This show was billed as having a “double main event” which rarely (if ever) works out.  I believe that this is the first Mania event that I watched live on PPV.  We get Gorilla and Bobby [...]]]> Event: WrestleMania VIII
Date: April 5, 1992
Venue: Hoosier Dome ( Indianapolis, Indiana)
Attendance: 65,167

This show was billed as having a “double main event” which rarely (if ever) works out.  I believe that this is the first Mania event that I watched live on PPV.  We get Gorilla and Bobby Heenan on the mic here which is a good lineup.  Reba McEntire sings the national anthem.  It seems weird that the WWF can never make up its mind.  National anthem or America The Beautiful?

Shawn Michaels (with Sensational Sherri) defeated El Matador
Tito’s gone “El Matador” on us which is just so sad.  Shawn is heel at this point and really coming into his own as a singles wrestler (even though he’s leading off this card against an aging Tito).  Tito in charge early and sends HBK to the outside.  He yanks him back in and goes directly into a side headlock (rest) that lasts WAY too long.  Come on guys… you can’t be gassed yet can you?  Small package?  Side headlock.  Whip to ropes hop over?  Side headlock.  Shawn gains the upperhand when Tito goes to the ropes and Shawn sidesteps him and throws him over the top.  HBK is sporting a beautifully fluffed mullet at this point.  Very slow match.  HBK hits his super kick which is not yet named “Sweet Chin Music” but rather the more mundane “crescent kick”.  He goes for his side suplex finisher but Tito catches him with a forearm and follows up with his flying forearm and sends Shawn to the outside.  Tito brings him back and and Shawn scores a pin out of nowhere for the win.  No replay on that one.  Pretty weak match.

Before the next match we get an interview the Legion of Doom and Paul Ellering.  “We’re the best blah blah blah”, “We’re not here to mess around blah blah blah”.  “Ooooo, what a rush…”

The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jake Roberts
Pre-match we get a Sean Mooney interview with Jake where he’s talking about how Jack Tunny says that he can’t bring a snake to the ring.  After that we get a nice recap package of this feud.  Undertaker is a face by the point but is still doing the very methodical/plodding thing in the ring.  Jake is doing the quick strike approach keeping his distance in the ring.  Jake hits a clothesline which sends Taker over the top 360 style but he lands on his feet.  Back in the ring, Jake continues with the upper hand until Undertaker takes over with some blatant  choke holds.  Taker breaks out the heavy artillery and hits some big moves (elbows, clotheslines, etc.)  Jake hits the DDT out of nowhere and Taker sits right up.  Jake plants him HARD with a second one and Taker stays down.  Instead of going for the win, Jake goes outside and grabs Paul.  This of course allows Taker time to grab Jake on the outside and hit the Tombstone on the concrete.  He rolls Jake in and covers him for the win.  Once again we get no recaps here.  Pretty slow match, but great for vintage Undertaker fans out there.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Bret Hart defeated Roddy Piper (c)
One of my Top WrestleMania Matches of all time and watching it again reaffirms that it was a good choice to be put on the list.  Before the match we get an interview with both champ and challenger at the same time.  Once we get in the ring we get right to it with a slew of arm drags.  Bret uses some leverage and tosses Roddy to the outside.  He gets pissed and proceeds to spit on Bret.  Strength test followed by a great spot where Bret grabs onto Roddy’s arm and won’t let go for like two minutes.  Hitman then “hurts his shoulder” and when Piper gets close enough he goes for a small package in the center of the ring… nice.  Piper hits a bulldog on Hart and Bret blades.  Not the best blade job of his career but it gets the job done and he’s bleeding like a stuck pig.  Roddy’s in control until we get a classic double clothesline.  Piper goes to the top (WTF???) and Bret catches him and turns it into his “5 Moves Of Death” -  inverted atomic drop, suplex, Russian leg sweep, neck breaker and back breaker but can’t get the Sharpshooter on.  A while later we get a ref bump.  Piper grabs the bell and does the “good guy” thing and decides not to use it.  He slaps a sleeper on Bret and Bret uses the turnbuckle to flip over.  Piper doesn’t release the hold and gets pinned.  Piper presents the belt to Hitman and they hug it out.  Outstanding match.

Next up we get an interview with Lex Luger sitting at home pimping the World Bodybuilding Federation.  He drinks a milkshake.  If that sounds pretty pathetic and boring it’s cause it is.

The Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags), Repo Man, and The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart)
Before this match gets started, we get interviews with the participants.  The interviews include so many wrestling cliches it’s not even funny.  Actually, it is kind of funny.  Ray Combs (of Family Feud fame) is announcing and trying to be clever.  I’ve just got to say… an 8 man?  Really?  Did I stumble into Survivor Series?  Pretty standard 8 man match here and nothing really noteworthy.  The end comes when Big Boss Man catches Mountie off the second rope and slams him.  A melee  ensues.  One Nasty Boy holds Virgil while the other winds up to hit him.  Naturally, Virgil ducks and one Nasty knocks the other out.  Good guys win.  Recommendation?  Fast forward.

WWF Championship
Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ric Flair (c) (with Mr. Perfect)
Flair out first.  I’ll say it again, the champ should ALWAYS come out last.  Randy’s jogging to the ring.  When the hell did he get un-retired?  No Liz by his side.  Savage comes out on fire and takes control.  Bobby is going crazy but this lasts only until Savage gets back dropped to the outside.  Flair takes over with typical moves – chops, suplex, etc.  Savage getting his ass kicked for a good 8-9 minutes.  Ric going very slow and cocky… classic Flair.  Strut, beat, strut, beat.  Savage finally comes out of a corner and mounts some offense.  Flair goes up to the top (never a good sign) and naturally gets caught/slammed.  Double axe handle off the top to the outside from Savage.  “Flair flop” on the outside after getting rammed on the post.  Flair blades bad and is busted open.  Not sure where I read it, but Flair was fined quite a bit for this move as this was during a “no blood” period of the WWF.  Savage nails the elbow but Perfect stops the count.  Perfect then gives Flair a foreign object who proceeds to drill Savage with it.  Flair is REALLY bloody here.  We get a good spot with Flair sinking in the figure four on Savage and he’s got to really work to get out.  Out of nowhere, Savage goes for a rollover, pulls the trunks and gets the win and the title.  Post match, Flair kisses Liz (who’d made her way to ringside during the match) and she slaps him.  Classic Flair/Savage interviews post match in the dressing room.  Good stuff.  This is the version of Flair that I love (a cocky heel) and also my favorite version of the Macho Man (a little bit crazy).

Tatanka defeated Rick Martel
Christ.  Tatanka comes to the ring with some dancing indians.  This is worse than the opening to the Olympic games.  Bobby Heenan and Gorilla continue to talk about the Savage/Flair match WELL into this one (which tells you what you need to know about this match).  Martel playing the heel and Bobby Heenan being so un-PC it’s hilarious.  “Hey how are ya, hey how are ya.”.  Wow.  Model goes up and gets crotched on the top.  Tatanka hits a cross body out of nowhere for the win.  Lame.

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) (c) (with Jimmy Hart) by countout
Earthquake now has a clone named Tugboat… ugh.  If you’ve been reading these recaps you know that I’m not a big fan of Earthquake, so you can imagine how much I’d like ANOTHER fat dude that can’t wrestle.  DiBiase and Schyster are good wrestlers, but even they can’t carry the Disasters along through this sloppy match.  Earthquake goes for his “balls to the face” finisher but Jimmy Hart sneaks in and pulls IRS out.  The champs walk out of the arena to get counted out.

Owen Hart defeated Skinner
Owen does a back flip into the ring and Skinner spits in his face to start the match.  After only a minute or so, Owen goes for a sunset flip and it’s over.  I simply do not understand why matches like this are on a WrestleMania card.  Save this shit for the Saturday morning shows or Raw.  I love Owen, but stuff like this is a complete waste of time and does nothing except piss off the fans.

Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice (with Harvey Wippleman) by disqualification
Pre-match we get an interview with Hogan and Vince where Hogan is asked if this is his “last match”.  In retrospect this is just laughable.  Sid does an interview complete with his “rule the world” bit which always kind of bored me.  “Real American” hits and the crowd goes wild.  Sid attacks before the bell rings and Hogan fights him off while the music continues to play.  The crowd is fucking HOT right now.  After a great opening this match slows down considerably.  Lots of time on the outside of the ring for Sid.  Back in we get a test of strength which is nothing more than a rest hold.  Sid hits a choke slam out of nowhere and then proceeds to talk to the camera rather than going for a pin.  When he returns, he goes straight into another rest hold (the shoulder pinch of doom) and Hogan’s hand falls twice.  Hogan powers out and Side regains control with a side suplex and shortly thereafter hits his power bomb finisher.  The power bomb actually looked pretty good.  I don’t remember Hogan taking that many big moves.  Hogan kicks out and “Hulks Up” hitting the boot, body slam and the big leg drop.  Sid kicks out!  Very happy to see this as that damn move always put people out.  I remember watching this not knowing what the hell was going to happen now.  Wippelman in and causes the DQ.  Papa Shango (WTF) comes out and starts beating on Hogan with Sid.  Hogan’s tied in the ropes and the Warrior’s music hits!  Warrior flies to the ring and clears house.  He and Hogan pose down to end the show.

General Thoughts

• In a dark match, the Bushwackers defeated The Beverly Brothers.  Thank God for dark matches.
• Apparently there was a match scheduled between The British Bulldog and The Berzerker which had to be scrapped due to time constraints.  Not really sure why as the match times only run just over an hour and a half.
• Heenan says, “I’m Indiana’s favorite Bobby.”  Absolutely hilarious seeing as this is prime time Bobby Knight country and point in his career.
• Heenan is now known as a “broadcast journalist” – a title which would follow him for quite a few years.
• Saw a couple of Horsemen banners in the crowd.  I still wish the WWF would/could have brought that stable in.  Woo!
• Warrior looked much smaller than when he left the WWF.  This no doubt fueled the rumors that this was a “new” Ultimate Warrior and that the original had died.

At WrestleMania VI, it was announced that this event would be held at the LA Memorial Coliseum.  Between WM VI and now, the venue was changed to the Sports Arena.  According to the WWF [...]]]> Event: WrestleMania VII
Date: March 24, 1991
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (Los Angeles, California)
Attendance: 16,158

At WrestleMania VI, it was announced that this event would be held at the LA Memorial Coliseum.  Between WM VI and now, the venue was changed to the Sports Arena.  According to the WWF at the time, this was due to some death threats that Slaughter had received.  Other reports say it was due to slow ticket sales.  Personally I’m of the opinion that it was the latter.  WrestleMania VI had over 67,000 people in attendance and here we’ve got just over 16,000.  Hmm.  During the intro, Hulk Hogan is now officially referred to as “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan.  In addition to the sudden venue change, this is also the first WM where Jesse Ventura is not part of the lineup which is a real bummer.  We get an a cappella performance by Willie Nelson before we get things started.

The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Barbarian and Haku (with Bobby Heenan)
If you can get past the fact that Hacksaw Jim Duggan is on the mic (which is REALLY difficult to do) and it’s a little long, this is a decent opener for the event.  The Rockers are “tag team specialists” so you’ve got to think they’re going to win this one right off the bat.  They do their little double elbow drop gimmick and run directly into a huge double clothesline by the Barbarian.  Jennetty plays face in peril and gets a massive slingshot over the top rope.  Just a reminder… Hacksaw sucks on the mic (as if that’s any surprise).  Marty goes for a cross body and gets power slammed for his efforts.  He finally gets a hot tag to Michaels who cleans house.  Jannetty gets back into the action with a drop kick off the top which Shawn follows up with a cross body off the top for the win.  Long match (10 minutes +) for an opener but a good way to start the show.

Regis, Marla Maples and Alex Trebek.  Come on WWF, can’t you do better than this for your “celebrities”?

The Texas Tornado defeated Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart)
Next up is Dino Bravo against the Ultimate Warrior without face paint… er, I mean Texas Tornado.  Bravo attacks before the bell and takes the upper hand before we even get started.  Tornado takes over and goes for the claw early in the match up.   Bravo regains the advantage after getting a knee up on a charging Tornado.  Bravo hits his side suplex finisher but Tornado kicks out.  Hey Bravo… your finisher didn’t work.  You’re fucked.  Dino follows that up with the worst chop ever off the 2nd rope.  He goes for it again but is caught in Tornado’s claw which is quickly followed with a “Spinning Tornado” for the victory.  I’ve never been a big fan of either of these guys so it was thankfully a pretty quick match.  I do have to say that it does suck to watch two dead guys wrestle though.  RIP fellas.

The British Bulldog defeated The Warlord (with Slick)
Pre-match interview with The Warlord (wearing some crappy Legion Of Doom gear and a Hannibal Lecter mask) and Slick.  Slick is an absolutely pathetic character and only goes to show what the WWF was able to get away with in those days.  WOW.  The Warlord talks about how no wrestler has escaped his full nelson so we can pretty much assume that we’ll see that spot sometime during the match.  In the ring we get to see these guys go at it and god DAMN are they big.  We get a couple of chest bumps and finally Warlord goes down.  Bulldog goes for a crucifix and gets slammed hard.   This is a pretty typical “big man” match but Bulldog is definitely leading the way.  He always did move great even for a big guy.  By comparison, this is much better than the WrestleMania XX match between Goldberg and Lesnar (which I was in attendance for).  Bulldog is on the short end of the stick for most of this match and then takes control with a very impressive standing dropkick.  He goes for a piledriver which gets reversed and Warlord gets the full nelson but doesn’t lock the fingers.  As predicted, Bulldog breaks the hold and gets Warlord up for a HUGE running power slam and the win.  Good match.

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) (with Jimmy Hart) defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) (c)
We get a pre-match interview with the Nastys who proceed to make a “stink and pink” reference.  Wow… talk about  a “shocking” display of guts to get off that blast on a live PPV.  We start out with some good back-and-forth action in the early going.  The Hart Foundation is simply not going for the pin and even Heenan points it out.  Bret get overwhelmed and plays face in peril for a while.  Actually that’s kind of an understatement… he’s getting his ass handed to him for a while.  Jimmy’s megaphone gets tossed into the ring and one Nasty hits the other by mistake.  The Foundation takes over and hits their finisher on Knobbs.  Jimmy then throws in his helmet (not sure why he was wearing it other than to have an excuse to have a foreign object at ringside) and Saggs blasts Anvil with it.  Knobbs rolls over and gets the pin and the titles.  Nice match with a great heel-ish ending.

Blindfold Match
Jake Roberts defeated Rick Martel
From the recap, we’re told that Jake has been “blinded” when Martel shot him in the eye with his cologne “Arrogance”.  I remember this storyline like it was yesterday as it played out over a couple of weeks on Superstars.  As we head into this blindfold match I can’t imagine that they can’t see under these hoods.  I’m guessing its essentially  a see-through mesh type bag.  In any case, once the match gets going it’s like 2 minutes before they even touch one another as they’re just playing to the crowd pointing at one another.  Kind of funny as the crowd always points Martel in the wrong direction.  Hilarious.  Martel whips Jake to the ropes and goes for a backdrop which is hysterical to watch.  Other than that kind of stuff, this starts out REALLY slow.  I think I’m going to start my own “bo-ring” chant.  Martel finally catches up to Jake and body slams him and then follows up with an elbow drop, which of course Jake has moved out of the way of.  Not sure how many times they’ll go for the “Oops, I missed cause I’m blindfolded” spot but I’m guessing this wasn’t the last time.  The crowd is really into this one and I’m not sure why.  They start up a “DDT” chant which we just know is coming.  They go out of the ring (?) and Martel grabs a chair which he proceeds to blast the ring post with.  Per my previous point there’s no way they’d be out there swinging shit around if they really couldn’t see anything.  Back in the ring, Martel hits a back breaker and goes for his Boston crab which Jake finally breaks.  Once again they stumble around the ring until they are back to back in the middle and Jake nails the DDT for the win.  Other than the last 2 minutes or so this is a total snooze fest.  Feel free to skip.

