The WrestleMania Project

WrestleMania V – The Mega Powers EXPLODE!!!

Published February 10, 2010 | By Chewie

Event: WrestleMania V Date: April 2, 1989 Venue: Trump Plaza (Atlantic City, New Jersey) Attendance: 18,946

For the second year in a row, WrestleMania is being held at the Trump Plaza. This is also the second event in the anthology that goes to two DVDs. After a WrestleMania IV card that had 16 matches, the WWF followed up with a 14 match card… that seemed to last FOREVER. That’s not to say that there aren’t any gems in here cause there are. Unfortunately we get off a really rocky start with current WWF Women’s Champion Rockin Robin singing America The… Continue reading →

Posted in The WrestleMania Project | Tagged akeem, Andre The Giant, arn anderson, atlantic city, ax, bad news brown, big boss man, bobby "the brain" heenan, bret hart, brutus "the barber" beefcake, demolition, dino bravo, frenchy martin, greg "the hammer" valentine, hacksaw jim duggan, haku, hercules, Hulk Hogan, jake "the snake" roberts, jim neidhart, jimmy hart, Macho Man Randy Savage, marty jannetty, morton downey jr., mr. fuji, mr. perfect, new jersey, ravishing rick rude, rick martel, rockin robin, Roddy Piper, ronnie garvin, Shawn Michaels, slick, smash, strike force, ted dibiase, the barbarian, the blue blazer, the brain busters, the brooklyn brawler, the bushwhackers, the fabulous rougeaus, the hart foundation, the honky tonk man, the powers of pain, the red rooster, the rockers, The Ultimate Warrior, the warlord, tito santana, trump plaza, tully blanchard, twin towers, virgil, wrestlemania v, WWF, WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF Tag Team Championship | Leave a comment

WrestleMania IV – Tournament To Crown A Champion

Published November 20, 2009 | By Chewie

Event: WrestleMania IV Date: March 27, 1988 Venue: Trump Plaza (Atlantic City, New Jersey) Attendance: 18,165

This is the first of the WrestleMania DVDs that are broken into 2 parts. In my version it’s a double sided DVD with only a couple of matches on the flip side. There are 16 matches on the card – the most in WrestleMania history. I remember this being a HUGE event as the whole Hogan/Andre thing had gone down in months previous with twin referees. Incidentally if you’ve never seen THAT fiasco you need to check it out… it’s pure brilliance.

20-Man Battle… Continue reading →

Posted in The WrestleMania Project | Tagged Andre The Giant, atlantic city, ax, bad news brown, Bam Bam Bigelow, Battle Royal, bobby "the brain" heenan, bret "the hitman" heart, brutus "the barber" beefcake, butch reed, davey boy smith, demolition, dino bravo, don muraco, dynamite kid, frenchy martin, greg "the hammer" valentine, hacksaw jim duggan, haku, hercules, Hulk Hogan, jake "the snake" roberts, jimmy hart, Koko B. Ware, Macho Man Randy Savage, miss elizabeth, mr. fuji, new jersey, oliver humperdink, one man gang, ravishing rick rude, rick martel, ricky "the dragon" steamboat, slick, smash, strike force, superstar billy graham, tama, ted dibiase, the british bulldogs, the honky tonk man, the islanders, The Ultimate Warrior, tito santana, trump plaza, virgil, wrestlemania iv, WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF Tag Team Championship | Leave a comment

WrestleMania III – Front Page Action

Published November 5, 2009 | By Chewie

Event: WrestleMania III Date: March 29, 1987 Venue: Pontiac Silverdome (Pontiac, Michigan) Attendance: 93,173

This is the first WrestleMania that I remember a hype for outside of the wrestling world. In addition to the pre-event hype, I remember vividly seeing on front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer sports page the next day a huge photo of Hogan and Andre. In my mind this is the first time that WrestleMania was really an “event”. The opening shots of the crowd are very impressive and the venue is so big that the wrestlers need to be carted in from the dressing… Continue reading →

