the winner, as we know. I hate everything about this angle and match. The video package before the match is neat, but it’s stuff that I’ve already seen and reviewed. Race is interviewed by Gene Mean before the match, and only says a few words. How unfortunate. Uecker running out of the announce booth because he has a crush on Moolah is really amusing. JYD is interviewed too, it isn’t one of his better ones.
Match Review: Race and JYD lock up, and JYD is grabbed by Heenan. He chases Heenan around and through the ring, which allows Race to capitalize with a knee. JYD fights back, and headbutts his foe. Race dumps JYD to the outside now, and tries to give him a DIVING HEADBUTT OFF THE APRON. HIGH SPOT. It missed, and Race crawls back up to the apron. JYD brings him in roughly, and sends him back out. Race’s bumps to the outside are excellent, usually complete backflips to land on his feet. JYD slams Race back into the ring from the apron, and gives him an abdominal stretch. What the hell is this JYD using wrestling moves? Race gives JYD a hip toss to get out of it, and tries another headbutt, but JYD’s head is too hard for it to hurt. JYD shoots Race into the buckle and down to the floor, and when Race gets back in, he gets headbutted. Heenan distracts again, Race gives JYD a BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX, and that’s 1-2-3 at 3:23.
After the match, JYD must BOW TO THE KING. This is degrading and really racist, to me anyway. He bows, and then grabs Race’s chair to hit him with. HAHA. JYD puts on the KING’S ROBE, and leaves the scene.
My Thoughts: Harley took some amazing bumps for this match, certainly earned his paycheck. This wasn’t a technically great match, but I liked it enough. Was too short for a high rating, but Harley did everything he could to make the match as good as possible. *3/4. And people thought that Race was washed up. Ha! He takes a better bump than pretty much everyone of the time!
HULK HOGAN PROMO TIME DUDE. It isn’t his best one, but it’s pretty good. Not on YouTube though, or I’d share it.
The Dream Team (w/Johnny V & Dino Bravo) vs. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers
Pre-Match Thoughts: Don’t have many thoughts about this one, to be honest. The Rougeau’s are still a bit generic, and their opponents are…what they are. Dino Bravo bleached his hair, as we see during a Dream Team interview. PARLEZ VOUS SCRAMBLED EGGS GRANDMA!
Match Review: Raymond and Beefcake start the match off, and Raymond does a great reversal into an atomic drop. Jacques tags in, and they land a double dropkick. Valentine tags in as well, and the fans seem to be using this match as restroom break time. Damn. Raymond tags in and gives Valentine a cross body for 2, and Jacques comes back in with a flying back elbow for 2. Jacques then tries a springboard cross body, and fails at it. That’s too bad. Valentine follows that up with a bodyslam, and tags in Beefcake, who puts the boots to Jacques. Valentine comes back in, and Beefcake picks Jacques up for a double team. It’s a flying chop from the top rope by Valentine, and a backbreaker afterward from Beefcake. Heenan’s in the booth! Valentine gives Jacques a figure-four as that goes on, with Heenan ranting and raving in the background. Valentine attempts a piledriver, but Jacques backdrops him and makes the tag. Raymond gives Valentine another backdrop, and puts a sleeper on the former Intercontinental Champion. Beefcake tries to break it up, and gives Valentine a double axehandle to the back on accident. Oh dear. The Rougeaus follow with La Bombe de Rougeau, but the referee gets distracted by Jacques and Beefcake fighting. What the fuck, dude. Dino Bravo comes in off the second rope, elbows Raymond in the gut, and puts Valentine on top for the cover. 1-2-3, and that’s it at 4:03! Apparently Bravo, Johnny V, and Valentine are pissed at Beefcake. So they leave. Who gets mad after a victory?
My Thoughts: This was nothing special, and the first part of Beefcake’s turn angle was poorly thought out. Perhaps poorly executed as well. It didn’t make much sense to me. They won! I guess this was *1/4. It was having a hard time keeping my attention, which is never good for a filler tag. Sometimes these matches need to have a little something. I don’t know what that something is, but I can tell what it is when I see it. That makes no sense…
Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Roddy Piper in a HAIR VS. HAIR MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: The circumstances when I watched this match for the first time were very strange. I had rented this video cassette, after having watched Piper matches from the 90’s. I was just a little kid, so when it was announced that this was Piper’s last match, I was extremely confused, and saddened that I wouldn’t be able to watch him wrestle again. Part of being a kid, I suppose. Everyone knows the story heading into this one, and if you don’t, it has been recapped in my previous WWF columns. Piper’s promo before the match is excellent, one of the best. NO RETREAT, AND NO SURRENDER. Adonis has a lot of heat during his entrance, and his interview is really good too. I’ve seen this so many times that I know most of the words! Piper gets an enormous face reaction during his entrance, very loud. He doesn’t need the mini ring to take him down to the action!
