An Idot's Guide to Wrestlemania, Part III The US vs. The World

Wrestlemania VIII - April 5, 1992

Main Event(s) - Ric Fair vs. Randy Savage for the WWE Championship and Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice

- The Hogan/Justice match was a main event only in the sense that it was the last on the card. The real focus of the event was Flair/Savage and it did not disapoint, providing not only the 5th straight WWE title change at Mania, but also one of the best matches of the night from two veterans that knew how to bring the big match. All the Hogan/Sid match had was a bunch of posing, a botched finish, and a Papa Shango run-in. The Warrior returned to make the save, but the damage to the event had already been done.

Wrestlemania Moment - The Undertaker Tombstones Jake Roberts on the floor.

- This is one of the most replayed moments in Taker's long Maina career.

Match of the Night: Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart for the WWE Intercontinental Title

- Hart counters Piper's sleephold to win the belt in a physical, technical battle. It was hard-hitting and just a wrestling fan's treat. It pretty much set Hart up for his WWE Title run later in '92.

Wrestlemania IX "An Event of Epic Proportions" - April 4, 1993

Main Event(s): Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna for the WWE Championship, then another title match as Yokozuna immediatly defended against Hulk Hogan.

- Yoko pinned Bret for the title after getting hit in the face with salt from Yoko's manager, Mr. Fuji, while Bret had the Sharpshooter on. Hello, run-on sentances. Hogan came down to check on Hart's condition and Mr. Fuji immediatly challenged Hogan for the belt. Fuji tried the salt thing again, but hit Yokozuna instead, leg drop, 1-2-3, new champ in 20 seconds. Pretty much a lackluster end to a mediocre card, especally for a Wrestlemania

Wrestlemania Moment: The entrances of Bobby Heenan and the gimmick of the whole show.

- The theme of the event was Ancient Rome, so the outdoor stadium was re-decorated with Roman regalia, the traditional red, white, and blue ropes were replaced with black and gold ones and everyone were in togas. The debuting Jim Ross was in a toga, the cameramen were in togas, Fink was decked out, and even the security guys were switched out and were gladiators for the day. Randy Savage arrived on a sedan to commentate and was followed by Bobby Heenan, always the foil, riding backwards on a camel. It was nothing but a publicity stunt for the show, but well pulled off no matter how bad some of the in-ring action may have been.

Match of the Night: Tatanka vs. Shawn Michales for teh WWE Intercontinental Title

- Nothing really stood out on this card, but this ended up being the best offering. The only complaint I had is that there was no ending a fued with the result (Michaels begin counted out and retaining the belt) and it kept a fruitless chase going where they could have lined up another challenger for Michaels for the summer.

Wrestlemania X "Ten Years in the Making" - March 20, 1994

Main Event(s): Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger for the WWE Championship, then Yokozuna defending the belt against Bret Hart

- Another double main event, that as a result of Hart and Luger eliminating each other at the same time from the Royal Rumble. They brought back Mr. Perfect to be the special referee for Luger's match and Perfect ended up screwing Luger by DQ'ing him after Luger shoved Perfect for not making a count wihile Perfect was trying to get a fallen Mr. Fuji out of the ring. That lead to a brief fued between the two. Roddy Piper was the ref for Hart's match. Again, neither of these were great matches by any means. The work rate was painfuly slow, but they built Yokozuna as an unstoppable force for so long that the two matches it took to stop him worked well to cap off that story of the little guy knocking the big guy off the mountain.

Wrestlemania Moment: Multiple spots during the Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon ladder match

- In fact, can I just nominate the whole match of the Moment for WM X? Wait, I'm making up the rules. Fuck yes I can, hang on a sec...

Wrestlemania Moment: the ladde match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon for the WWE Intercontinental Title

- I don't know what to say about this except that it was the highlight of the night and has been the bar by which all other ladder matches are judged.

Match of the Night: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

- It's hard to narrow it down between this and the ladder match but this takes the cake in my eyes. First, it was the best curtain-jerker probably in the history of wrestling and second, you could just tell that Bret and Owen had done this so many times before. There was just a chemistry between the brothers. Owen was doing everythign he could to get over on his brother and Bret was just trying to get through to his title match without hurting his brother. Owen capitalized on a kayfabe knee injury Bret suffer while performing a cross-body block on Owen over the top rope to the outside. Owen worked that knee for the better part of the end of the match. They traded Sharpshooters, there were tons of reversals, it was a clinic.

