Wrestlemania III

[Guest bob_barron]

Wrestlemania III

 

Mean Gene says we’re 24 hrs away and we various people filing in. Gorilla and Lord Alfred talk about Wrestlemania I and II.

 

LIVE FROM PONTIAC SILVERDOME. Hosts are Jessie and Gorilla

 

Vince welcomes us to Wrestlemania III. Holy fuck is that a big crowd. Aretha Franklin sings America the Beautiful.

 

Jessie, Gorilla, Mary Hart and Bob Uecker preview the night.

 

The Can-Am Connection v. Magnificent Muraco and Cowboy Bob Orton (w/Mr. Fuji)

 

Muraco and Martel start.  Lockup- Muraco overpowers him. Lockup- Muraco overpowers him. Martel gets a headlock and shoulderblock. Muraco roughs him up but Martel uses his speed and gets monkeyflip for two. Blind tag Zenk and they do a double monkeyflip and beat on Orton. Heels bail. Back in- Orton and Zenk go and Zenk kicks his ass. Orton knees him and gets the full nelson. Zenk reverses. Heel miscommunication results and Zenk covers Orton for two. Tag Martel who tries to cheat but fails. Tag Zenk, Tag Muraco. Zenk slams Muraco but Orton knees him in the back and Zenk becomes face-in-peril as the heels work him over. Double KO spot between Zenk and Orton- hot tag Martel who cleans house. Muraco does a flair flip. Pier-4 brawl. Orton and Muraco get whipped into each other and dropkicked. Muraco crossbodies Muraco for the win. *** Fun little match to get the crowd pumped up

 

WHERE ARE THEY NO- Can-Ams are retired, Orton is retired, Muraco is semi-retired

 

Video package of Billy Jack Haynes-Hercules. Mean Gene is with Hercules and Brain. Hercules is a whacko.

 

Billy Jack Haynes v. Hercules (w/Brain)

 

Lockup- Herc knees away. Herc misses blind charge and kicks Herc’s ass. He goes for the full nelson but Herc dives for the ropes. Haynes hammers away but walks into a clothesline. Herc stomps away and gets a backdrop. Herc works him over. Suplex-Herc picks him up at two. Haynes comes back but can’t suplex Herc. Herc hammers away and gets the full nelson. Arm drops twice, not thrice. Herc smacks him in the back of head but a double clothesline results. Haynes hammers away and gets an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline. Haynes works him over and hooks the full nelson. They fall outside and Haynes hooks it on him on the outside and we got a double countout. ½* Brain cheapshots him and Haynes is distracted and gets leveled with a chain. Billy Jack blades on camera and continues to get his ass kicked.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- no idea

 

Hillbilly Jim, The Haiti Kid, Little Beaver v. King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo, Lord Littlebrook

 

The midgets all fight as Uecker is on commentary. Beaver and Tokyo go and Tokyo gets smacked. Littlebrook tags in and the midgets threaten Bundy. Beaver dropkicks Bundy and tags Hillbilly Jim. Hillbilly elbows him and all the midgets cover him. We get pre-recorded comments from Hillbilly. Bundy beats on Jim as Uecker makes a dirty joke: I think there’s a lot of Beaver all over the place. Soon Bundy and Beaver are left alone and Bundy kicks the midget’s ass. Funny stuff. ½*

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Beaver is dead, Jim did the gimmick battle royal, Bundy is semi-retired

 

Mean Gene is with Moolah, Brain and King Harley Race. Uecker leaves to see Moolah.

 

Harley Race (w/Fabulous Moolah and Brain) v. JYD in a loser must bow match

 

Lockup- JYD hammers away and goes after Brain. JYD hammers away and headbutts Race. Race comes back and chucks JYD out but misses a flying headbutt to the outside. JYD kicks his ass and clotheslines him out. JYD headbutts away but goes after Brain and gets belly to bellied and pin. ¼* Post-match JYD curtseys and chairs him. The missed headbutt made it above DUD

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Race is retired, JYD is dead

 

Mean Gene is with Dream Team.