The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jimmy Snuka
And “The Streak” begins.  Snuka is out in leopard skin underwear… Christ.  Taker is in control from the get go but misses an elbow after a couple of minutes which allows Snuka his first bit of offense.  Snuka goes for a cross body and totally misses.  Superfly slingshots back in from the outside and Taker catches him and goes right into the Tombstone for the victory.  Snuka is essentially a jobber here.  This should have been saved for a Saturday morning show though I’m guessing the WWF wanted to show Undertaker as a bad ass kicking the crap out of a “superstar” albeit an old one.

Retirement Match
The Ultimate Warrior defeated Randy Savage (with Sensational Queen Sherri)
Career vs. career matches are never quite what they’re cracked up to be as most wrestlers never actually “retire” (See Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, etc.)  That being said, this one was a great match from beginning to end.  We see Miss Elizabeth in the crowd and Warrior walks to the ring rather than dashing in as he’s known to do.  This really gives an “important” vibe to this match though it does look like he’s wearing a shredded garbage bag to the ring.  Warrior takes control from the beginning but he’s not wresting his type of match.  Savage goes for a cross body off the top and Warrior catches him, puts him down and slaps him… nice spot.  Sherri keeps getting involved until Warrior gets pissed and shoves her down.  There’s a TON of outside the ring action going on here and this really should be a no DQ match.  Not sure it was a botched spot or what, but at one point Warrior does his crisscross like 5 times and then essentially does a face plant cause he’s nowhere near Savage.  Not sure who, but someone fucked up.  We get a classic double clothes line spot and both guys are gassed.  Warrior gets a small package but the ref is out of position.  We follow this up with a ref bump and Sherri comes in to pound on Warrior but his Savage by mistake (shoe).  Savage manages to make a comeback and hits his patented clothesline  over the top and sets up Warrior for the big elbow.  Nails it not once, not twice, but 5 TIMES!  Warrior inexplicably kicks out and if you didn’t by this point you know that Savage’s “career” is done.  Warrior starts shaking the ropes and “Hulks Up” hitting clothesline after clothesline on Savage.  He hits the gorilla press slam on Savage but Savage kicks out as well.  Wow.  Warrior then starts talking to “The Gods” and starts to leave the ring.  Savage goes to the top and plans to go to the outside on top of Warrior but misses and hits the guardrail.  Another crisscross from Warrior followed by the shoulder block knocks Savage out of the ring.  Warrior dumps him back in and hits him with the same move twice more finally ending the match by putting his foot on Savage’s chest for the pin.  Absolutely outstanding match.  May have to revisit my Top 10 WrestleMania Matches and put this one on there… wow.  In retrospect, it’s kind of ironic that the Warrior won this career match and he’s essentially done with the WWF at this point.  Savage lost here and he had another decade (or 2) in the biz.  Post-match, Sherri beats down Macho and Liz comes to his rescue jumping the barricade.  Hug/love fest with Savage and Liz and there are literally people crying ringside (hey folks… this is scripted).

After the brilliant Savage/Warrior match, we follow that up with some super gay backstage stuff.  Regis is getting fitted for a casket by Taker, Trebek talks to Demolition, back to Regis with Tenryu/Kitao who don’t speak a lick of English and then back to Trebek talking with Jake & Damien.  Complete waste of time.

Tenryu and Kitao defeated Demolition (Crush and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji)
Tenryu and Kitao were on loan from another promotion so you know they’re not going to lose here which sucks cause I was a huge Demolition fan.  Asian guy #2 hits a crappy looking power bomb for the win.  Piped in crowd noise when they’re leaving the ring.  Terrible match.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
The Big Boss Man defeated Mr. Perfect (c) (with Bobby Heenan) by disqualification
Pre-match, Boss Man is bitching about how his momma’s feelings were hurt.  Come on… are we really resorting to mom jokes?  For some reason, Lord Alfred Hayes is back – worst on air WWF talent ever and that’s saying a lot.  Boss Man takes over from the beginning and crowd loving it.  Hayes and Gorilla talk about the whole Savage/Liz ending from the previous match and Alfred says it’s the most touching thing he’s seen… ever.  Um, OK.  Perfect takes over and plays the heel to perfection (excuse the pun).  God damn was he great.  His hold-the-guy-and-summer-salt-over-him-neck-snap was always one of my favorites.  A while later, Boss Man is back in control until he makes the mistake of turning his attention to Heenan.  Perfect naturally attacks from behind.  Andre The Giant (?) comes down to ringside and grabs the belt.  Perfect tries to grab it, but Andre lays out Perfect but Boss Man can’t capitalize.  Haku and the Barbarian come down and cause a DQ finish.  I remember being pissed at this outcome cause I always wanted to see Boss Man win a title.  Watching this match now I can’t help but marvel at how great Henning was.  The story here was garbage as I hate non-finishes especially at a PPV.

Next we get an Mean Gene interview with Donald Trump and Chuck Norris in the stands.  Henry Winkler is sitting right there and Gene totally blows him off until he’s ready to talk to him.  Hilarious.

Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Greg Valentine
Blubberquake and Valentine.  Why does Earthquake flex… ever?  Total squash match here (no pun intended).  Wonder who Hammer pissed off to be in this position?

The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated Power and Glory (Paul Roma and Hercules) (with Slick)
The first appearance for the LOD in a WrestleMania event.  Couple of decent spots with Hawk hitting a double clothesline and Animal catching Roma off the top into a nasty looking power slam.  LOD hits the Doomsday Device and it’s over.  Essentially another squash.  I’m not a big fan of tag wrestling and this was only so so.   If you’re looking for a tag match to watch on this card definitely go with the Rockers opener.

Virgil (with Roddy Piper) defeated Ted DiBiase by countout
For the life of me, I can’t remember how Piper go inserted into this feud so I can’t tell you why in God’s name he’s with Virgil.  Million Dollar Man looking stupid at the get go with Virgil taking control.  Props to DiBiase for making himself look so bad and Virgil so good.  Crowd totally not into it and it sounds like a bingo hall.   No that isn’t a reference to ECW… it actually sounds like a bingo hall.  Not sure if it’s the bad attendance or bad acoustics in the building.  DiBiase takes over with a piledriver and goes methodical heel on Virgil really slowing the pace.  On the outside, DiBiase blasts Piper who’s on crutches for this bout.  Piper uses the crutch to bring DiBiase over the top rope where he subsequently gets counted out.  This is back in the day where people gave a shit about a count out win, so Virgil celebrates like he just gave birth.  DiBiase gets the Million Dollar Dream after the match and Piper blasts him with the crutch to make the save.  Sensational Sherri comes down to help out DiBiase and they give a bad beat down to Piper’s bad leg.  DiBiase is playing ruthless heel here… more so than I remember.  I’ve always thought of him as that Ric Flair type villain where he’ll cheat to win but have never thought of him as a really brutal heel.  This seems out of character but I might just be remember wrong.  Virgil and Piper have a “hug it out bitch” moment after the match.

After this, we get a nice little recap of the Hogan/Slaughter match up.  No matter how many times I hear it, “Pukeamaniacs” is still funny.

The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Tito Santana
Whip to the ropes with the first move of the match.  Leapfrog and Tito hits the flying forearm.  Noggin knocker on the outside on Mountie and Hart.  Mountie hits Tito with the cattle prod and the match is over in less than 2 minutes.  Poor Tito.  I wish I knew what he did to become a jobber.  He deserves better.

