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.