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| Wrestlemania goes epic! |
The date March 29, 1987 will go down as the night when perhaps the greatest event in professional wrestling ever occurred. Wrestlemania III emanated from the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan in front of over 93,000 fans, or 75,000 depending on the source (there's some dispute on the attendance number). Either way, a highly impressive number of fans turned out for this event. This WM had it all. It had an epic main event pitting two legends against each other, an intercontinental title match for the ages, and it did a great job pushing story lines.
This is the first Wrestlemania to be held in a dome stadium. The show starts with an impressive far shot of people in the arena. A foreshadowing to just how big this event was going to be. On a side note, I've always liked major wrestling events held in domed stadiums. The fact that they can hold a huge capacity of people adds an epic feel to the event, and light comes through the dome roofs; so you can see the transition from late afternoon to evening as the event progresses along.
Vince McMahon is in the ring welcoming everyone to Wrestlemania III. He then introduces Aretha Franklin, who performs an excellent version of “America the Beautiful”.
The camera then goes to the broadcasting booth where Gorilla Monsoon introduces himself, Jesse “The Body” Ventura (who, as usual, does a great job commentating during this event), and the celebrity guest hosts; Bob Uecker and Mary Hart. Thank goodness there weren't fifty (exaggeration of course) celebrities like at WM 2. With that, it is time for the first match.
Bob Orton & Don Muraco with manager Mr. Fuji vs. the Can-Am Connection
I definitely remember Orton, Muraco, and Martel, but who is Tom Zenk? Anyway, this was a decent tag team match designed to get the Can-Am connection over. They did some nice double team moves such as a double monkey flip, and a nice looking double arm drag. Orton and Muraco didn't do a whole heck of a lot in this match, but as mentioned before; WWF appeared to have plans for the other team in action. Can-Am Connection wins. This was a good match to start the event. ***
Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules with manager Bobby Heenan
Before the match we get a recap of the feud between these two. We are also shown a backstage interview with Hercules and Heenan. Hercules says that “thousands of years ago I pulled these chains...” or something close to that.
Anyway, this match is really a full nelson challenge. Both men were using it as finishing move at the time, so this was one of those “mine is better than yours” type of deals. We get some good one-liners from Ventura during this match from stating the obvious, “Heenan isn't exactly Mr. Popularity” regarding all the boos Heenan received coming down to the ring, to telling Monsoon “I remember 1932 too when you were at your prime, the Hoover days.” in response to a comment Monsoon had made to him.
This is your usual big, strong guy match. Though it's actually good! Early in the match Haynes puts Hercules in an overhead press slam. Hercules would regain the edge with a hard clothesline that looked nice, and would perform an overhead press slam of his own on Haynes. Hercules would be the first to put on the full nelson, though he didn't lock the fingers, so Haynes was able to break it, and would regain the advantage with an atomic drop. Eventually, Haynes would lock in his full nelson, but Hercules gets to the ropes, forcing Haynes to break the hold.
Both men go outside the ring, and Haynes puts Hercules in another full nelson. Heenan comes from behind to hit Haynes, who chases Heenan back into the ring. Hercules takes his chain and nails Haynes with it, busting him open. Both men are counted out. Normally I'd dislike this type of finish, but it only served to push the feud, and the fans get to see some fun heel antics! ***
King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook vs. Hillbilly Jim, the Haiti Kid, and Little Beaver
Bob Uecker joins Monsoon and Ventura in the broadcast booth for this match. I like his commentary here, as he makes some funny jokes. He's probably the best celebrity ever at Wrestlemania.
This is a mixed tag match, which means the little guys have to fight each other, and Bundy would have to square off against Hillbilly. Not much of interest happens in this match, until the end. Ventura has a couple good lines in this match. “I'm hoping Bundy puts the kabash on one of the little guys.” Towards the end of the match, Little Beaver gets in the ring and instigates Bundy. Bundy eventually gets him, and executes a bodyslam. Ventura says emphatically, “Smash him Bundy!”.
The ref didn't see the bodyslam, but did see Bundy plant an elbow drop on Little Beaver. Bundy and his team get disqualified. The rest of the little guys get into the ring and chase Bundy out. As a fan of heels (always have been), I can't get enough seeing 450 pound Bundy drop the elbow on Little Beaver! This was nothing more than comic relief. *
Mary Hart is in the backstage interview area getting ready to interview Miss Elizabeth. Macho Man charges in and starts talking before Elizabeth can get a word in!