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter (c) (with General Adnan)
Typical Hogan interview beforehand.  Once again the “F” is beeped out when he references WWF on this version of the DVD.  More recap/footage of Slaughter and Hogan.  There’s a shot in here where Slaughter has Hogan in the camel clutch and Adnan is showing the title belt to Hogan.  One problem… he’s got the belt upside down.  Hogan proceeds to rip off his shirt during the interview.  Slaughter is introduced first into the ring which always pisses me off.  Even if they’re a heel, the champ should come to the ring second.  Always.  Hogan’s “Real American” hits and he’s got himself a new shirt for his entrance.  He’s officially announced as “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan which is kind of gay if you ask me.  Seeing Hogan here one specific movie quote came to mind: “Jesus… didn’t that guy ever have hair?”  Lock up early and Hogan pushes the ref out of the way.  Crowd REALLY hot.  They’ve mentioned multiple times that Hogan can’t win the title on a count out or a DQ.  Slaughter grabs a chair on the outside and hits Hogan with it in plain view of the ref.  Hogan no sells it and we don’t get a DQ.  I have this as my Top WrestleMania Matches and in re-watching is I’m realizing it’s actually pretty terrible from a wrestling standpoint (not that Hogan ever has any “good” matches).  We get some good old back-raking action which can only be described as awesome.  Hogan in control and really giving Slaughter a beating.  Hogan for some reason goes to his aerial assault and of course gets caught when Adnan holds his leg.  This allows Slaughter to take over with a ton of heelish tactics.  More chair shots with no DQ as well as a mic cord choking Hogan out.  Sarge goes to work on the lower back with punches, boots and a Boston crab.  Hogan is essentially under the rope but decides to try and power out anyhow.  When he can’t he goes to the ropes and Slaughter thinks he’s won.  Slaughter continues to pound on the back and Adnan distracts the ref.  Slaughter covers Hogan for like a day but Adnan is still yapping.   Chair shot to Hogan and he’s busted wide open – GREAT crimson mask.  Camel Clutch in the middle of the ring on a bloody Hogan.  He finally breaks it but runs into a turnbuckle and is down for the count.  Sarge brings in the Iraq flag and places it over Hogan and goes for the cover.  Hogan kicks out, rips the flag and “Hulks Up” for the victory.  This is the quintessential Hulk Hogan moment which is why it’s one of my favs.  Match sucks, but if you’re a Hogan fan you’ll love it.

General Thoughts

• There was a dark match on the card where Koko B. Ware actually won a match and beat the Brooklyn Brawler.  Fuck Koko.
• I wonder if Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart is pissed that he never got his own entrance theme?
• Jimmy Hart must keep airbrushers in business with all of his custom made jackets.  They are AWESOME.
• It’s amazing to look back on some of the story lines and realize just how LONG they took to develop.  With the advent of monthly PPVs you just don’t get that kind of build these days.
• A couple times its mentioned that this is the “largest PPV audience in history”.  Wish I knew what the number was.
• Weird that there are very few match recaps during these old Mania events.
• The Hogan/Slaughter match made my Top WrestleMania Matches as an honorable mention.  Watching this show again, the Warrior/Savage match should be the one that represents this show.

From the very beginning of this DVD you know you’re in for something special.  The intro is a voice over by Vince REALLY turning it on.  Images of a celestial Hogan and Warrior are shown and Vince booms about [...]]]> Event: WrestleMania VI
Date: April 1, 1990
Venue: SkyDome (Toronto, Ontario)
Attendance: 67,287

From the very beginning of this DVD you know you’re in for something special.  The intro is a voice over by Vince REALLY turning it on.  Images of a celestial Hogan and Warrior are shown and Vince booms about the “Ultimate Challenge”.  Gorilla and Jesse are back once again (though Ventura is sans mustache).  As we’re in Toronto, Bob Goulet sings the Canadian national anthem.  It’s weird to start a WrestleMania event without America The Beautiful.

Rick Martel defeated Koko B. Ware
This is a battle of terrible characters.  Koko’s one of my least favorite wrestlers of all time and The Model while a pretty decent wrestler he was never able to get over in my book.  Koko hits an early cross body and nearly gets the pin.  That said, he looks like a moron cause he’s clapping all the time.  Stop Koko… you look like a douche.  Model takes control when he throw Koko over the top rope.  He then follows up with a terrible looking double axe handle off the top.  Martel slaps on the Boston Crab and Koko quickly taps out.

WWF Tag Team Championship
Demolition (Ax and Smash) defeated The Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku) (c) (with Bobby Heenan)
Prior to the match we get a backstage interview with Mene Gene where he refers to the Connection as “The Colostomy Connection”.  That right there’s funny.  Gorilla makes a reference to a “Three-peat”.  This is right after when Pat Riley has trademarked the phrase.  Andre is in REALLY bad shape at this point and he essentially stands on the apron the entire match.  Even when Haku gains the upper hand he doesn’t tag Andre.  In retrospect this is probably two fold as Andre is a wreck plus it’s a nice tie in for the storyline.  Things go to hell and Andre comes into the ring.  He hold Smash so Haku can super kick him and he nails Andre instead.  Naturally, Andre gets tied up in the ropes (which he always does).  Demolition hits their finisher on Haku to take the titles.  Bobby Heenan is pissed at Andre after the match and slaps Andre.  This begins the final face turn for the Giant.  Andre rides out a hero of his last WrestleMania match (though he would go on to make a couple of appearances).

Earthquake (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Hercules
As Earthquake does his pre-match interview, you can hear Hercules’ music in the background.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… How does Earthquake have a job?  He’s a complete slob.  At this point, Earthquake is undefeated and according to Gorilla has sent 28 men to the hospitals.  Wow, I didn’t realize there were that many jobbers in the WWF!  Has Hercules EVER been above mid card status?  It’s too bad cause I really enjoyed him.  He’s a much better “big man” than most.  We start out with the classic “test of strength” back and forth.  A while later Hercules goes for his back breaker finisher… come on dude.  You know better than that.  Earthquake keeps “flexing” which pisses me off every time he does it.  I mean ol CHEWIE here has better arms that this dude.  Earthquake ends it with his “Balls To The Face” finisher.  Ugh.

At this point we get an interview with Miss Elizabeth talking about how she’s been away from wrestling for a while.  She says that she’s been working with the WWF in an advisory roll but that she’s been thinking about coming back to ringside.  She says that if she does return to ringside, “You’ll see a much more active Liz.”  So… we can pretty much guarantee that Liz will get involved somehow in the Macho match later in the show.

Brutus Beefcake defeated Mr. Perfect (with The Genius)
Before the next match we get a backstage interview with Beefcake.  Beefcake gets the upper hand early and he’s really putting it to Perfect.  Curt sells better than anyone in the history of the sport.  Perfect slows it down and we go into some good back and forth stuff for a couple of minutes.  Beefcake calls for the sleeper but the Genius gets up on the apron and drops his scroll.  Perfect nails Beefcake with his and gains the momentum in the match.  Gorilla notes that the pendulum has swung 360 degrees and Jesse corrects him… hilarious.  Beefcake slingshots Perfect into the corner and he hits the post “knocking him out”.  Beefcake gets the win ending the “perfect” streak.  The Genius runs into the ring and steals the clippers that Beefcake was going to use on Perfect.  Of course, The Genius gets a sleeper and a haircut for his trouble.

Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fought to a double countout
Before the next match we get a nice recap.  Piper’s painted himself half black which always cracked me up.  Total WTF moment for sure.  He totally sounds like a 5 pack/day smoker the way he’s wheezing during this interview.  No entrance for Bad News on the DVD.  Ventura makes a crack about how someday he’s going to be president… close but not quite Governor.  Gorilla says (as he always does) that THIS is the best WrestleMania in history.  After getting slammed into the turnbuckle a few times, Piper “Pipes Up” and makes a nice comeback.  There’s almost no wrestling at all in this match.  After another beat down, Piper gains the upper hand once again by going with a poke to the eye.  Piper then goes into his tights for a “glove” which the ref apparently doesn’t care about.  This mercifully ends with a double countout and both men continue to fight all the way to the back.  This was a pretty piss poor match… feel free to skip over it.

The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov)
Silly little vignette backstage with the Bolsheviks before the match which lasts longer than the match itself.  The Harts attack while Volkoff sings his national anthem.  They throw him out of the ring and hit Zhukov with their finisher for a super quick win.  AWESOME.

The Barbarian (with Bobby Heenan) defeated Tito Santana
Good lord… Arriba!  Tito’s playing the “weak” guy but he’s pretty ripped up here as well.  The Barbarian does look awesome but he’s still nothing compared to the roided up muscle heads of today (Batista, HHH, etc.)  A big boot to the face puts Tito down but he manages to come back and hit a pretty damn good looking forearm to the face.  He would have won the match if it wasn’t for Bobby putting Barb’s foot on the ropes before the three count.  A few minutes later, Barbarian hits a clothesline off the top rope that nearly turns Tito inside out.  Easy pin at that point.

Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Randy Savage and Sensational Queen Sherri
At this point in his career, Dusty is doing the “common man” gig.  He’s all kinds of crazy.  Macho out first with Sheri by his side.  It’s really weird to see him without Liz there… hmm.  I wonder if she’ll return today?  I would really be a coincidence seeing as she did that interview previously.  Rhodes and Sapphire hit the ring announced as weighing in at 465.  Yeah… right.  Seriously, where in the FUCK did they find this woman and why is she wrestling?  She’s one step removed from Gabourey Sidibe in Precious.  Anyhow, Liz makes her “surprise” appearance and is in the corner of Rhodes and Sapphire for the match.  Quick start to the match and Dusty takes advantage after catching Savage off the top.  The women come in and Sapphire quite literally bounces around for a couple of minutes.  She goes for an airplane spin on Sherri… an AIRPLANE SPIN.  Sherri comes back and goes for an ill-times body slam which of course she can’t complete.  The guys come back in and Savage takes over.  He hits a double axe handle off the top twice and Dusty is in big trouble.  Sapphire comes to his aid and Savage tosses her aside.  Liz comes over to help step in the way.  Savage hits Rhodes with his king scepter but doesn’t go for the cover.  Sapphire is a complete waste here but does manage to throw Sherri out of the ring.  Liz dumps her back in, pulls Sherri’s hair and allows Sapphire to get the pin.  Liz, Dusty and Sapphire “dance” after the match.  Absolutely piss poor wrestling but mildly entertaining for that “car wreck” factor.

At this point we get a few interview segments.  Jesse and Gorilla talking about some “adult footage”, Sherri and Macho King essentially yelling at the camera, Demolition talking about their big win and how the Hart Foundation are waiting for them.  Next up is Hogan.  Pretty typical stuff here what with Hulkamania running wild and all.  Hogan does say that its not whether you win or lose but what kind of winner or loser you are.  I had never caught this before so knowing what I know it was a pretty interesting statement.  Over to the Warrior for his interview.  He’s basically on acid at this point talking about living forever, beliefs and how Hulkamania can live through the Warrior.

The Orient Express (Sato and Tanaka) (with Mr. Fuji) defeated The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) by countout
The Orient Express comes to the ring, you can totally tell that Gorilla isn’t interesting in this match.  The Rockers come down and Shawn is starting to get quite a bit bigger.  Who the hell are the Orient Express?  Anyhow, Shawn takes over but he’s obviously not “HBK” quite yet.  Tanaka get a kick to Shawn’s back and Shawn goes face in peril for a few minutes.  Finally Shawn makes a big tag and Jannetty cleans house.  The Rockers go up to the top to hit their tandem dropkicks off the top but Fuji grabs Jannetty’s leg and then hits him with the dreaded “salt to the eyes”.  Marty sells it like he’s got daggers in his eyes and literally walks OVER the guardrail into the crowd getting counted out in the process.

Jim Duggan defeated Dino Bravo (with Jimmy Hart and Earthquake)
Hacksaw comes to the ring and he’s sticking with the USA chant.  Someone should tell ol Duggan that he’s is in Toronto.  This one isn’t worth watching nor is it worth recapping.  Duggan gets the win when Jimmy throws the 2×4 to Bravo but Duggan grabs it and nails him with it.  Duggan gets his ass beat after the match by Earthquake complete with the “balls to the face” finisher.  Total snoozefest.

Million Dollar Championship
Ted DiBiase (c) (with Virgil) defeated Jake Roberts by countout
The Million Dollar belt is on the line here for the first and I believe only time.  Jake goes for a quick win with the DDT after about 12 seconds.  DiBiase is out of the ring quickly.  Jake goes for it a couple more times in the next minute or so.  He gets frustrated and decides to slow things down and takes over with a hammer lock.  Million Dollar Man takes over after Jake makes a mistake and really slows down the tempo.  The fans get a wave going in the arena.  Silly Canadians.  That said, it doesn’t say much for what they think of the match.  DiBiase hits a pile driver but doesn’t go for the cover right away.  He hooks in the Million Dollar Dream and it looks like it’s going to be over.  Jake makes it to the ropes.  DiBiase stays on him and after a couple of near falls, he goes to the top ropes but gets caught.  Jake takes over and signals for the DDT.  Virgil pulls Jake out of the ring before he can slap it on and DiBiase follows him out.  Virgil dumps Million Dollar Man back in and Jake gets counted out.  After the match, Virgil grabs the Million Dollar belt and takes off.  Jake finally sinks in the DDT and plants DiBiase right in the middle of the ring.  Virgil comes back to save the day before Jake can drape Damien over Million Dollar Man.  Decent little match even though it was a bit predictable.

The Big Boss Man defeated Akeem (with Slick)
Million Dollar Man is still out after getting his DDT in the previous match and he proceeds to beat the hell out of Big Boss Man before the match starts.  Akeem then comes down and proceeds to continue the beating for the first couple of minutes of the match.  Boss Man reverses it and sends him back and forth between the turnbuckles multiple times and then hits his sidewalk slam finisher (always loved that move!) for the win.

A waste of a segment follows with Sean Mooney, Mary Tyler Moore and Rhythm and Blues  (Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine).  The Bushwackers come out and beat the hell out of… the instruments.  Fast forward.

Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) defeated Jimmy Snuka
Snuka literally struts like a chicken on his way to the ring.  This is a nice little match with some good back and forth action.  Snuka misses off the second rope and Rude hits his finisher for the victory.  Speaking of nice finishers… this one always looked BRUTAL.  Not sure how he didn’t kill someone doing it.

WWF Intercontinental Championship and WWF Championship
The Ultimate Warrior (Intercontinental Champion) defeated Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion)
This is one of my Top 10 Favorite WrestleMania matches of all time!  Warrior walks to the ring which he never does.  Hogan does his typical entrance.  A classic back and forth “test of strength” at the beginning of the match.  Need to show just how even they really are.  Warrior wins the knuckle showdown and it totally looks like Hogan’s BLOWING the Warrior.  Of course, Hogan makes his way back to his feet and takes the upper hand.  In a beautiful juvenile twist, now Hogan’s getting the suck job.  After all of this, they do some criss crossing in the ring and take turns slamming one another.  Warrior puts Hogan over the top and Hogan busts up his knee.  After about 2 minutes, Hogan takes over and is walking fine.  The crowd is totally behind Hogan and he’s in control of the match using some rest holds.  Jess talks about how they are “wear down” holds… No shit Jesse.  Classic double clothesline and Warrior comes out on top.  Warrior goes to the rope shake and hits a couple of big clotheslines on Hogan.  Bearhug after that to take a break.  Hogan’s arm drops twice and Hogan comes back.  Ref gets bumped and Warrior hits 2 double axe handles and then misses his shoulder block.  Hogan covers Warrior and has him pinned for like a day.  Warrior hits a back suplex and pins Hogan for the same day.  Warrior finally hits a weak gorilla press followed by a huge splash and we’ve got a ref to make the count.  Hogan kicks out and “Hulks Up”.  He hits the big boot but misses the leg drop finisher.  Warrior follows with a splash to get the victory.  Hogan hands the belt to the Warrior and they hug it out to show good sportsmanship.  OUTSTANDING match!

General Thoughts

• I love it when Gorilla talks about “winner’s money” and “loser’s money”.  This is obviously WAY before the concept of a “smart” wrestling fan.
• During this show, it’s announced that WrestleMania VII will be held at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.  In actuality it was held at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena.
• Did Tito Santana ever win a singles match at WrestleMania?
• I totally don’t remember Hogan hurting himself in the title match.  In my memory he put Warrior over clean in the ring.
• This is the last time that Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura hosted together.

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 [...]]]> 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 Beautiful.  Two words… fucking brutal.

Hercules defeated King Haku (with Bobby Heenan)
The opening bout is former Heenan Family member Hercules vs. King Haku.  Bobby Heenan gets on the mic before the match begins and tells the crowd to get on their feet for the King.  My response to this is if he’s so damn good why the hell is he in the opening match?  This isn’t a bad match for what it is.  Pretty clean throughout and Hercules seems to have learned from his slip-up at WrestleMania IV and bridges out of a double pin at the last second to get the victory.