 

The Rougeau Brothers v. Dream Team (w/Dino Bravo and Johnny Valiant)

 

No really backstory here but Brutus has been problems with his fellow teammates. Brutus and Raymond start and the Rougeaus double dropkick him. Tag Hammer. Jacques and Hammer go. They slug it out and Jacques tags Ray who crossbodies Hammer for two. Rougeaus works Hammer over and get some two counts. Jacques soon plays face-in-peril as the Dream Team work him over. Brain joins the broadcast booth as Hammer gets a figure four. Jacques makes ropes. Jacques blocks piledriver and hot tag Raymond. Raymond cleans house and gets a slepper. Brutus accidentally hits Hammer to break and they hit Le Bomb de Rougeau but ref is distracted. Bravo runs in and cheats and the Dream Team win. **- way too short Brutus seems a bit pissed off after the match and doesn’t ride back with his team.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Rougeus are retired, Dream Team works indies

 

“Adorable” Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) v. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in a haircut match

 

The deal is here is that Roddy went to make a movie and in the interim Adonis took over Piper’s Pit and basically made a mockery of it. When Piper came back he was wicked pissed and went after Adonis only to have his friend Bob Orton and Muraco attack him and do evil things to him. Of course you know- this means war. This is also Roddy’s retirement match. Roddy gets a mega-pop as an interview with him plays over his entrance. He doesn’t need no stinking cart. Slugfest- Piper whips him with his belt and chokes out Jimmy Hart. Adonis takes the belt and whips him with it. Piper comes back and sends him out. He drags Jimmy and Adonis into the ring and a double noggin knocker results. He sends Jimmy into Adonis and they go flying out.  Piper drags Adonis into the ring and throws Jimmy Hart onto him. Jimmy Hart grabs his leg and Adonis kicks his ass. Piper eyepokes him but Adonis shrugs it off and they brawl on the outside with Adonis kicking his ass. Jimmy Hart nails him and Piper is PISSED. Adonis works him over and Piper is fighting back with all his might. Piper says Just Bring It and Hart sprays him with stuff. Adonis hooks Goodnight Irene (a sleeper) Piper tries to break it. Piper’s arm drops twice and Adonis and Hart think they’ve won. Brutus Breefcake runs in and revives Piper and he’s MEGA-PISSED. He nails Adonis and Hart and hooks on the sleeper as the crows goes bananas. Adonis’ arm drops thrice and Piper wins the match. They cut Adonis’ hair off and they beat up Jimmy Hart. Adrian freaks out and punches a mirror when he sees him but Piper is able to avoid him. **1/2 but amazing awesomeriffic segment. They clip a fan running in and shaking his hand.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Adonis is dead, Piper is in XWF

 

The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana v. Hart Foundation and Danny Davis (w/Jimmy Hart)

 

Mary Hart and Uecker are on commentary as Jess heads to the arena floor. Danny Davis was a crooked referee who cost Tito the I-C Title and the Bulldogs the tag titles. He was banned for life from reffing and became a wrestler. Tito and Bret start and Tito kicks his ass. Anvil and DBS go. Hart Foundation collide with each other- tag Dynamite Kid who quickly tags Tito. Tito gets caught in enemy corner but is able to tag DBS. DBS kicks Anvil’s ass but Anvil comes back and tags Bret. Bret misses elbow and Dynamite gets tagged in. Bret gets rammed face-first into corner. Bret is able to come back and Dynamite plays face-in-peril as the heels work him over and occasionally cheat. They tag in Danny Davis who kicks him twice and tags Bret. The crowd hates him as Dynamite continues to get worked over. Davis gets tagged in and kicks him twice again and quickly tags Bret. They launch Davids onto Kid but he gets his knees up. Hot tag Tito who absoulutely kicks the shit out of Davis. Flying Jalepeno and he goes for figure-4 but Anvil runs in. Tito tags DBS who also kicks the living shit out of him. Wicked tombstone piledriver and the delayed suplex greet Davis. Running powerslam but Anvil saves. Flying Jalepeno to Anvil and we got a pier-6 brawl. Davis bops Dynamite with the megaphone and wins the match. Fun match-especially when Davis took a shitkicking ***1/4 Davis can barely walk.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Dynamite, Bret, Davis and Tito are retired. I think DBS and Anvil are sorting out personal problems

