Pretty amazing article in the Detroit News, commemorating the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania III. Long, but worthwhile read if that event was a pinnacle of your childhood like it was mine...
Detroit News Larger than life: An oral history of WrestleMania III - (
New Window )
a bit sad that so many of the wrestlers at that event passed away too early and that the silverdome has sat abandoned and decayed for years.
It was that big.
so many of those guys are dead now.
I remember going to Summerslam at the Garden one year. Now that was fun.
Weird shit I remember. Why was she the guest announcer? How random.
Weird shit I remember. Why was she the guest announcer? How random.
Can-Am Connection defeated Bob Orton and The Magnificent Muraco (with Mr. Fuji) - I loved this match and Fuji always cracked me up with his antics. I was also big fan of Rick Martel who would later team with Tito Santana to form Strike Force and win the WWF Tag Titles.
Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (double countout) - I remember this match being billed as the "Battle of the Full Nelsons" as the full nelson was the finishing move of both wrestlers. I enjoyed this match and remember cheering when Haynes broke out of Hercules full nelson which hadn't been done too often outside of Hulk Hogan.
Hillbilly Jim defeated King Kong Bundy - Very fun gimmick match with the 4 midgets also involved. I liked at the end how even the heel midgets turned on Bundy. Which then led to Bundy slamming one of the midgets which got him disqualified.
Harley Race defeated Junkyard Dog - The King was one of my dad's favorites for years and we were both cheering for Race to win. Another very solid match.
Dream Team defeated the Rougeau Brothers - Disliked the Rougeau's so much as a kid and rooted for the Dream Team. This was a solid match, I remember it not taking too long, just a few minutes.
Roddy Piper defeated Adrian Adonis - Very fun match with the loser having his hair shaved off. I remember it ending with Piper putting Adonis to sleep but Brutus Beefcake coming in to shave Adonis's hair. Which then led to his whole successful "Barber" gimmick.
Hart Foundation and Danny Davis defeating the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana - I was such a huge fan of both tag teams and really wished this would have been a Tag Title Match. Never was fond of the whole Danny Davis angle.
Butch Reed defeated Koko B. Ware - I remember Reed's manager Slick interferring and using his cane to hit Koko to cost him the match. Another short match which was over in a few minutes.
Steamboat defeated Savage - As I stated before, my favorite match of all time (close second to Steamboat vs Flair in 2 falls out of 3 match). This was a year long feud that finally paid off with Steamboat willing the IC Title belt. Too bad Vince held a grudge against Steamboat for asking for 2 months off to spend time with his wife and new born son. Which led to Vince forcing Steamboat to drop the IC title to Honky Tonk Man just 2 months later. I was absolutely SHOCKED when that happened as a 10 year old, as Steamboat was my favorite wrestler and I wanted to see a long title run.
Honky Tonk Man defeated Jake Roberts - If I remember correctly, Jimmy Hart for months led a campaign to "Ban the DDT" and Jake Robert bringing Alice Cooper to ring side. Roberts loss but they did put Damian the snake on Jimmy Hart afterwords.
Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff defeated The Killer Bees - I was a huge fan of Sheik\Volkoff gimmick and them singing the Russian national anthem before matches. I liked the Killer Bees more so when they wore masks and were able to swap spots without tagging in. That was a cool gimmick but not so much when they didn't wear the masks as they did at WM3. So I didn't mind seeing them lose.
Hogan defeated Andre - Great build up to the match, great ending to the match..........although have to be honest, the match in itself was very boring. You could tell Andre was on his last legs and didn't have too much more left him him. Hogan has never been one to carry someone in a match, so not much he could to to make the match exciting. The body slam at the end was the big payoff and only thing that saved this match in my opinion.
Again, top to bottom, not a bad match and my favorite Wrestlemania of all time!
Can-Am Connection defeated Bob Orton and The Magnificent Muraco (with Mr. Fuji) - I loved this match and Fuji always cracked me up with his antics. I was also big fan of Rick Martel who would later team with Tito Santana to form Strike Force and win the WWF Tag Titles.
Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (double countout) - I remember this match being billed as the "Battle of the Full Nelsons" as the full nelson was the finishing move of both wrestlers. I enjoyed this match and remember cheering when Haynes broke out of Hercules full nelson which hadn't been done too often outside of Hulk Hogan.
Hillbilly Jim defeated King Kong Bundy - Very fun gimmick match with the 4 midgets also involved. I liked at the end how even the heel midgets turned on Bundy. Which then led to Bundy slamming one of the midgets which got him disqualified.