The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man) (with Slick) defeated The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)
Up next is the first time that Mr. WrestleMania Shawn Michaels is on a WrestleMania card as part of the Rockers.  Akeem is absolutely laughable.  The “African Dream”?  Really?  Who at the WWF thought turning the One Man Gang into a jive talking African Queen was a good idea?  In any case, the Rockers actually put up a decent fight for a good long while with some great quick tag team wrestling.  The end comes very quickly though when Shawn Michaels goes off the top rope and gets power bombed.  Holy shit.  Throw in a splash from the over sized Akeem and I’m surprised he ever got up from that one.

Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) fought to a double countout
Beefcake is the “Barber” at this point and I could never get over how bad his HAIR was.  I suppose that’s the definition of irony huh?  In any case, Brutus is having a bad hair day against the well coiffed Million Dollar Man.  I do have to say that I LOVE me some double clothesline.  Every time I see one I geek out like a total mark.  DiBiase gets the Million Dollar Dream on Beefcake but he makes it to the ring and we get a pretty weak double countout.  Beefcake the proceeds to get Virgil in the sleeper to end the madness.  Waste of time.

The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) (with Jimmy Hart)
Before the next match, we get a package where we’re shown Luke and Butch eating like a couple of idiots.  I suppose this is in here to show us just how “crazy” they are but it’s a complete waste of time.  The match isn’t much better either.  The Rougeaus are now heels going against the “power” that is the Bushwhackers.  Ho hum.  There’s one pretty humorous moment here when Butch (or Luke I can never tell which) gets body slammed and grabs a handful of one of the Rougeaus’ nut sack.  Hilarious.  A couple of minutes later the Rougeaus celebrate prematurely and get beaten by the Bushwhackers finishing move… a double stomach buster.  Um… kay.

Mr. Perfect defeated The Blue Blazer
Mr. Perfect makes his way down to the ring with no music which sucks cause his music is one of my favorite themes of all time.  He actually slips on his way down to the ring which is ironic seeing that he’s “perfect”.  The Blazer looks awesome here in the early going.  Damn do I miss Owen.  Blazer has the advantage and goes to the top for a big splash.  Perfect brings the knees up at the last second for a BRUTAL looking collision.  Not sure how you can “fake” that one.  Even after that mishap, Blazer manages to take control over most of the match.  After a really close call, Blazer pleads with the ref and turns around right into a Henning forearm.  Perfect follows up wit the Pefect-plex for the victory.

WWF Tag Team Championship
Demolition (Ax and Smash) (c) defeated The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian) and Mr. Fuji
Before the match gets started we’re shown a vignette of Fuji running a 5k.  We follow that up with Run DMC and the “WrestleMania Rap”???  Gorilla says that a little bit of rap goes a long way.  In this instance I have to totally agree with him.  The WWF typically does some sort of “filler” during the big show but this is crazy.  The match itself is about what you’d expect from 4 big guys and a run down Master Fuji.  Some good back and forth between Demolition and P.O.P. with Fuji only getting involved when Demolition is completely beat down and then out quickly.  The end comes when Fuji goes to the good ol ceremonial salt in the eyes gimmick and it backfires when he gets his own man.  Demolition takes advantage and hits their “finisher that wouldn’t hurt but looks cool” on Fuji for the win to retain their titles.

Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) defeated Ronnie Garvin
Next up is Garvin and Bravo with a random appearance by Jimmy Snuka.  He’s on his way back to the fed and apparently Vince wants to send him out so folks can remember what he looks like.  The match itself is a good fair match.  Garvin is going crazy with the cradles… inside cradle, sunset flip attempts, etc.  At one point Bravo goes for the gayest looking bear hug in the history of wrestling.  Bravo hits a side suplex out of nowhere for the win.  After the match, Ronnie gets the “Garvin Stomp” on Frenchie in a typical “face loses but has to get revenge on the manager” moment.

The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) (with Bobby Heenan) defeated Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana)
Even after all of these years, its still weird to see Blanchard and Anderson in the WWF – they’ll always be WCW guys (and Horseman at that) to me.  Strikeforce is back together for the first time in quite a while but have everything running smoothly at the beginning of the match.  Nice little side by side dropkicks send the Busters to the floor.  A while later Strikeforce gets a double figure four right in the middle which is really cool visually but Arn breaks up with a rake to the eye.  Tito fucks up and hits Martel with the flying burrito (forearm) which sends Martel outside.  Martel selling it like Tito took his head off.  Time for a totally telegraphed heel turn.  Tito is getting double teamed and Martel is still on the outside hurting.  Martel refuses to extend the arm to take the tag and eventually leaves Tito in the ring to fend for himself.  Tito gets his ass kicked for another couple of minutes before getting hit with a spike piledriver.  I’ve got to say that Tito pretty much carries the match here.  Well done Chico.  We get a post match interview with Martel who’s always been terrible on the mic and this is no exception.

At this point we get an in-ring segment with Brother Love, Morton Downey Jr. and Roddy Piper.  Downey is smoking on the way to the ring which is king of funny.  Downey and Brother Love go at each other for a couple of minutes and then Piper makes his way to the ring.  Brother Love just kind of disappears.  This ends with Downey blowing smoke in Piper’s face, Piper getting pissed and spraying him with a fire extinguisher.  I remember this being much cooler than it was.

After the Piper/Downey thing we’re shown a preview of the Hulk Hogan “classic” No Holds Barred.  We might as well rename it the “Hulk Hogan Federation” at this point.  I mean, is there ANY chance in hell that he’s going to lose the main even with Vince so far up his ass?  Gene nearly laughs when he says how this movie is going to be a “blockbuster”.  After that segment, Jesse Ventura is all fired up about how Hogan is coming to Hollywood because it’s “his” town.

We get a pretty decent recap of the Mega Powers at this point.  Nothing out of the ordinary, but one really interesting nugget here.  During Hogan’s interview they actually overdub his voice when he says “WWF” so it says “WWE”.  Are you kidding me?

Jake Roberts defeated André the Giant (with Bobby Heenan) by disqualification
Big John Stud is the special guest referee for this match.  Andre is still a heel at this point after his WrestleMania III and WrestleMania IV Hogan encounters.  Looking at this now it’s really sad.  I’ve always been a big Jake fan but this seems like a big step down for Andre.  Andre is really looking bad at this point in his career as he can barely move around the ring.  At one point Andre gets hooked in the ropes (as he always does).  If there’s ever been a signature move in wrestling, this is it.  The entire match Jake is going for the bag to try and get Damien.  The end of this match turns into a complete clusterfuck.  Andre and Stud get into it, DiBiase grabs the bag and hightails it, Jake goes after DiBiase, blah blah blah.  Damien finally makes his appearance and Andre takes off out of the ring.  Pussy.  Seriously are we supposed to believe that Andre is scared of a snake?  Dude would eat it in like two bites.

The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart)
This is pre “Rhythm & Blues” for Honky and Hammer but in retrospect you can see it coming.  Even after all of these years Honky sells an atomic drop better than anyone in history.  The Foundation is running on all cylinders with some great tag wrestling.  Hart slingshots Anvil in over the top right into the bad guys.  Actually Anvil looks incredible here and actually pulls out a standing drop kick?!?!?  I don’t care what you say, that’s damn impressive for a guy that size.  The end comes when Anvil throws Jimmy Hart’s megaphone to Bret who nails Honky with it.  Here’s a question… what do you think the lifetime average of the megaphone is?  Might be time to leave that one in the locker room there Jimmy.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) defeated The Ultimate Warrior (c)
Before this match we’re shown footage of the Rude/Warrior pose down at the Royal Rumble that set this match up.  God damn is Rude ripped up.  Rude’s got some sweet tights complete with the IC title already on them.  Warrior hits the ring and we’re off and running.  Warrior is manhandling Rude whipping him into the corners really hard.  Rude selling like a motherfucker.  Warrior goes right into a bear hug to slow things down.  Remember people… Warrior’s got all kinds of charisma, but can’t wrestle worth a shit.  Rude breaks the hold with fingers to the eyes and follows up with a huge dropkick off the top that looks great.  Warrior powers out before the one count and goes into multiple body slams followed by another bear hug.  Warrior goes for a big splash in the middle of the ring and Rude gets his knees up right in the breadbasket.  Rude tries to swivel his hips a couple of time and just can’t do it cause his back is injured.  End comes when Rude gets dumped out of the ring.  Warrior goes to suplex him back into the ring.  Mid-suplex, Heenan grabs the Warrior’s leg which causes Rude to fall on Warrior.  Bobby holds on to the Warrrior’s leg so he can’t kick out and Rude gets the title.  Beat down on The Weasel post match.