“King” Harley Race with Bobby Heenan and Fabulous Moohlah vs. Junkyard Dog (Loser Must Bow Match)
We get another feud recap before this match starts. These recaps are well done. Both contestants have backstage interview segments. I watched JYD's and realized why he was one of my favorites as a kid...
Not much happens during this quick match. Race does a lot of falling out of the ring. Heenan gets involved by grabbing JYD's leg, distracting him. Race does a nice looking spot. JYD is laying outside the ring. From the apron, Race does a diving headbutt, but misses. Race eventually does a belly-to-belly suplex on JYD, for the pin.
After the match, JYD does a quick bow to Race. Once Race gets out of the chair he was sitting in, JYD takes it, and nails Race with it. He proceeds to put on Race's robe, to which the crowd goes nuts. *
Vince McMahon interviews Hulk Hogan.
The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine) with Johnny Valiant and Dino Bravo
As the Dream Team comes down to the ring, Monsoon wonders why Dino Bravo is with them. As we'd find out, Dino would be a bit of a plot device... Bobby Heenan joins the Monsoon and Ventura in the broadcasting booth, where he goes on about how great he is. Heenan rules! This probably won't be the only time you'll see me state that during my reviews.
Back to the match. We get a decent tag team match here. It's a little quick, but that's okay. Brutus starts the match for the Dream Team, but seems Valentine is doing most of the work taken the match as a whole. The Rougeau Brothers got in some nice double team offense. They hit Valentine with their finishing move. The ref gets distracted. Dino Bravo climbs the top rope, and comes down on Jacques; turning over Valentine for the pin.
Valentine and company leave Beefcake behind in the ring, and the plot thickens... Overall, a sustainable match. Nothing outstanding, but nothing terrible either. ** 1/2
“Adorable” Adrian Adonis with Jimmy Hart vs. Roddy Piper (Loser gets hair shaved match).
We are provided with another feud recap. This was one of the best recaps of the event. Once again, we get interviews with both participants. Adonis has a pair of hair clippers. Keep that in mind for later on.
Piper comes to the ring to the biggest pop of the night so far. Hard to believe that just a couple years ago he was one of the WWF's top heels. However, he made a great face as well. People could just relate to him. This was supposed to be his final match...
We are treated to a fun match here between two legit tough guys (despite Adonis's gimmick). There's a lot of brawling, however, it's not boring. I don't lose interest in watching this match. Jimmy Hart keeps involving himself in the match (WWE, please bring back managers), which was great. Adonis gets Piper in the “Goodnight Irene” (sleeper hold), but releases it too soon. Piper puts on his sleeper hold, and would take home the victory. We have an early WM moment here with the crowd reaction to Piper's victory. There's a fan who enters the ring to celebrate with Piper. A bunch of security guys come in the ring and tackle him. Funny stuff there.
I really liked this match due to how it told a story. As mentioned earlier, this was supposed to be Piper's final match, and there was the hair shave stipulation. As a kid, nothing seemed to strike fear in the hearts of wrestlers more (besides Damien, Jake Robert's pet snake), than prospect of getting their hair shaved.
Brutus Beefcake comes into the ring! He starts shaving Adonis's head while Piper holds on to Jimmy Hart. Beefcake makes his face turn, and will become “the Barber”. ***
Howard Finkel announces Jessie Ventura! Ventura gets in the ring and acknowledges the crowd.
British Bulldogs & Tito Santana with mascot Matilda the Bulldog vs. The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis with Jimmy Hart
We've got some outstanding talent in the ring here! The story with Davis was he was a referee who showed outright bias towards heels, and caused the Bulldogs to lose the tag team titles to the Hart Foundation. As a result, Davis was banned for life from refereeing.
As the match comes to a start, there's a shot of Ventura on a mini-ring cart heading back to the locker room holding Matilda.
Davis gets a LOT of heat during this match. While not much of a wrestler, he performed his role perfectly. He'd get in the ring for a quick moment, then tag in one of the Hart Foundation members. The crowd didn't like this, as they obviously wanted him to get his butt kicked!
With both teams (Bulldogs and Hart Foundation), you know you're going to get great team work, which is the case here. Add in character with a lot of fan heat (Davis) and a performer who knows what he's doing in the ring (Santana), you get the makings of a good match!
The luck of Danny Davis runs out as he gets in the ring with Davey Boy, who puts the beat down to Davis. Smith executes not only his running powerslam move, he also does a tombstone piledriver (or reverse piledriver pre-Undertaker). The crowd is popping because this is what they wanted to see this match for. However, the heels have Jimmy Hart...
