Austin101's "WWF Wrestlemania 3" Review:
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Welcome everyone to The Biggest Pay-Per-View event of alllllllll time. 20 years later it remains the most significant wrestling event ever. It remains an event that is still talked about daily. It held the biggest match in Pro-Wrestling history in front of one of the biggest crowds in history. It also held a five star classic and a number of other enjoyable contests.
The event is particularly notable for the reported attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America and the largest paying crowd in the history of professional wrestling. Though the attendance number is disputed, the event is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom.Almost one million fans watched the event at 160 closed circuit locations in North America. The number of people watching via pay-per-view was estimated at several million, and pay-per-view revenues were estimated at $10 million.
Monsoon and Jesse are your broadcasters for the evening.
Live on PPV from the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan...It's WREEEESTLEMAAAANIA 3!!!!!!
-Vince McMahon claims that as he was about to announce "Welcome to WrestleMania III," he felt the spirit of his father Vincent J. McMahon, who had died three years earlier. The show opened with Aretha Franklin singing "America the Beautiful."
I don't know whether that's touching or creepy. Either way I loved the passion in his voice, I think that was the first time the Vince "roar" was ever heard and it was well suited at the time.
Onto the matches.....
1) The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk) vs "Cowboy" Bob Orton and The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji)
Fuji gets heat to start Mania for the second straight year. Orton poses like his son later would. Little Randy was seven years old when he watched his dad in this match.
Good solid tag team opener like usual with big PPV's. A lot of fast offensive moved by the Can-Am Connection which got huge pops. (Crowds wouldn't react that way these days to moves like that)
They respected Pro-Wrestling back then, period. Times have changed.
Martel pinned Muraco after a crossbody as Zenk schoolboy-tripped Muraco from behind at 5:38.
Great tag team opener with a hot crowd ready for a great show. Already off to a way better start then Wrestlemania 2....the WWF must have learned fast.
**
2) Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan)
Heenan who is the greatest manager of all time made his first of many stops to the ring in this 2nd match of the night.
Pretty good pre-match story video with highlights of this under-mid card feud which you rarely saw back in those days so it made the match more important.
As long as you don't expect a give star classic this match is fairly good. A bit slow paced but it followed the storyline where they both tried to lock on that full nelson in the ring, and even to the outside of the ring which ultimately led to the yearly double count out finish that no one likes.
They both got counted out at 7:04.
After the match, Hercules busted open Haynes with his chain.
** 1/4
3) Hillbilly Jim, The Haiti Kid and Little Beaver vs King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook in a Mixed Tag Team match
Memorable, humerous, filler, and one of Eugene's favourite moments as said at Wrestlemania 21. Well that's about it.
The match blew other then that.
Bundy's team was disqualified when he attacked Little Beaver. The referee ruled it was unfair for Bundy to attack a man who was so much smaller than he was.....alright, match over...good. It ended at 3:23.
1/2*
4) Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan and The Fabulous Moolah) vs The Junkyard Dog in a "Loser Must Bow" match
"The King" Harley Race pinned JYD after a belly-to-belly suplex at 4:22 for the win.
After the match, The Junkyard Dog bowed down to Race and then attacked Race and stole the King's robe which got the crowd happy despite the dissapointing result as to who won.
* 1/2
5) The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) (w/Johnny Valiant and Dino Bravo) vs The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond)
I really love the Dream Team, even though I'm Anti-Brutus. But he was good in this team and almost everything about Valentine is good to me.
We all know they had a classic where they lost the tag titles to the Bulldogs a year prior to this event in Chicago at Wrestlemania 2.
The Rougeaus were very good in the ring as well so this match came off pretty good but it's only flaw was it needed to be longer. Much longer. But considering the card it was acceptable it wasn't.
Valentine pinned Raymond with the help of Dino Bravo's interference at 4:03.
After the match Valentine, Bravo and Valiant left Beefcake behind.
**
6) Roddy Piper vs Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) in a Hair vs. Hair Match
Another stipulation match.
This one was supposed to be the "Farewell to Piper Match" as well but we all know how that always goes in wrestling.
The REAL match stipulation should of been
"Loser has to watch the other mans Wrestlemania 2 match" I'm more then positive they would have went balls to the wall then.
Thankfully for Adonis who was a good worker for his size (May he rest in peace) This sure as hell beats his bout with Uncle Elmer the year before. Ugh.
The crowd was hot for this match and The Hot Rod in paticular especially when he slapped on his famous sleeper hold.
This event was booked so well from top to bottom even though every match wasn't tremendous it was just such smart booking. Great spot on the card for this match but that might be just my personal opinion on things.
Piper defeated Adonis by sleeper hold after Adonis released his own sleeper prematurely at 6:54 of the contest. Then the "Rowdy" one Roddy Piper was revived by now Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake.After the match, Beefcake shaved Adonis' head, leading to him becoming known as "The Barber" for good.
**
7) The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) and Danny Davis (w/Jimmy Hart) vs The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and Tito Santana
This was a great match obvioussly. Could of been better but it was the best of the night up to this point and when all was said and done was the third or fourth best of the entire evening as expected when you have two of the best teams in Pro-Wrestling history going at it.
The Night officially got "DARK" during this match which was cool as it effected the broadcast and I always feel like I'm there when I watch this match and always consider it the "Mid-Way" point of the classic event.
Davis pinned Smith after hitting him with Jimmy Hart's megaphone at 8:52 for the upset win and Dangerous Danny runs off with his teammates.
Pretty solid stuff here.
*** 1/4
8) "The Natural" Butch Reed (w/Slick) vs Koko B. Ware
Not a great match by any means (especially following a hot tag match) but Butch Reed was always underrated, as was Slick and even Koko to an extent due to his gimmick. A lot of underrated bro's in this match fo sho.