Match Review: The barber tools are out, brother. Piper grabs his belt, and immediately begins to whip Adonis with it! Then he chokes Hart, until Adonis attacks him from behind that is. Now Adonis has the belt, and whips Piper with it as well! Piper comes back and shoots Adonis into the corner, over the top and down to the floor. Piper drags Adonis and Hart into the ring, and follows with a noggin knocker. Piper whips Hart into Adonis now, and over the top they both go! Back inside, and Piper whips Adonis across the ring into a turnbuckle. Hart gets up on the apron, so Piper pulls him up to the top rope, and launches him onto Adonis like a torpedo! Loving Hart’s bumping here. Adonis shoots Piper into the ropes to break a headlock, and luckily Hart trips Piper, benefiting him. Adonis follows that with some hilarious clawing and scratching offense, then hits Piper with a more serious looking clothesline. To the outside they go now, and Piper’s head gets rammed into a table. As Piper’s near the ropes upon re-entry, Hart sprays some mist into Piper’s eyes. Adonis now LOCKS ON THE SLEEPER, and the younger version of me thought that was going to be the end of the match. During the sleeper, all the agents and people who work behind the scenes seemed to be standing in the aisle watching the match. That’s a nice touch. Adonis celebrates his perceived victory with Jimmy Hart, during which BRUTUS BEEFCAKE runs in to wake Piper up! That really surprised the crowd, but they loved it. Piper knocks Hart down, evades Adonis attempting to hit him with hedge clippers, and Piper puts on a SLEEPER of his own. Adonis is out cold, and that’s the victory for Piper at 6:13!
The match is over, but the moment is not, because Adonis has to lose his hair. Piper has the hedge clippers, Beefcake has a trimmer, and off goes the hair. Ventura complaining about Jimmy Hart’s treatment is hilarious. It’s taking an awfully long time for Beefcake to cut Adrian’s hair. Once it’s done, Piper has a mirror, and shows his rotund foe! Adonis punches the mirror, charges at Piper, misses, and eventually leaves the ring before Piper hits him with the mirror. The crowd absolutely loved all of that. Hilarious how the fan runs into the ring to hug Piper at the end.
My Thoughts: Excellent send off match for Piper. It’s hard to put my thoughts into words, but I’m sad to not be watching him for a while. It is going to be a while too. That sucks. Still, that was a nice send-off match. **1/4 for the match, but it was super entertaining, and a great way to kill off the feud. Sad to not be seeing Adonis going forward either. He was getting larger and larger, and needed to lose some weight. It was unfortunate that he died so young. He was a brilliant worker. As for Piper, so ends the first stage of his career. It was a great ride for him, but he had a lot to offer the WWF when he came back. By no stretch is his career over. Arguably, he had better straight wrestling matches in his second phase than he did in his first. Really strong performance in this match considering that he got electrocuted right before WrestleMania.
Danny Davis & The Hart Foundation (WWF Tag Team Champions) (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana
Pre-Match Thoughts: Once again, the back story here has been laid out in previous articles. Corrupt referee is an angle that resonates with me. It’s superb. Obviously, this match isn’t a handicap match or 2 vs. 2 because Dynamite can hardly work. Before the match, Howard Finkel introduces Jesse Ventura to the crowd! That means he won’t be on commentary for this, sadly. It’s one of the ‘most wrestling things’ in the world for Danny Davis to be suspended for life and 10 years. Jimmy Hart does a great job in the pre-match promo for this bout. Obviously, the opponents want to get one over on the current tag champions and former corrupt referee.