The referee gets distracted while Jimmy Hart tosses in his megaphone to Davis. He nails Smith with the megaphone and gets the pin, and win. An appropriate finish considering how Davis was being booked. Fun tag match. ***
Mean Gene interview Bobby Heenan and Andre the Giant. Andre doesn't say anything here. Doesn't need to. Heenan does all the talking, and a fantastic job of selling Andre as being nearly invincible. Wrestling needs managers like Heenan these days.
Koko B. Ware vs. “The Natural” Butch Reed with Slick
This is definitely a filler match, squeezed in between the previous six-man tag match and the Intercontinental Title match that would follow. Nothing really noteworthy here. However, there were some good camera shots of Koko's bird Frankie! Reed wins by holding Koko's tights.
We get more post-match activity. Slick nails Koko with his cane. Tito Santana comes down the ring, rips off Slick's suit jacket, and rips his shirt up. Reed didn't last too long in WWE. I remember him most in WCW as “Hacksaw” Butch Reed teaming up with Ron Simmons in the late 80s, who'd become far more memorable in the minds of WWE fans than Reed; but you'll just have to wait about ten years for Ron Simmons (Farouq). ½ *
Ricky “the Dragon Steamboat with George “the Animal” Steele vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth for the Intercontinental Title
“We've reached our moment” - Ricky “the Dragon Steamboat” in a pre-match interview before meeting Savage at WM 3. That quote says it all.
The feud between Steamboat and Savage was hot going into this title match. Like most of the previous matches, we get a recap of the events that led to this encounter. From an athletic standpoint, Savage and Steamboat were two of the top athletes the WWF had at the time, and their kayfabe personas couldn't be more opposite. Steamboat was the overly nice face who always did the right thing. Savage on the other hand, not only resorted to dastardly tactics such as ramming a timekeeper's bell across Steamboat's throat; he didn't treat Elizabeth too kindly at times. The stage was set for a great match.
The match starts off with Steamboat getting an upper hand using some awesome looking armdrags, then puts Savage in a choke hold. Savage gets out of the ring, and Steamboat goes to follow. Savage rolls back into the ring first, and takes advantage by attacking Steamboat as he rolls back into the ring. Steamboat regains the advantage for a bit, and the action goes outside the ring again. Savage executes his signature double ax handle from the top rope to Steamboat outside the ring. Both men get back in the ring, and Savage does another ax handle from the top rope. Savage executes another of his trademark moves when he uses to top rope as a clothesline on Steamboat.
Really enjoying Ventura's commentary during this match, as he's harping on the referee.
Steamboat regains the advantage, and performs and impressive looking chop from the top rope. He got a lot of air, and looked like he went half-way across the way to nail Savage. Steamboat goes for the pin, but Savage puts his feet on the ropes to break it. Ventura says a funny comment here “first good call of the night”.
The crowd is REALLY into this match, as they should be. You'd have to have no pulse not to.
We get the contest changing spot with a ref bump. Steamboat is on the canvas. Savage climbs the top rope and delivers his finishing move – the off the top rope elbow. The ref is still down. Macho then grabs the bell from the timekeeper, and proceeds to climb to the top rope. However, Steele gets involved, and pushes Savage, who loses balance and falls to canvas. Steamboat rolls up Savage for the 1-2-3, and wins the IC title!
Ventura cries out there's been a “miscarriage of justice”, but he also states that was the greatest match he's ever seen. The camera gets a great shot of a dejected Savage in the ring cart, head down. The camera stays on Savage as the view of him gets smaller, and smaller... Very well done production here.
My brief description of this match doesn't do it justice, and only serves to provide a small taste of how it went. It was a fantastic match, and nearly twenty-five years later is still an amazing match to watch. A top ten WM match, easily. *****
Mean Gene interviews Jake Roberts and Alice Cooper. They go back to a quick clip of the crowd and Ventura is still gushing over the last match. Then it's back to the interview area with The Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart. I like this interview, because it's funny watching Honky strum the guitar. As a guitar player, it's obvious to me he really doesn't know how to play! We get another feud recap segment.
Jake “the Snake” Roberts with Alice Cooper vs. Honky Tonk Man with Jimmy Hart
Who WOULDN'T feel bad for these guys. They have to follow what was to that point the greatest WM match in history. Roberts starts the match out strong, and hits Honky with the short clothesline. Action goes outside the ring, and Honky whips Roberts into the ring post.
The action returns to the ring. Honky goes for the Shake, Rattle and Roll neckbreaker, but Robert's counters it.