Wrestlemania XI - April 2, 1995

Main Event: Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

- This was where all the attention was focused for WM XI. The Giant great put an immense amount of work into training and it wasn't as God-awful as you would expect. It wasn't a technical masterpiece by any means, but for what it was, it was still pretty good.

Wrestlmania Moment: Taylor's flying forearm from the top to pin Bigelow.

- The most active of all celebrity guests in a WWE ring, this was the last thing you expected to see from Taylor and was the cap of a rather bland night.

Match of the Night: Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship

- This was Shawn Michaels' reward for going coast-to-coast in the Royal Rumble and both guys stepped up to put together a great match. It was a well-worked big guy vs. little guy as Diesel dominated after Michaels got in an early barrage. It began the friendly rivalry betwen the two that lasted until after Wrestlemania XII.

Wrestlemania XII - March 31, 1996

Main Event: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in a 60-minutes Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship

- This was what Wrestlemania XII was built around. It was the show and the two put on one of the best matches seen in the WWE for years. The concept itself was a daunting task and these two great professionals stepped up to the challenge. More on this one to come.

Wrestlemania Moment (tie): The Undertaker's Tombstones Diesel and Shawn Michaels' zip-line entrance.

- Taker lays out the big man to continue his streak and Michaels breathtaking ride across the Pond was some incredible foreshadowing that gets replayed over and over.

Match of the Night: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in a 60-minute Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship

- I can gush enough about this. It is the best match in the history of Wrestlemania and is like Wrestling 101, 201: How to tell a story, and 301: Technical Wrestling. I don't know how else to mark out for this match.

Wrestlemania 13 "Heat" - March 23, 1997

Main Event: Sycho Sid vs. The Undertaker for the WWE Championship

- Finally, The Phenom was giving the top spot. A solid 20-minute brawl including interferance on three seperate occasions from Bret Hart, including a Hot Shot move that led to the Tombstone that gave the duke to Taker. Not a bad main event, but the multiple interjections by Hart helped him on his heel turn, but began to make him an annoying heel.

Wrestlemania Moment: The Undertaker's pose following his WWE Title win.

- He did the one knee genuflect type thing, with the blue and purple lighting in teh background in the title held aloft. Just a very cool picture and a great moment of the Undertaker finallybeing given the run he''d been deserving since his fued with Hogan back in 1991.

Match of the Night: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin in a submission match

- This match is remembered for two things. First, completing a huge turn for two characters, making the family man and long-time good guy Hart into a annoying heel and sending the beer-swilling, foul-mouthed Austin into the land of the unexpected face. Secondly, it introduced the "Attitude era" to the WWE. The sheer brutality of the bout including the bloody finish marked a large change in the product as a whole.

An Idiot's Guide To Wrestlemania, Part Deux

After a couple of long days off, I'm back to try and pound out 23 years of history in the next 3 days...

Wrestlemania IV - March 27, 1988

Main Event: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase in the finals of a tournament for the vacant WWE Championship

- Not going to lie, this was a bit of a surprise since both Hogan and Andre were eliminated in the quarterfinals. But it set the stage for the year of Macho and the culmination of a brand new star rising. Savage fought off DiBiase adn the interferance of The Giant before Hogan came down to even the sides and then nailed DiBiase with a chair to set up Savage's big elbow and the three count. Not a particularly good match, but Savage's 4th of the night so you had to be impressed by that.

Wrestlemania Moment: Hogan and Andre battle over a steel chair... and get eliminated from the title tournament

- Transitional moment for the belt which had been firmly round Hogan's waist for the last 4 years. The battle over the chair with Hogan getting the upper hand and finally disposing of Andre was a hallmark to me.

Match of the Night: Demolition vs. Strike Force for the WWE World Tag Team Titles

- The event as a whole wasn't heavy on solid wrestling matches, unlike III. Demoltion takes the gold for their first of three reigns in a good match of the powerhouses against the high flying technicians. Well put-together.

Wrestlemania V "The Mega Powers Explode" - April 2, 1989

Main Event: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship

- In a complete reversal from the year before, Hulk took the belt back from Savage as Savage had turned on Hogan in February. That was the end of the year-long run of the Mega-Powers. This match was a solid match up with Savage domingating for a good chunk of the 17 minutes that saw Hulk bleed. I remember it being the first time I had seen Hogan busted open and thinking "Wow, the Hulk is human". Yes, I was a mark at the age of 6.

Wrestlemania Moment: Piper's Pit with Morton Downey Jr.