Jim Duggan and Bad News Brown fought to a double disqualification
This is essentially a throwaway match and I’m shocked that it’s so late on the card.  There’s essentially not one wrestling hold here at all and by the time the match is over we’ve got bats and chairs in the ring.  Are we really supposed the believe that Bad News is a bad ass?  Not so much.

The Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan (with The Brooklyn Brawler)
If the last match was “essentially” a throwaway then this one is completely a throwaway.  My only question is who in the hell did Red Rooster piss off to be booked against Bobby Heenan?  Actually, I’ve got another question as well.  Who did he blow to be booked second to last on the card?  This one is nothing that you wouldn’t expect.  Rooster pins Heenan a couple of minutes in and then for some reason celebrates.  Not sure why he’s happy.  Perhaps no one told him he’s got a red mohawk and is wrestling as a farm animal.  Brooklyn Brawler beats on Rooster after the match.

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage (c)
This one made my list of Top 10 WrestleMania matches and watching it again totally validated that pick.  Savage comes out first complete with theme music and pose down.  Liz gets her own entrance with music as she’s not supposed to be in either man’s corner (though she still has Macho’s music).  Ventura points out that the champ should enter the ring last I being the old school dork I am I completely agree with him.  The crowd is totally behind Hogan from the get go.  Hogan starts out with the dreaded “closed fists” and Savage follows up with his standard double axe handle.  Hogan takes over after throwing Savage out of the ring.  He follows up with a couple of elbow drops (though not the Savage variety) and an eye rake.  A few minutes later, Savage takes over and Hogan is bleeding above the eye.  I’ve seen this match a hundred times and I just didn’t remember Hogan bleeding here.  Savage does some showboating and allows Hogan back into it.  Hogan slams Savage over the top and Liz goes over to help.  Savage playing the heel shrugs her off.  Hogan gets the advantage again and goes to slam Savage against the post on the outside and Liz steps in the way.  A few moments later Hogan is down and hurt and Liz comes to HIS aid.  Finally the bullshit love triangle ends and referee Dave Hebner sends her away from ringside.  Time to get down to some wrestling.  Savage hits the double axe handle on Hogan as he’s draped across the guardrail.  Hogan chokes a la Rick Steamboat.  Macho then continues with the choking tactics using tape from his wrists.  Macho then hits the HUGE elbow right in the middle of the ring.  Hogan “Hulks up” out of nowhere: block, punch, shake head, point, punch, punch, punch, slam, leg drop victory.  Real American and the crowd goes home happy.  A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

General Thoughts

• This is a LONG show.  This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for so much throwaway garbage that we’ve been given.  These backstage vignettes have GOT to stop.  I’d much rather have a 3 hour show full of action rather than a 4 hours show with an hour of crap thrown in for filler.
• If I was in the arena I’d be pissed.  If you don’t count the Piper/Downey segment there was over a half hour between in ring action.  That’s unacceptable.
• With the exception of Perfect/Blazer and Savage/Hogan this is a pretty lackluster show.  That said, if you’re at all an old-school Hogan fan, you NEED to see this one.

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 [...]]]> 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 Royal
Bad News Brown defeated nineteen other participants by last eliminating Bret Hart
For the second time in 2 WrestleMania’s, Bret Hart is the last person eliminated in a 20-man battle royal (he was also eliminated last by Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 2).  Bad News plays the part of bad ass heel to perfection.  For those that don’t remember Bad News, he was essentially the first person to play the “Stone Cold” character that Austin would make so famous – he hated EVERYBODY.  Good guys, bad guys, etc.  He and Hart team up toward the end of the match to eliminate their common foe.  Hart’s posing to the crowd and the announcers begin talking about how Hart and Brown have made a deal and they’re going to split the prize money.  Bad News hits Hart with his finisher (The Ghetto Blaster) and tosses Hart out of the ring to win the day.  This year, Hart takes revenge immediately and starts a feud at the same time.  After being double crossed, Hart comes back into the ring and destroys the trophy that Brown was presented with after winning the match.  The feud that followed was the first time that I remember Hart being a singles wrestler worth watching.

First Round Tournament Match
Ted DiBiase (with Virgil and André the Giant) defeated Jim Duggan
Before this match starts Gorilla and Jesse go to great lengths to let us know that only the winners will advance.  If there is a double DQ or count out those participants will not move on.  In retrospect this is a dead giveaway of what’s to come and if I’d known then what I know about the wrestling business I would have been pissed that they essentially gave me the results of the Hogan/Andre match before the tournament even started.  These first round matches are 15 minute time limits which is a good thing as most of them aren’t all that great.  DiBiase carries Duggan through a couple of minutes playing the cowardly heel to perfection.  The finish comes when Duggan goes for his three-point-stance tackle and Andre pulls his feet out from under him.  Duggan goes to retaliate and Andre cold cocks him.  DiBiase covers for the pin.  Not a bad match considering Duggan is involved.  HOOOOOOOOOO!

First Round Tournament Match
Don Muraco (with Billy Graham) defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) by disqualification
Muraco and Bravo are both ripped up here (especially Muraco) which tends to lead to bad matches.  This one is actually pretty good.  It’s tight and relatively quick with Bravo hitting a pile driver on Muraco only to have “The Rock” kick out.  Muraco regains the advantage and gets the win by DQ when Bravo pulls the referee in front of him to avoid a flying forearm by Muraco.  Would have liked to see a clean finish but Bravo’s the heel here so a DQ fits with the storyline.

First Round Tournament Match
Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Ricky Steamboat
Steamboat comes to the ring with his son “The Little Dragon” for pretty much no reason.  Gorilla makes a reference to Steamboat as “the excellence of execution” which would go on to be Bret Hart’s moniker.  Jesse Ventura also makes a reference during his match to his friend Barry Blaustein who would eventually make the outstanding wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat.  Now that we’re beyond that… let’s get to the match.  One word… PHENOMENAL!  I honestly think this match was wasted on a first round tourney match.  Tons of back and forth with numerous close calls and teased finishes.  Valentine gets the win when Steamboat comes off the top with a cross body block and Hammer rolls through for the pin.  I’m not sure what kinds of politics were going on in the locker room but Steamboat is getting buried and it’s a shame cause he brings out the best in just about everyone he works with.

First Round Tournament Match
Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Butch Reed (with Slick)
Nice little first round match here.  Reed is playing the huge heel here with Savage the super hot baby face.  Ventura and Monsoon talk repeatedly about how Reed needs to use his power to win this match.  Ventura goes on a rant about how he’d much rather have Slick at ringside with him rather than Liz.  This of course leads to Reed paying more attention to Liz than he should.  That momentary lapse allows Savage to catch Reed and slam him off the top.  The Savage flying elbow gets Randy the victory and sends him to the second round against the winner of the next match.

First Round Tournament Match
One Man Gang (with Slick) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Oliver Humperdink) by countout
I’ve always been a big Bam Bam fan and I also have fond memories of OMG so I was really looking forward to this match.  I remember Macho vs. OMG so I knew the outcome of this match but had no recollection of how it went down.  For the couple of minutes that they’re going at it, this is a good little match.  Bam Bam goes into the ropes and Slick pulls down the top rope and sends Bigelow to the floor.  He gets back to the ring apron and the ref continues to make the count right in his face (a super quick count I may add).  From here we get a cheap Bam Bam count out putting Gang into the second round.

First Round Tournament Match
Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) and Jake Roberts fought to a time-limit draw
Prior to this match we get an interview with Hulk Hogan.  It’s COMPLETE rambling.  Hogan goes on a rant about how he’s going to carry the Hulkamaniacs on his back when the Trump Plaza falls into the ocean… um… kay.  The match itself is average at best.  Obviously there is no winner here so it’s a LONG match (at least by comparison to some of the other stuff on the card).  A couple of times during the match the crowd goes with the BORING chant which I think is a bit harsh.  Both Rude and Snake are working hard in there.  There’s some good back and forth here and it’s a pretty even match throughout.