Honky wins by grabbing the top ring rope while pinning Roberts. We get more post-match antics as Roberts grabs Jimmy Hart and Cooper takes Damien out of his bag. Ventura has a funny comment on the very scrawny Cooper. “You can tell he's been in the weight room for a while”, and goes on to say he has “a sunken chest compared to an expanded chest”. Not a great match by any stretch of the imagination, especially following the match that came before it. ** ½
Mean Gene announces that the WM 3 crowd broke the indoor attendance record with 93,173 spectators.
The Killer Bees vs. Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff with Slick
Before the match begins, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (ugh), comes down to the ring. He interrupts Volkoff singing the national anthem, saying “You can't sing your national anthem. This is the home of the free...” Um...okay...
Not too much to highlight here. Jim Brunzell executes an awesome dropkick. The tide changes in favor of the heels. Shiek has one of the bees in the camel clutch when Duggan decides to enter the ring and nail Shiek with his 2 x 4. Boo! He cost the Killer Bees the match, and for some reason they were celebrating with him. However, this is just a filler match for what is about to come up next... **
We are shown the recap for the Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan feud. Basically what it comes down to is Andre is jealous of Hogan being champion, and wants the title for himself. However, and I remember this as a kid, the build up was fantastic.
Mean Gene interviews Hogan. We also get another interview with Heenan and Andre. This time, Andre does most of the talking.
Howard Finkel announces Bob Uecker as the guest ring announcer. Uecker announces Mary Hart as the guest timekeeper. Ventura takes this moment to give a shout-out to his family back in Minneapolis.
Andre the Giant with Bobby Heenan vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship
Here we go. The match that most, if not all the fans wanted to see. Andre came in to this match undefeated for fifteen years. This really was a case where Hogan was the major underdog, and I remember this too, Andre was pushed as being nearly unstoppable. Ventura goes over the tale of the tape for the two competitors.
A stare down that will live in WM history starts this match. Hogan goes for an early bodyslam, but doesn't work. Andre falls down on top of Hogan, and goes to work on Hogan. Andre may not have been the best worker, but when he hit, he really looked like he hit!
Andre goes for a headbutt in the corner, but Hogan ducks and regains the edge for a quick moment or two. While Andre is sill in the corner, Hogan tries running towards him, only to be met with a boot from Andre. Andre proceeds to put Hogan in a bear hug. Hogan looks in trouble here. He breaks out of the hold though, and tries to shoulder block Andre a few times, with no success. He tries it again, but Andre hits him with a nice looking chop.
The match goes outside the ring. Hogan is leaning against the ring post and Andre goes for a headbutt. Hogan moves out of the way. Hogan moves the mats outside of the ring to clear room for a piledriver on Andre, who reverses it into a backdrop. Things really aren't looking good for Hogan here. Great job by both men to tell a story with this match.
The action goes back into the ring. Hogan gives Andre a running clothesline, knocking the him down. All of a sudden, it is Hogan who is in control. Hogan proceeds to Hulk Up, and executes the “bodyslam heard around the world”. With Andre down, Hogan runs off the ropes and gives Andre his leg drop. 1-2-3, Hogan retains!
This match IS what Wrestlemania is all about. While neither Hogan or Andre were the best workers in the ring, the match they put on here is legendary. As a kid, I remember all the heat on Andre after he did his heel turn. The WWF did a great job pushing him as nearly unstoppable, and the question on the minds of most fans could have been if Hogan would be able to stop him. So there was huge build up for his match, and as mentioned earlier, both men were outstanding in letting the match tell a story. When his match was over, Andre had wrestled perhaps his finest match as a pro, and Hogan became stuff of legend. Absolutely fantastic, and another top ten WM match *****
While Hogan was posing, Monsoon stated that this was “the greatest wrestling event of all-time”. Up to that point, and well beyond, it probably was. This is a must watch Wrestlemania for any fan of professional wrestling. While the first two 'mania's laid the foundation, this installment defined what a Wrestlemania should be. It had two all-time matches. It was held in front of a huge crowd. Most of the matches were provided with backstories to fill the viewer in. Some storylines were resolved, while others would continue on. There was a face turn (Beefcake), and matches with stipulations. There were managers aplenty (a lost art that NEEDS to come back), and let us not forgot there were several WM “moments” here. This event was the pinnacle of 1980s WWF. It really didn't, and still doesn't, get any better than this WM.
You can find this WM on VHS, in DVD as part of the Wrestlemania Anthology Vol. 1 set, or the DVD “Championship Edition” set that came out in 2007 to mark the 20th anniversary of the event.
Overall rating 5/5.
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