Match Review: Santana throws Neidhart and Bret into each other on the outside of the ring, and then Davey gives Davis an epic press slam all the way down to the floor, causing Davis to land on the Foundation. DAMN. Santana and Bret are back in the ring, and Santana dumps Bret on his face. Then there’s a funny shot of Ventura taking Matilda to the back, and it’ll be Davey and Neidhart in the ring now. Davey gives Neidhart and Bret a noggin knocker, and tags in the very slight looking Dynamite for a headbutt. Santana tags in, but gets driven back into the corner and choked as the referee is distracted. Santana leaps over Neidhart and tags in Davey, who gives Neidhart a big backdrop. Neidhart comes back with a bodyslam, but Bret misses an elbow drop, and in comes Dynamite. He looks extremely skinny. Bret gets launched into the turnbuckles, and clotheslined hard. Dynamite follows with a headbutt for a 2 count, but Bret comes back with some hard shots of his own after the cover. Neidhart switches in with the referee distracted, and puts a chinlock on the former tag champion. He gives Dynamite an understandably weak back breaker, and Bret follows with an elbow from the second rope. No tag was made, until Davis makes his first entrance that is. He kicks Dynamite and leaves the ring. Ha. The match has slowed down a bit due to Dynamite’s bad back. Davis enters the match again, and does the same thing to huge boos. That’s awesome. Then, they try a Davis slingshot splash, but he lands on Dynamite’s knees. That was a mistake, and now Dynamite makes the tag.
Santana cleans house to huge cheers, and gives Davis a backdrop. Davis gets up, and Santana hits him with THE FLYING FOREARM! Uecker is great on commentary here, actually providing insight! Santana puts the FIGURE-FOUR on our favorite referee, until Neidhart breaks it up. Now Davey tags in, and somebody’s going to get punished. Davey hits Davis with a huge clothesline, and rams his head into Dynamite’s. Then, he gives Davis the BIGGEST JUMPING TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER that you’ll ever seen. He follows that with a delayed vertical suplex, and the RUNNING POWERSLAM. His move-set was great, especially for the time. Now everyone dashes into the ring, and in the commotion, Davis wallops Davey with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone. 1-2-3, it’s over at 8:50.
My Thoughts: That wasn’t a spectacular match, but it was strong enough and got the point over. The point being that Dynamite can’t work hard enough to beat these guys, and that Davis always wins in the end. That’s quite the easy moral to that story, easy to learn. Unfortunately, the Davis as a wrestler experiment did not end there, and he continued as a lower card wrestler. That’s unfortunate, but I don’t have to watch any of those! The Survivor Series 1987 match may be the only one. Now that I think about it, there’s also a battle royal. And the Royal Rumble. But that’s it. So, three. **1/2 for the encounter.
After that’s over, Andre the Giant and Bobby Heenan are interviewed by Gene Mean. Really, Andre isn’t interviewed at all so…I don’t know why I said that.
Butch Reed (w/Slick) vs. Koko B. Ware
Pre-Match Thoughts: Not many thoughts before this one. It’s a throwaway match, but a good chance to be introduced to Reed as he hasn’t had any big matches on WWF television before this, or so it would seem. Koko’s theme rules, I’m glad it hasn’t been edited out. The crowd likes him, they could have done more with him. Slick’s outfit is hilarious, by the way.
Match Review: The match starts with a bunch of nothing, except for Ventura calling Koko “Buckwheat.” Not cool. Finally Reed starts punching Koko, but Koko comes back with a nice dropkick to knock Reed over the top rope. Back in, and Koko clocks him. Reed lands a big hammer blow to Koko’s neck, and wastes time with more meaningless strikes. This is hardly wrestling. Koko fires off a hip toss though, and another dropkick for a 2 count. Koko gives Reed a small package for 2, and tries a cross body. Reed reverses it, grabs Koko’s tights, and gets the pin at 3:38.
Slick beats Koko up with his cane after the match, but in comes Tito Santana to put a stop to that. He tears apart Slick’s jacket, and his shirt as well. I don’t remember this! Koko and Santana give Reed a double dropkick, and I guess they have their heat back.
My Thoughts: Poor match, but the post-match was interesting. I liked it, and I’m not the only one. The crowd was far more into that than the match. Can’t blame them. DUD for what has been the worst match on the card to this point. At least it was short!
Ricky Steamboat (w/George Steele) vs. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This match is a huge deal, and obviously the match that everyone watching this show would want to see most, these days. This is going to be really difficult to review though. Steele is in the corner of the challenger as an equalizer, as we’re aware of. GREAT promos before the match. Here they are!