However nothing to exciting happens here.
Butch Reed pinned Koko B. Ware with a roll-up. at 3:39.
After the match, Tito Santana attacked Slick and ripped his clothes off.
God Tito just loves to run in after Wrestlemania matches doesen't he? It's like I said Santana for one reason or another is one of Wrestlemania's most underrated performers and we'll see more of the former BC Lion later on in my reviews. Arrriiiiba. Yeah, I'll never say that again.
Sorry.....
3/4*
9) Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (w/George Steele) vs Randy "Macho Man" Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Did I mention how well I liked the booking of this event? Yeah, I'll say it again with this bout.
Oh My God.
This is a masterpiece.
When I first watched it over 10 years ago I thought "Good match, but that's it!?" I heard all the hype and was a little dissapointed.
I slapped myself in the face the next few times I watched it and those negative thoughts quickly left my mind for good after I understood the psychology and the brilliant story telling.
This is five stars and it's not even up for debate. If anyone wants to say under five stars they are lying or trying to be rebellious for attention. (Whatever that does?) This is flawless and one of the most exciting matches ever with two performers where you thought the heat was "REAL" and had you on the edge of your seat.
One of the best wrestling matches of ALL time. If I could change one thing it'd be the length. Should have been 5-10 minutes longer but honestly how could I complain after something like this?
Steamboat pinned Savage by countering a scoop slam into a small package at 14:35 to become the NEW Intercontinental Champion. The place goes nuts. Epic in every sense of the word. God Bless Savage and Steamboat.
*****
To Note: -This is the third match from the Rumble Anthology (all 20 Rumble's) and Mania Anthology's (to this point) I have rated five stars. Two of them have been IC Title matches. The first of the two was Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit in the Ladder match at Royal Rumble 2001. The second IC Title match was this one. And the third five star match to this point was Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit at the 2003 Royal Rumble for the WWE title.
10) The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts (w/Alice Cooper)
I don't know....Jesus Christ vs Satan himself couldn't of followed that match and got a good reaction. The crowd needed a breather and this match was relatively slow (especially in comparison to the last one.)
Which is why this encounter feels a little off at times but in the long run it's actually a pretty decent match. Two important characters in the upper-mid card going at it in a heated feud late at Wrestlemania 3. Sounds good to me.
This match is pretty good to also hear with Commentary on Jake Robert's DVD (Which is great by the way)
The Honky Tonk Man pinned Roberts while holding onto the ropes for leverage at 7:04.
After the match, Roberts and Cooper attacked Jimmy Hart with the python Damien and Detroit loves it.
*3/4
11) The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) vs The Killer Bees (Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell)
The Killer Bees work well and did I mention this was a perfectly booked event. Great spot for this type of match to lead into the biggest match in the history of Professional Wrestling.
Before the match "HACKSAW" Jim Duggan made his WWF Debut interupting the singing of Volkoff and the Shiek and is very Pro-USA (Patriotic) and gets a huge ovation.
He blasted the Shiek with the two by four at 5:24 to get them DQ'd.
Solid tag team wrestling here throughout this relatively short tag match. (That felt long but in the "GOOD" way much like another match I reviewed at Wrestlemania 2)
** 1/4
12) Main Event- Hulk Hogan vs André the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) for the WWF Championship
Just typing the match alone makes me feel special.
This is the biggest wrestling match of all time.
Watching the entrances and the stare down with the broadcasting and atmosphere gives me chills. You know you're "Watching the show" when you see this. And by "The Show" I mean Pro-Wrestling at it's very finest.
Andre was intimidating obvioussly and he almost beat Hulk early and Bobby argued it was a three when Andre landed on him.
The Giant dominated through most of the match making the odds stacked against Hogan that much larger and making the audience feel there was going to be a new champion at hand.
When The Hulkster got back in control in the ring and the outside the crowd was electric.
Then Hogan did the impossible and slammed the Giant to the mother of all pops. When this happened the building shook just as Hogan had said and the Wrestling world was never the same. Some consider that moment to be the best moment in Wrestling history. I don't know about that but it's definately up there for me.
Hogan pinned André after a scoop slam and a leg drop at 12:01 to reatain the WWF Title to a monster sized pop.
The Hulkster thanked the heavens and poses to the millions watching at home and to the number of thousands in Detroit. "Real American" plays as the Hulkster stands in his prime in all his glory in one of the best Wrestling sequents of all time.
The "WWF" has officially begun and "Hulkamania" was running wild.
***
In ring wise, it's lucky to get a star. Historically and significance wise it's five stars. Someone else put it best when they said you should cut it in half and that is why it gets three stars.
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Final PPV Rating for Wrestlemania 3= 8.5/10
This PPV is the most important wrestling event of all time. And that says a lot. That alone as well as the biggest match of all time and a five star classic gives the event at least a 7/10. I don't care if the rest of the card featured Tomko vs Richards, Torrie vs Candice, Brisco vs Patterson, Al Wilson vs Katie Vick, Al Snow's head vs Mae Young's hand, Rosie vs Trump, etc. On it. It still deserves a high rating. Very high. Not only did it have those two matches, Piper vs Adonis was memorable, the Bulldogs-Hart Foundation was pretty stellar, Roberts vs Honkeytonk was pretty good as well. Just an all around great event with a great atmosphere. But it isn't one of the few best Wrestlemania's ever, I would however put it in the top 5-7, but it will always be #1 for importance.
Great show!
Feedback appreciated and
discussion is more then welcome.
Up Next From
Austin101: "WWF Wrestlemania 4" (Stay tuned, hopefully that one isn't to long....)
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