Posted in The WrestleMania Project | Tagged adrian adonis, alice cooper, Andre The Giant, billy jack haynes, bob orton, bobby "the brain" heenan, bret "the hitman" heart, brutus "the barber" beefcake, butch reed, can-am connection, danny davis, davey boy smith, dino bravo, don muraco, dynamite kid, george "the animal" steele, greg "the hammer" valentine, harley race, hercules, hillbilly jim, Hulk Hogan, jake "the snake" roberts, jim neidhart, jimmy hart, johnny valiant, king kong bundy, Koko B. Ware, little beaver, little tokyo, lord littlebrook, Macho Man Randy Savage, michigan, midget, miss elizabeth, mr. fuji, nikolai volkoff, plain dealer, pontiac, pontiac silverdone, rick martel, ricky "the dragon" steamboat, Roddy Piper, slick, the british bulldogs, the dream team, the fabulous moolah, the fabulous rougeaus, the haiti kid, the hart foundation, the honky tonk man, the iron sheik, the junkyard dog, the killer bees, tito santana, tom zenk, wrestlemania iii, WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship | 2 Comments

WrestleMania 2 – Let’s Try That Again

Published October 22, 2009 | By Chewie

Event: WrestleMania 2 Date: April 7, 1986 Venue: The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, The Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, and The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California Attendance: 40,085 (combined)

As you can see above, this is the first (and I believe only) WrestleMania event to come to us from different locations. Essentially we get 3 “main events” – one from each of the locations. On the mic we get Vince McMahon and Susan Saint James (really WWF – this is the best “celebrity” you could come up with?) from New York. In Chicago… Continue reading →

Posted in The WrestleMania Project | Tagged "classy" freddie blassie, adrian adonis, america the beautiful, Andre The Giant, Battle Royal, bob orton, bobby "the brain" heenan, bret "the hitman" heart, brutus "the barber" beefcake, california, captain lou albano, cathy lee crosby, corporal kirchner, davey boy smith, don muraco, dynamite kid, elvira, george "the animal" steele, george wells, gorilla monsoon, greg "the hammer" valentine, haiti kid, hercules, hoss funk, Hulk Hogan, illinois, jake "the snake" roberts, jesse "the body" ventura, jimmy hart, joe frazier, johnny valiant, king kong bundy, lord alfred hayes, los angeles, los angeles memorial sports arena, lou duva, Macho Man Randy Savage, mean gene okerlund, miss elizabeth, mr. fuji, Mr. T, nassau veterans memorial coliseum, new york, nikolai volkoff, ozzy osbourne, Paul Orndorff, ray charles, ricky "the dragon" steamboat, Roddy Piper, rosemont, rosemont horizon, steel cage, susan saint james, terry funk, the british bulldogs, the dream team, the fabulous moolah, the junkyard dog, tito santana, uncle elmer, uniondale, velvet mcintyre, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania 2, WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF Tag Team Championship, wwf women's championship | Leave a comment

WrestleMania – The Original Grandaddy

Published October 6, 2009 | By Chewie

Event: WrestleMania Date: March 31, 1985 Venue: Madison Square Garden (New York, New York) Attendance: 19,121

If you’ve never seen this show before and you’re a fan of modern day WWE stuff the first thing you’ll notice is the production value here absolutely blows. But don’t judge them too harshly. First off, this show was 25 years ago and it was the first time something like this had ever been done.

The first voice we hear is Gorilla Monsoon and he’s sitting next to Jesse “The Body” Ventura. As an old school wrestling fan this is definitely my favorite combination… Continue reading →

Posted in The WrestleMania Project | Tagged "classy" freddie blassie, Andre The Giant, barry windham, big john studd, bob orton, bobby "the brain" heenan, bruno sammartino, brutus "the barber" beefcake, captain lou albano, cyndi lauper, david sammartino, gorilla monsoon, greg "the hammer" valentine, howard finkel, Hulk Hogan, jesse "the body" ventura, jimmy "superfly" snuka, jimmy hart, johnny valiant, king kong bundy, leilani kai, madison square garden, matt borne, mean gene okerlund, mike rotundo, Mr. T, new york, nikolai volkoff, Paul Orndorff, ricky "the dragon" steamboat, Roddy Piper, special delivery jones, the executioner, the fabulous moolah, the iron sheik, the junkyard dog, the u.s. express, tito santana, wendi richter, WrestleMania, WWE, WWF, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF Tag Team Championship, wwf women's championship | Leave a comment