Match Review: They lock up, and Savage quickly leaves the ring to have Elizabeth get away from Steele. Steamboat arm drags him twice, and goes with the chokelift. Great strength. Steamboat gets suckered into chasing Savage around the ring, and clocked inside of the ring. Savage uses the top rope as a clothesline, and gets a 2 count out of it. Savage misses a charge to the corner, and gets his arm wrenched very hard. Steamboat continues to work on the arm, and Savage comes back with a really stiff elbow. He launches Steamboat into the turnbuckle and down to the floor, and with the opportunity to rest, his arm is healed up. On the apron, Steamboat gets elbowed in the throat, and continually knocked back down to the floor. Solid heat building going on here. Savage drags Steamboat back into the ring, and follows with another elbow for 2. He also follows with a knee drop for another 2 count, but Steamboat puts Savage’s head into the turnbuckle. He follows with some chops, hooks Savage up in the ropes, and continues to beat him up. Savage comes back with some stuff of his own, but is given a cross body for 2. Steamboat arm drags him, shoulderblocks him, and gets 2. Another shoulderblock by Steamboat for 2, and Savage hits him with a hard knee to the back. He tosses Steamboat over the top, but Steamboat skins the cat…only to get clotheslined hard over the top rope, taking a big bump. Savage gives Steamboat another hard knee to the back, knocking him over a table and over the steel barricade. Steele helps Steamboat get up, and pretty much carries him back into the ring. Crowd liked that. Savage throws Steamboat over the top rope once more, and this time comes down to the floor with the huge double axehandle. What a move. Back in, Savage gives him another double axehandle from the top rope. A running elbow follows, and gets yet another close fall. Savage clotheslines Steamboat’s neck on the rope, for another 2 count. An atomic drop is next, also for 2! Then a suplex for a similar count. Monsoon and Ventura are going crazy here. Steamboat tries a comeback, but that isn’t happening, and Savage gives him a gutwrench suplex for another really close 2 count. Steamboat now makes a real comeback, by giving Savage an enormous backdrop over the top rope. What a bump! Steamboat now comes off the top with a massive flying chop, but Savage puts his foot on the rope to prevent a 3 count. Crowd thought it was over. Steamboat knocks Savage to the floor now, Steamboat chases, and Steamboat gives Savage a sunset flip as they get back in the ring, for another 2 count. A roll-up, and a jack-knife pin also get 2, as does a small package. WOW. Steamboat slams Savage, and slingshots him into the ring post. Excellent stuff. Steamboat tries another cover, and gets 2, then goes with a rolling cradle. Savage reverses it for 2, and goddamn it’s hard to keep up with this. What a match! Savage pulls Steamboat by his tights, causing his shoulder to be rammed into the ring post, and now we have a ref bump as Hebner and Steamboat collide. Savage gives Steamboat a rough clothesline, and heads up top! Down he comes, but there’s nobody to make a count! Perfect heel heat protection with that kind of finish. Savage tries getting the bell to destroy Steamboat with, but Steele takes it away from him. Only for a second though, Savage gets it back. Then Savage tries to jump off the top rope with the bell, and Steele pushes him off of the top. Savage tries a bodyslam, Steamboat turns it into a roll-up, and gets his much deserved title win at 14:35! What a match! What a pop!
My Thoughts: Such an amazing match. I don’t care how much of it was planned. We don’t know how many matches are planned, but I know that one is absolutely spectacular. The pace was faster than nearly all of the singles matches I’ve seen. All of the moves made sense, and even in the context of the past, they were pretty basic. It shows that great things can be done with basic work. Simple moves, no dangerous bumps, and a solid structure. It’s one of the best matches I’ve ever seen, and a full *****. One of the best angles in wrestling history as well. I hadn’t watched the match in a long time, so I thought heading into the match that it may disappoint a little bit, but it didn’t at all. And that’s 27 years on. Heading into the show, that was the obvious result of the match. The only unfortunate thing about the whole angle was that it sent Savage into a limbo period once it was over. Above IC Title level and below WWF Title level is a pretty tough place for a guy to be, especially when the company doesn’t want him to be jobbed out to Hogan. Steamboat’s title reign was a major disappointment, but it did lead to something good!
Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Jake Roberts (w/Alice Cooper)
Pre-Match Thoughts: Alice Cooper was a pretty big celebrity get for the WWF. Just like Ozzy Osbourne the year before…but Cooper was coherent and not doped up. The pairing they used was perfect, too. According to Roberts, Cooper is there to deal with Jimmy Hart. Cooper has a few things to say too, he doesn’t do badly! The reaction for their entrance is quite loud. Honky cuts his own promo, and gets cut off during the middle of it. Ha. The crowd detests him.
