I thought Show/Mayweather was really fun. Not as an amazing contest or anything, for this is pure spectacle and that's what Wrestlemania is all about really. Like Troy said, it's leagues better than most expected.
2.17.86 WWF Title Lumberjack Match: Hulk Hogan v Randy Savage (WWF from MSG):
Yeah, so, I’ve came to the conclusion that Hogan and Savage are perfect opponents! They haven’t had any “classics” as such, but I don’t think I’ve seen a Savage/Hogan match that isn’t at least fun. Needless to say, this one’s no different.
One thing I really dug is the way Hogan just attacks Savage right at the bell, getting payback for the 1/27 match, by beating the shit out of him with the belt. Another thing I liked was Hogan coming in with the busted up ribs. See, Don Muraco and King Kong Bundy jumped Hogan not long before this at a show in Phoenix and destroyed Hogan’s ribs, so when Savage attacks them, the MSG crowd actually believe that Hogan might lose this one. Hogan matches aren’t exactly filled with psychology, so the “injury” here adds something different, as well as getting a huge reaction from the crowd. The lumberjack stipulation is great too as it works in a few ways – one of which is furthering the Hogan/Bundy feud going into Wrestlemania, although it’s not done in such a way that it takes any of the importance away from the Hogan/Savage. Savage is awesome in this environment as well; he’s obviously going to use every advantage he can, so throwing Hogan out to the heel lumberjacks is a nice heat grabber. Bundy then proceeds to crush Hogan against the post – twice – before throwing him back in for Savage, which is great too. Savage obviously isn’t satisfied though, so he just rolls him right back out so Bundy can squash him some more. Savage comes close a few times to pinning Hogan, but Hulk makes his inevitable Hulk up/comeback spot and pretty much creams Macho from there. Doing this after Savage’s elbow didn’t really make much sense, but in any case, Hogan is probably the best ever at timing a babyface comeback and the crowd go completely batshit for it here.
The finish is really good as well with Steamboat getting some payback for Savage cheating him in their last match, as well as getting some payback for Hogan who took a beat down from the heel lumberjacks while the babyface ‘jacks weren’t able to help, by tripping Savage and allowing Hogan to hit the big legdrop for the 1,2,3. At this point, I’d consider this both guys’ best match together, and maybe even both guys’ best match *period* in the ‘Fed, to date.
***1/2
Apologies for the long winded-ness
Official WWE DVD Help/Discussion/Review Thread II
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. I've still got quite a while before I get to that, but it's in 1988 so Savage and DiBisae in the same match from '88 means it's good by default.