 

Koko B. Ware v. Butch Reed (w/Slick)

 

Lockup- Jessie says the B. stands for Buckwheat. Reed takes control but Koko dropkicks him out. Back in- Koko kicks his ass but puts his head down and Reed kicks his ass. Koko comes back and hammers away. Dropkick-2. Koko small packages him for two. Crossbody by Koko but Reed rolls through holding the tights. * Post-match Koko beats up Reed but Slick beats him up. Chico Santana runs in and him and Koko beat up Slick and Reed.    

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Koko works the indies, don’t know about Reed.

 

Video package of Macho Man-Steamboat. Mary Hart tries to get a word with Liz but Savage interrupts.

 

“Macho Man” Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) v. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (w/George “The Animal” Steele) for the WWF Intercontinental Title

 

Lockup- go-behind sequence goes nowhere and Savage bails to move Liz away from Animal. Savage gets a kneee but Steamer gets some armdrags. He picks him up and chokes him and Savage bails. Steamer chases him and gets hammered coming back in. Savage lays him on ropes and sends him flying for two. Savage works him over but misses blind charge. Steamboat lifts him up on a wristlock and drops his arm on top rope. Steamer works on the arm but Savage grabs the hair and gets an elbow. Savage chucks him outside. Steamer tries to get back in but gets booted. Savage drops an elbow on the larynx and stomps away. Savage sends him back in and elbows his head for two. Kneedrop-2. Steamer comes back and Savage gets tied in the ropes- Steamer takes advantage but gets booted. Crossbody by Steeamer-2. Armdrag by Steamer and he gets a shoulderblock-2. Shoulderblock-2. Steamer goes too fast and Savage knees him. Savage chucks him out but Steamer holds onto top rope and pulls himself back in so Savage clotheslines him out. Savage attacks him from the outside and sends him into the seats. Animal picks up him up and pushes him back in so Savage just chucks him out again. He drops a double axehandle to the outside and Steamer is dead. Savage throws him back in and hits the double axehandle and gets an elbow-2. He drops him on top rope-2. Atomic drop-2. Suplex-2. Steamer fights back but Savage goes to eyes and gets gunwrench suplex for two. Savage tries to suplex him but Steamer lands on his feet and chops him. Savage comes back and chucks Steamer outside on a backdrop. Back in- Top-rope chop- Savage puts foot on ropes. Chop-2. Steamer chops him three times and Savage falls out. Steamer gets sunset flip-2. Rollup-2. Reverse double leg hookup-2. Small package-2. Bodyslam and Savage gets slingshotted into steel post for two. Rollup-2. Savage reverses with tights-2. Savage sends him into middle turnbuckle and whips him into Dave Hebner. Flying elbow- no ref. Savage goes and gets the ring bell but Animal steals it. Savage nails him and is about to hit Steamer with it but Animal pushes him off. Bodyslam by Savage but Steamer holds on and rolls on top for the win and the title. What an amazing fantastic technical display. *****

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- holding up WWA for 5 mil, retired

 

Mean Gene is with Jake Roberts and Alice Cooper and we get a video package of HTM-Jake. Mean Gene also talks to Jimmy Hart and Honky.