The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hercules (with Bobby Heenan)
I’ve never been a huge Warrior fan.  Sure he’s got all kinds of charisma but when it comes to his in-ring stuff I’ve always thought he left quite a bit to be desired.  This is typical big man stuff and it’s the beginning of a two year long push for the Warrior (which of course would culminate with him and Hogan at WrestleMania VI).  Warrior no sells a few Hercules clothesline attempts and then proceeds to beat on him for a few minutes.  The end comes when Hercules hits Warrior with a suplex and the ref counts both men’s shoulders down.  Warrior gets his shoulder up at the last second to give him the victory.  As this wasn’t part of the championship tournament and there was no title on the line it kind of feels like a throwaway match.

Quarter-Final Tournament Match
Hulk Hogan and André the Giant (with Ted DiBiase and Virgil) fought to a double disqualification
This match right here is why we’re having the tournament in the first place.  Hogan beat Andre at WrestleMania III which started it all.  The rematch was finally held at the first ever Main Event show where we were given the now famous “Twin Dave Hebner” angle in which Andre won the title and then sold it to The Million Dollar Man.  WWF President Jack Tunney declared the title vacant which necessitated the tournament.  After only about 5 minutes or so, the match turns into a complete cluster fuck with Million Dollar Man and Virgil getting involved and with Hogan and Andre both using chairs.  They both get DQ’d and are out of the tournament.  After the match, Hogan gives Virgil a suplex on the outside of the ring (a real weak looking suplex) and the proceeds to pose down as if he’s won the title.  The net net of all of this is that the winner of the NEXT match will get a bye into the finals.

Quarter-Final Tournament Match
Ted DiBiase defeated Don Muraco (with Billy Graham)
DiBiase is out alone with no Virgil and no Andre.  Knowing what I know now I’m really glad to see that DiBiase gets a victory on his own without any outside interference.  As these guys are wrestling for the second time the matches are getting shorter but this on gets going quickly.  DiBiase ends the match after an outstanding looking clothesline / slingshot on the top rope.  It’s on to the finals for DiBiase!

Quarter-Final Tournament Match
Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart)
Savage is out once again and Elizabeth is looking better and better throughout the night (which is saying something!)  Another serviceable match that lasts around 6 minutes or so.  Valentine has the upper hand for the majority of this match and is really working Savage over with some power moves, chokes, etc.  Savage pulls the victory out of nowhere when Valentine goes for the figure four and Savage turns it into a small package for the pin.  Solid match though it’s looking like Savage is getting tired.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Brutus Beefcake defeated The Honky Tonk Man (c) (with Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue) by disqualification
The Honky / Beefcake feud was one of my favorites from this time period.  It was played to perfection with Beefcake coming SO close to getting the title and always coming up short.  This match was no exception as both guys were on their game.  Honky goes for his finisher and Beefcake manages to get out of it.  He slaps on his sleeper in the middle of the ring and Honky’s lights are going out FAST.  Jimmy Hart does the only thing he can do to hold onto the title for HTM and knocks the referee out cold with his megaphone.  Beefcake gets a tiny bit of revenge when he gives Jimmy a haircut while Honky is still “asleep” in the ring.  Hated to see Beefcake lose here but there’s really something to watching the heel Honky Tonk Man hang onto the title time after time.

The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and Bobby Heenan defeated The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware
Six-man tag action that includes Bobby Heenan and Koko B. Ware.  This has crap just written all over it.  There’s a really bad storyline behind this where the Islanders have kidnapped Matilda the bulldog.  Heenan is in this match in full dog catcher gear.  Eventually we get to a point where all 6 men are in the ring.  The referee finally gets some control back, sending the Bulldogs back to their corner.  The Islanders proceed to pick up Bobby Heenan and drop him on Koko B. Ware for the win.  That’s right… Koko got pinned by Bobby Heenan.  “Hall Of Famer” Koko B.Ware got pinned by Bobby Heenan.  Can you tell that I’m still bitter that Koko is a hall of famer?  He sucks.  Period.  Fucking bird man.

Semi-Final Tournament Match
Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated One Man Gang (with Slick) by disqualification
Savage is back for his 3rd match of the night.  Liz is wearing her 3rd outfit of the night and is now in a beautiful black evening gown… yowser.  Gang has a huge advantage here as he’s MUCH larger than Savage and has been sitting out since the first round after receiving a bye.  After some early offense from Savage, Gang takes over with some power moves.  Slick gets into it with Elizabeth which draws the the eye of the referee.  At this point, Slick slides over and tosses his cane to OMG who cracks Savage over the back of the head with it.  With Savage in the middle of the ring, Gang chooses NOT to throw the cane out and pin the man, but rather continues to try and hit Savage with it.  He keeps this up until the referee turns around and catches him in the act.  Savage to the finals!

WWF Tag Team Championship
Demolition (Ax and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji) defeated Strike Force (c) (Rick Martel and Tito Santana)
I’ve talked many times in the past about how I’m not a big fan of tag team wrestling, but Demolition is probably my all time favorite duo.  From their entrance into the federation they began running people over and I absolutely LOVED it.  Martel and Chico are the reigning champs and I remember thinking that there would be no chance that they’d be able to hold onto the titles against the unstoppable Demolition.  Some good power moves here from the demonic duo and some great high flying moves from Strike Force.  The unthinkable almost happens as Martel has Smash in a Boston Crab dead center of the ring for a LONG time.  Tito hits his flying forearm on Axe knocking him to the floor.  Tito then goes after Mr. Fuji who throw his cane into the ring.  Axe cracks Martel over the back of the head and Smash roles over to get the pin and the titles.  Thus began the longest tag title reign in WWF history – 478 days!

Tournament Final For The WWF Championship
Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan) defeated Ted DiBiase (with André the Giant)
Andre accompanies DiBiase to ringside but Virgil is no where to be found.  Jesse and Monsoon continue to go on and on about how many times Savage has wrestled and that DiBiase is rested after receiving a bye into the finals.  About three or four times Savage goes into the ropes and Andre trips him (of course behind the referee’s back).  Savage then sends Elizabeth to the back presumably to get her out of harms way.  During this time, DiBiase takes the upper hand and really starts to lay into Savage.  A couple of minutes later Liz returns with none other than Hulk Hogan to even the score outside the ring.  The next time Andre gets involved Hogan is right there with a chair to ensure that Savage doesn’t get destroyed.  At this point, Savage and DiBiase go back and forth until DiBiase locks in the Million Dollar Dream right in the middle of the ring.  Andre’s got the referee distracted and Hogan sneaks in and slams DiBiase with a chair.  Savage recovers and hits DiBiase with the elbow to get the 1-2-3 and the championship.  Savage and Liz stick around to celebrate with Hogan and the show goes off the air.

General Thoughts

• You go from 93k fans at WrestleMania III to just over 18k here.  Sure it’s at Trump Plaza which was HUGE at the time but to me that’s a step back.
• I remember Vanna White being a big name but they really go all out here to tout her “star power”.  Bob Uecker is apparently infatuated with here and is going to great lengths to find her.  Boring.
• It’s a shame that Rick Steamboat left the WWF for a while after this.  He’s an outstanding performer and deserved a better run with the Federation.  For further detail check this out.
• As I watched the final match it really pissed me off that not only did Savage not get the victory clean, but Hogan stayed around for the pose down.  Sure they were probably already laying the groundwork for the Mega Powers main event at WrestleMania V but it just rubbed me the wrong way.  This was Savage’s moment in the sun and he should have been able to enjoy it on his own (with Liz of course).
• The older I get, the more I appreciate the heels.  Growing up I was always a “good guy” fan but I’m really starting to realize how difficult it is to be a really good “bad guy”.  Not only do you have to know how to wrestle, but you’ve got to be able to do all the underhanded stuff too… and make the crowd hate you.  These are the kinds of things that were lost on me when I originally watched these shows back in the day.
• This is a REALLY long show.  That said, it’s not the longest show (WrestleMania V is a few minutes longer) but this one FEELS long.  I think it’s basically due to the fact that there are a ton of matches (each in the 6-10 minute range).