Match Review: Jake attacks HTM from behind to start the match, and we’re underway. He beats him up, and continues that with a knee lift. Finally HTM loses his Elvis suit, as he gets beaten up down on the floor. Roberts slams him on the pads at ringside, and back into the ring we go. Roberts misses a charge to the corner, gets hit with some weak punches, and lands his short clothesline in response. The snake wants part of the action, but when Jake tries for his DDT, HTM leaves the ring. HTM throws Jake into the post soon after that, and the guardrail bump that Jake takes looks super realistic. Jake gets on the apron, and hit with a knee and knocked back into the guardrail. Cool how Cooper tries to help him get back in the ring. Once he goes, HTM slams him and comes off the second rope with a fist drop. HTM continues to hit Roberts, and lands an elbow. HTM’s offense really sucks, that’s for sure. He goes for the SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL, only to be given a backdrop. HTM does a 10 punch combo in the corner, which heels shouldn’t be doing. So naturally, Jake gives him an inverted atomic drop somewhat quickly. His comeback is on now, until HTM begs for forgiveness. Jake isn’t that kind of guy, so he gives HTM a backdrop. He goes for the DDT again, but Jimmy Hart grabs his foot (dropping HTM’s guitar). HTM rolls Jake up, cheats by grabbing the ropes, and wins the match at 7:04. That’s BS.
While HTM and the Mouth are celebrating, Jake runs towards HTM, swings the guitar as hard as humanly possible, and HTM ducks out of the way just in time for the guitar to smash against the ring post. Lucky for him. Now Cooper wants to fight with Jimmy, and grabs the snake to drape on the poor little manager.
My Thoughts: Great usage of a celebrity all around. It looked like Cooper was happy to be there too. The match was nothing special, in large part due to HTM’s offense being awful. The finish came a bit out of nowhere as well. That being said, I think Jake looked pretty good in the match. The fans can certainly see that, and the ending properly protected him and his face momentum. ** for the contest.
Now, Gene Mean announces the attendance of 93,173. I don’t really buy this specific number. I’m sure there were 80,000 people there though. Taking the possibility of unseen empty seats into account, that sounds about right. Could have been more, could have been less, I don’t really care.
The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) vs. The Killer Bees
Pre-Match Thoughts: One last match before the big one! Sheik looks like he may have been on drugs. While Volkoff is singing the Soviet anthem, HERE COMES HACKSAW! HOOOOOOOOO! The crowd loved that. He cleared the ring with the 2×4, to a massive pop. Then Duggan says Volkoff will not sing that anthem again in the United States. Sounds like a plan.
Match Review: Volkoff and Sheik attack the babyfaces from behind, and we’re underway. Quite a lot of trash in the ring after Volkoff’s singing. Duggan is hanging out at ringside during this, after I notice that, the Killer Bees clear Volkoff out of the ring. Blair gives Sheik an atomic drop, and they give Sheik a double back elbow. Brunzell and Blair continue to switch, with elbows and stuff. The most entertaining part of that is Duggan outside the ring. The Bees then give Sheik a double hip toss, and after another tag Brunzell gives Sheik a great looking dropkick. Volkoff comes in to break up the cover, and after some confusion, it’s him in there with Brunzell. He stomps on Brunzell, and gives him a stupid looking knee to the gut. Nikolai’s offense is hilariously awful. Sheik tags in, chops Brunzell in the throat, and that gets 2. Volkoff comes back in, and Brunzell gets trapped in a bear hug. He breaks it, but Sheik comes in and gives Brunzell a gutwrench suplex for 2. Sheik follows that with another suplex, also getting 2. Brunzell fires off a high knee out of nothing, and makes the tag, but the referee wasn’t watching. The referee clears Blair out of the ring, and when that happens, Sheik and Volkoff give Brunzell a double back elbow to knock him out of the ring. Hacksaw is upset about that, and has been chasing Volkoff around the ring. While Sheik tries to make Brunzell HUMBLE, Duggan decides to get in the ring and clock Sheik in the back with his 2×4. So, the Killer Bees got disqualified at 5:43.
My Thoughts: Nobody cared about this match. I didn’t care about this match. The most notable thing was that the arena has fully transitioned into darkness. I wanted to say that after one of the other matches, but figured that it didn’t sound appropriate. Duggan’s part in the match was fine, but it looks like they were expecting him to be in an important program with Sheik, and that was never going to work. Nor did it work. *1/4.
Andre the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is the really big, super huge one. It starts off with a promo by Andre and Heenan, then a video package. After that, Hogan has words of his own. He’s crazy!