- Downey was the loud-mouth, annoying conservative before Rush got behind the golden microphone of the EIB Network. He was Springer while Jerry was still trying to get a city council seat and the country had to love it when Downey got a face full of fire extinguisher courtesy of Roddy Piper. Hey, Piper asked Downey three times to knock off the smoke before the put out the fire.

Match of the Night: The Brain Busters vs. Strike Force

- Martel and Santana take this spot again, but it's mostly because of their opponents. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard formed one of the best tag teams of the 80's and watching them work on the grandest stage of them all is a real treat.

Wrestlemania VI "The Ultimate Challenge" - April 1, 1990

Main Event: Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior for the WWE Championship and Intercontinental Title

- An impressive match, considering the amount of actual wrestling talent in the ring was quite low. Nothing against either man there... But they put together an epic face showdown and once again Hogan passes a torch... for another year at least.

Wrestlemania Moment: Roddy Piper's "Black and White" promo

- After being labled racist by Bad News Brown weeks before, Hot Rod came to Toronto with a unique look: half of his entire body painted black. The promo is Piper at some of his insane best.

Match of the Night: Brutus Beefcake vs. Mr Perfect

- Two of the better workers of the day square off in a solid ten-minute contest.

Wrestlemania VII "Superstars and Stripes Forever" - March 24, 1991

Main Event: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter for the WWE Championship

- Hogan once again comes to the rescue, taking the title off of the Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter. Looking back, I'm not really a fan of this angle as it seems kinda exploitive but the match was efective and proved that Hogan was still on top of his game.

Wrestlemania Moment: Randy savage and Miss Elizabeth reunite

- Folling Savage's loss in the Retirement match against the Ultimate Warrior, Liz made the save as a furious Sherri attacked the exhausted Savage. The two would embrace in the middle of the ring in what would be one of the most emotional moments in Wrestlemania history.

Match of the Night: Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior in a Retirement Match

- A solid 20-minutes worth of action that told a story of two men fighting for their careers. The Warrior got a little strange at teh end and began talking to his hands, but for some reason... it made sense...

An Idiot's Guide to Wrestlemania Part 1

It's the greatest time of year for me. March Madness is in full swing, baseball is mere days away, and warmth is returning, albeit slowly, to Ohio, and finally, it's time for Wrestlemania. Let me first attempt to explain my fandom. The first Wrestlemania occured a month before my first birthday, the event is as old as I am and for some reason I took a liking to wrestling early in my youth. It became a craze in high school leading to backyard catastrophies and later actual training inside a real ring. It is my sports fantasy as I learned early on that I was never going to be the guy that was going to play in in the Super Bowl or even the state playoffs. I didn't want to hit the home run in the bottom of the 9th in the 7th game of the World Series, I wanted to be the one on top of the card come Wrestlemania. Realistically, I know that will never happen either but that was where my head was and that is where it still is when I drift off to daydream land. So come Wrestlemania week, which begins today, I am like a kid in a candy store. Therefore, I decided to write up my little guide to the spectacle that is Wrestlemania. Here are my notes, picks, and thoughts on "The Grandest Stage of Them All"

Wrestlemania - March 31, 1985

Main Event: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (w/Jimmy Snuka) vs. Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper (w/Bob Orton)

- The culmination of the biggest build-up of its time. Despite the fact that neither Hogan nor T were great wrestlers, it still came in as a good match. Piper was the biggest heel north of the Mason-Dixon line and could whip 20,000 into a frenzy with a single sentance. He did some of his best work in that era hyping up this match, which they all knew had to hit the home run in order for the event to be a success. The question that remains, and will be argued for years to come by nerdy smarks like me, is whether people went to Wrestlemania to see Hulk Hogan win or did they come to see Hulk Hogan beat up Roddy Piper. I'm on Piper's side.

Wrestlemania Moment: Andre the Giant bodyslams Big John Studd to win the $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge

- Nothing less that the legedary figure of Andre the Giant could fill this spot for this show. Studd came in built up as the "Giant killer" and Andre overcame him and Bobby "Weasel" Heenan to deliver the second biggest bodyslam in Wrestlemania history.

Match of the Night: Greg Valentine vs. Junkyard Dog for the Intercontinental Championship

- These two solid workers beat the dog out of each other for 6 minutes before Valentine rolled up JYD and pinned him with his feet on the ropes. Tito Santana, who was just returning to a long feud with the Hammer, came out and told the ref what had happened who then restarted the match. Valentine walked out on the match, leaving JYD the victory. It was better than it probably should have been because of what it did to establish two characters and a major fued that went on for months and sowing the seeds for the second part of the classic Santana/Valentine series.