Harley Race defeated Junkyard Dog - The King was one of my dad's favorites for years and we were both cheering for Race to win. Another very solid match.
Dream Team defeated the Rougeau Brothers - Disliked the Rougeau's so much as a kid and rooted for the Dream Team. This was a solid match, I remember it not taking too long, just a few minutes.
Roddy Piper defeated Adrian Adonis - Very fun match with the loser having his hair shaved off. I remember it ending with Piper putting Adonis to sleep but Brutus Beefcake coming in to shave Adonis's hair. Which then led to his whole successful "Barber" gimmick.
Hart Foundation and Danny Davis defeating the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana - I was such a huge fan of both tag teams and really wished this would have been a Tag Title Match. Never was fond of the whole Danny Davis angle.
Butch Reed defeated Koko B. Ware - I remember Reed's manager Slick interferring and using his cane to hit Koko to cost him the match. Another short match which was over in a few minutes.
Steamboat defeated Savage - As I stated before, my favorite match of all time (close second to Steamboat vs Flair in 2 falls out of 3 match). This was a year long feud that finally paid off with Steamboat willing the IC Title belt. Too bad Vince held a grudge against Steamboat for asking for 2 months off to spend time with his wife and new born son. Which led to Vince forcing Steamboat to drop the IC title to Honky Tonk Man just 2 months later. I was absolutely SHOCKED when that happened as a 10 year old, as Steamboat was my favorite wrestler and I wanted to see a long title run.
Honky Tonk Man defeated Jake Roberts - If I remember correctly, Jimmy Hart for months led a campaign to "Ban the DDT" and Jake Robert bringing Alice Cooper to ring side. Roberts loss but they did put Damian the snake on Jimmy Hart afterwords.
Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff defeated The Killer Bees - I was a huge fan of Sheik\Volkoff gimmick and them singing the Russian national anthem before matches. I liked the Killer Bees more so when they wore masks and were able to swap spots without tagging in. That was a cool gimmick but not so much when they didn't wear the masks as they did at WM3. So I didn't mind seeing them lose.
Hogan defeated Andre - Great build up to the match, great ending to the match..........although have to be honest, the match in itself was very boring. You could tell Andre was on his last legs and didn't have too much more left him him. Hogan has never been one to carry someone in a match, so not much he could to to make the match exciting. The body slam at the end was the big payoff and only thing that saved this match in my opinion.
Again, top to bottom, not a bad match and my favorite Wrestlemania of all time!
wrestlemania 17 beats it
wrestlemania 17 beats it
WM17 was fun but not on that level historically. Austin vs Rock, Taker vs Triple H and Table\Ladders\Chairs match for the Tag Titles were great but the rest of the card was just ok.
link - ( New Window )
Hulk vs Andre was must see TV.
Flair and Steamboat had so many classic matches, best one was the 2 falls out of three in the late 80's. Ricky was my favorite wrestler and had a great match with anyone he was paired with.
One of the reasons I hated Hulk Hogan as a kid was because he blocked Steamboat from getting a title shot in the WWF. Rumor was Hogan was jealous of Steamboat and didn't want to get exposed with his lack of wrestling skills in comparison if they ever faced off.
Quote:
I was a reader of all the magazines and he was always in them so I knew a lot about him even though we did not get Mid Atlantic wrestling up here in NY .I was so happy when he came to WWF in 1985 .I really wish the network would some of late 70's early 80's Mid Atlantic stuff up because his feud with Flair is legendary from that time even more the late 80's feud they had
Flair and Steamboat had so many classic matches, best one was the 2 falls out of three in the late 80's. Ricky was my favorite wrestler and had a great match with anyone he was paired with.
One of the reasons I hated Hulk Hogan as a kid was because he blocked Steamboat from getting a title shot in the WWF. Rumor was Hogan was jealous of Steamboat and didn't want to get exposed with his lack of wrestling skills in comparison if they ever faced off.
That's one of the things I love about the Superbowl kickoff, all the camera flashes going off at the same time.
Exactly, 8 of the 12 matches I highlighted from WM3 above had story-line build-up and booking anywhere from 6 months out to over a year out.
So by the time Wrestlemania came around, it was great to see those story-lines finally pay off in a satisfactory way. Never seen that with any other Wrestlemania card. Where at most you only have 3-5 matches planned out more then 6+ months out.