Bob Uecker is now introduced to the crowd, and booed! That Milwaukee-Detroit rivalry was strong. He’s the ring announcer. Mary Hart is the time keeper. Funny how Ventura chides Jack Lanza on commentary. The heat for Andre’s entrance is big, although not as big as you’d expect. I think people don’t know what to believe just yet. The pop for Hogan’s entrance is gigantic. Surprising considering that the crowd was nearing burned out territory.
Match Review: THE IRRESISTABLE FORCE MEETING THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT, etc. Obligatory. Of course, the two shove each other, and Hogan tries to slam Andre, only to collapse with Andre on top of them. Now that was a close 2 count. Andre follows that up with some clubbing blows to Hogan’s back, and a knee to the head. Andre also bodyslams Hogan, which the crowd reacts to with horror. Andre slams Hogan again, and stands on his back, causing the crowd to roar. Crowd in the palm of their hands, etc. Andre whips Hogan into the turnbuckles now, and once again to the other side. He follows with a few shoulder charges to the chest, and by crushing Hogan with his ass. Andre tries a headbutt after that, but headbutts the turnbuckle and not Hogan. Hogan hits Andre with a few punches, a running elbow, and some chops, then rams Andre’s head into the buckle repeatedly. Hogan then charges towards Andre, and gets kicked in the face. Andre continues the punishment by putting a bear hug on Hogan, squeezing the life out of him. For some reason the crowd is making a lot of noise during this. Maybe people care about them. Take note, current WWE. Hogan doesn’t submit, which ignites the crowd as he breaks the hold with some punches to Andre’s head. Hogan then charges towards Andre, and gets hit with a hard chop. Andre gives him a big boot to the gut, and Hogan tumbles to the outside. Andre follows him, and tries a headbutt, only to headbutt the post! Hogan then picks up the pad at ringside to try something crazy, and in his mind he thinks it’s a great time for a piledriver on the floor. Andre reverses that into a very crappy looking backdrop. Time to go home now, as Andre is completely gassed out. Hogan clotheslines the big man down to the canvas, AND HULKS UP BROTHER. Hogan goes for the slam, SLAMS THE BIG GUY, AND DROPS THE LEG for a pinfall win at 12:07! Hogan celebrates and poses in the ring, leaving Gorilla and Jesse to close out the show. The WWE Network version has some interesting commentary from them if you watch it to completion. Or at least until Aretha Franklin starts singing again.
My Thoughts: The fans couldn’t believe what happened, but that’s one of the most memorable video clips in wrestling history. Meaning the bodyslam, but the whole match applies as well. This wasn’t a great match, in fact it was a bad match. But can you really call a match that important, that memorable, and that entertaining (as long as you’ve watched it less than 10 times), bad? That’s a difficult call, but I’d say yes. The build to the match completely outdoes the actual match. Then looking at matches between the two wrestlers, the Survivor Series 1987 match is better, and I believe the other two big singles matches (Main Event, WM IV) between these guys are better as well. As is the Summerslam 1988 main event. Never seen the Wrestlefest 1988 match, so I wouldn’t know. So considering that this is a bad match, I’m going to give it a DUD. It’s a huge money drawer though, there’s no doubt about that. And nobody would say that it shouldn’t have happened. It was great for the WWF’s business (I chose my words carefully).
So, that’s what was to that point the biggest card in history. The lone problem with cards like that is, where do you go? Apparently the WWF simply decided to take a few weeks off. Smart move to soak in all that good press. They had already taped TV for April, so there was nothing to lose. Of course, with every card like this, some reshuffling takes place. One thing is that Junkyard Dog disappeared until June. Duggan and Sheik was supposed to be a program, that didn’t happen. Adonis got fired. Jake Roberts hurt his shoulder. Andre goes off TV so Hogan needs a new challenger. Savage works the B circuit matches against Steamboat, none of which are seen on TV or at any of the WWF’s televised house shows. Somewhat tough times ahead for the WWF, but that show was spectacular. Not in terms of just wrestling quality, but the overall package. Production, use of celebrities, angles leading in, and then the wrestling. Top notch. Next up on my reviews will be an oddly reviewed version of Crockett Cup 1987. It’s basically going to be whichever matches I decide to watch.
Wrestling Time: 1:23:26. That’s with a run-time of 3:04:37. We’ll compare those with other shows as time goes on.
Best: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat. It’s one of the best matches ever.
Worst: Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware. That was terrible stuff.
Card Rating: 9/10. Top notch, not perfect. Excellent though.