Wrestlemania 2 - April 7, 1986

Main Event: Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy for the WWE Championship inside a steel cage

- Not in my top ten but 10 minutes of brawling. Hogan retained the belt after bodyslamming and legdropping Bundy then climbing over the cage. The humorous part of the match is that Bundy barely fit through the door of the cage, which is probably what lead to the enlarging of the classic blue bar cage.

Wrestlemania Moment: Roddy Piper bodyslams Mr. T during their boxing match

- Leftover anger from last year's main event boiled over in this match, a "worked" boxing match between the two. However, according to Piper, the two threw leather for four rounds before Piper bodyslammed T, earning a disqualification. The tension between the two was real. T was trying to prove that he could outshine Piper and get over on the wrestler, Piper was dead set in defending the business from an outsider who he saw as an ivader with a huge ego, coming in to make wrestling look like a joke. Real life drama in a world where it was usually faked.

Match of the Night: The Dream Team vs. The British Bulldogs for the World Tag Team Titles

- The best wrestling match on an otherwise average card, work-rate wise. It solidifed the Bulldogs as the dominant tag team that they would be for the next few years. It could also be my Dynamite Kid markdom showing through as well...

Wrestlemania III - March 29, 1987

Main Event: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant for the WWE Championship

- In front of 80,000+, the two biggest icons of the WWE in the 80's faced off in what was billed as the biggest main event in the history of sports entertainment. It was a match so well put together and so well hyped that we all believed that the impossible had been done when Hogan lifted Andre over his head and bodyslammed him. At that moment, the torch was fully passed from Andre to Hogan as 'the' man. No one was beating The Boss if he didn't want to lose. It took a huge man to do that job.

Wrestlemania Moment: Hogan's bodyslam and almost-slam of Andre

- The picture that everyone remembers from WM III was the infamous "bodyslam heard 'round the world" but it was his attempt at the two minute mark of the match when Hogan initially tried to slam Andre, but the Giant collapsed on top of the champion. That lead to Andre abusing Hogan for the next nine minutes before the comeback and victory slam. The first lead to the second and the classic Wrestlemania moment.

Match of the Night: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat for the Intercontinental Championship

- Fourteen minutes of wrestling heaven. The culmination of a feud that had seen Savage deliver an elbow off the top rope to a prone Steamboat on the security rail, injuring his throat. These two put together an incredible match, pulling George "The Animal" Steele into the feud. Ending out of nowhere when Steamboat small packaged Savage, this was the first time that the IC Title changed hands at a WM and it is truly one of the top matches in WM history. That list comes later this week though.

Ah... St. Patty's Day in a College Town

It is a holiday that is built for the college student. Deprive yourself of sleep to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to go the bar, choke down cheap beer dyed green and bad eggs and be drunk before most people have had their first cup of coffee. Now, don't get me wrong. This is a day that I've supported for quite awhile but personally the buzz (pun intended) is gone for me. This may be because instead of sitting around all day drinking with friends I'm at work and have been since 11am, but I felt this way after last year. I got up with the throngs, went out the bars, got hammered by mid-morning and skipped all of my classes that day. Being a senior comes with benifits and the ability to blow off class for a day at the bar is one of them, dammit. Granted, I stumbled into one of my prof's offices around 3, and slurred through a short conversation but after going through the experiance once, I didn't miss that today. The thrill is gone and since St. Patrick's Day is the busiest bar day (with New Year's Eve close behind) I wasn't excited about having to fight the throngs for a pint. I'm afraid that's a sign of becoming a grown up. I'd rather get smashed in someone's apartment, surrounded with friends and conversations I can hear than wandering through crowded bars while any and all speech is drowned out by bad music. Maturity? Possibly. (Note: At this point in writing, my best friend from high school called to tell me that his wife is pregnant. Creepy. He's like an adult now.... a father-to-be. Whoa...) Not if I can help it but is this really the first step down that road? Could be. But I'm taking that path as slow as friggin' possible.

Good God, Has It Been Too Long

I forgot about this thing. Like most things in life, I find myself starting something and then forgetting about in until some point in the future. Meh? Doesn't matter. It's the greatest month of the year (March Madness) and I finally have a direction (accepted into grad school) so right now, I can't complain about much of anything. But I will write incessantly about basketball... you have been warned...