 

Jake “The Snake” Roberts (w/Alice Cooper) v. Honky Tonk Man (w/ Jimmy Hart)

 

Jake attacks him and kicks the shit out of him. HTM bails but Jake follows and kicks his ass on the outside and inside. Blind charge by Snake misses and Honky works him over. Honky misses punch and Jake kicks his ass. Honky slips out of DDT and bails. Brawl on the outside-Jake goes into post. Honky knees him when he tries to get back in. Honky hits a fistdrop from top and works him over. Jake blocks Shake Rattle-n-Roll and finally gets some offence with an inverted atomic drop. Jake kicks his ass for a bit. He goes for DDT but Jimmy Hart grabs his leg and Honky rolls him up while holding the ropes. ½* Match went way too long. Post-match Jake gets Jimmy in a full nelson and Alice Cooper sics Damien on him.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- crackhouse, retired

 

Vince is with Hulk Hogan. Vince looks freaked out. Mean Gene announces the attendance of 93,173. Craig DeGeorge is with Slick, Nikolai and Shiek.

 

Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) v. The Killer Bees (w/“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan)

 

Nikolai sings the anthem but gets stopped by Hacksaw. “You’re not gonna sing the Russian anthem cause this is the land of the free and the home of the brave!” Gotta love Duggan. Heels attack Bees to start. The Bees come back and whip the heels into each other. They do the dosie-do but get their ass kicked. The Bees work over Shiek making quick tags. Nikolai makes the save on a two count and we got a pier-4 brawl. “Jumping” Jim Brunzell becomes face-in-peril. Brunzell is able to get the high knee- false tag B. Brian Blair as Brunzell continues to play f-i-p. Hacksaw chases Nikolai and bops Shiek with 2x4 for the DQ. ** Not bad at all.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Shiek and Volkoff were in the gimmick battle royal, Blair is injured and Brunzell- ?

 

Mean Gene talks to Andre and Brain. The fans give their comments on main event. Craig DeGeorge talks to Brain. Video package of Andre-Hogan.

We get footage of the WWF press conference with Brain and Gene. Hogan dressed in nWo black shows up and talks to Andre. Mean Gene is with a pumped up Hulk. Bob Uecker is guest ring announcer, Mary Hart is timekeeper.

 

Hulk Hogan v. Andre the Giant (w/Brain) for the WWF Title

 

Andre and Hogan have been best friends- always helping each other when the other was in trouble. When Hogan won his first WWF Title- Andre was there. Andre had received a trophy for being undefeated for fifteen years and everyone was happy. The next week Hogan received a bigger trophy for being WWF Champ for three years. Andre was there but didn’t seem his usual happy self and seemed a bit bothered. The next week Andre showed up with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and ripped Hogan’s shirt off and pulled his crucifix off. Hogan was devastated and the only place they could settle it was right here. Could Hogan do something that no one had been able to do in fifteen years and beat the giant?

Hogan gets a mega-pop as Jessie does the tale of the tape. Mega-staredown. “The irresistible force meeting the immovable object”- Gorilla. Slugfest- Hogan tries a slam but Andre falls on him for two. Andre thinks its three. Andre works on the back. Andre slams him with ease. Andre slams him again and steps on his back. Andre continues to work him over. Andre charges Hogan in the corner but Hogan moves and punches and chops away. He rams him ten times into the turnbuckle. He runs into corner and gets booted. Andre hooks a bearhug. Arm drops twice, not thrice. Hogan tries with all his might to the break the hold and finally does. Hogan punches away. Andre shrugs it off and sends Hogan to the outside where they brawl. Andre headbutts the post. Hogan exposes the concrete and goes for piledriver but gets backdropped. Andre throws him back in and misses boot. Hogan is able to get a clothesline and Andre goes down. Hogan hulks up and bodyslams Andre as the crowd goes batshit. Legsrop wins it. ¾*-Match sucked but is the most famous match in wrestling history and is required viewing. Hogan poses and celebrates as Andre and Brain leave. Brain’s face basically says: What can I do to beat this man???

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- WWF, dead

 

The Bottom Line- I assume all of you have seen this but if you haven’t then run to your video store right now and pick it up. A great historical show and probably the most historic show ever. This show defined Wrestlemania and what it was all about. The fact that all those people showed up just to see one match is something incredible and the fact that one match was able to get Steamboat and Savage over as mega-faces is a sight to behold.  This is the card that defined Hulkamania.

 

Highest Recommendation