Official "A Mania-A-Day Marathon Mania" Review Thread

That ing Battle Royal is sexy as hell though.

"The Anvil shot in, oh the big boot and da Anvil over da top rope and he's gone!
Look at da Hitman, on da top turnbuckle. He's caught.
What's Andre gonna do with him?
Oh he threw him right down on da Anvil, it's all over!".

Gonna hop on this train - skipping 1 and 2 but will get going with 3 and 4.

Alright, here are my thoughts on Wrestlemania III that no one will read.

-This Wrestlemania definitely set the bar for all Wrestlemanias to come.

-The iconic opening introduction with Vince was great.

*Cowboy Bob Orton & Magnificent Muraco vs. The Can-Am Connection
-Not exactly a strong opening match.
-Can-Am Connection wins.

*Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules Hernandez
-Very slow paced match.
-Ended with a double count out. Really? Is that the only finish they could come up with?
-Hercules beating up Haynes with that chain after the match was actually kind of brutal, considering the era.

*King Kong Bundy along with Midgets 1 & 2 vs. Hillbilly Jim with Midgets 1 & 2 (Yes, I forgot the midget's names. Who cares?)
-What. A. Waste.

*Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog
-Pretty decent match, although it could have been better if they had more time.
-Harley pins JYD clean, and then JYD hits him with a chair after the match. This didn't make any sense to me.

*Rougeau Brothers vs. The Dream Team
-This match should have been the opener.
-Bobby Heenan on commentary was great.
-Greg Valentine gets the pin.

*Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis - Loser gets his head shaved
-The crowd definitely added a lot to this match.
-Piper throwing Jimmy Hart at Adonis made me LOL.
-Piper won with the sleeper hold & Adonis got his head shaved.

*The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis vs. The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana
-Like many others, I would have preferred this to just be The Bulldogs vs. The Hart Foundation, but it ended up being a pretty solid match.
-Danny Davis gets the pin

*Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware
-This match really had no business being on the card.
-Santana beating up Slick after the match was the only good part.

*Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat for the IC Title
-Alright, let me confess that I had actually never seen this match before. However, it lived up to the hype without a doubt.
-From a technical standpoint, this was easily the best match on the show.
-Steamboat wins the IC Title with the small package.

*Honky Tonk Man vs. Jake Roberts
-Quite honestly, this was a pretty boring match.
-Gorilla had a great line on commentary when he said "Alice Cooper's jacket looks like something that Adrian brought out of the closet with him."
-Honky Tonk wins

-Mean Gene announces the new indoor attendance record for the Silverdome.
-Another iconic moment.

*Iron Shiek & Nickolai Volkoff vs. The Killer Bees
-Decent match, but really? Another DQ?
-Shiek & Volkoff win after Jim Duggan interferes and hits Shiek with a 2x4.

*Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant for the WWF Title
-"The irresistible force meeting the immovable object."
-Great main event, with such an incredible atmosphere.
-Hogan wins after he slams Andre, which we all know.

I enjoyed this Mania a lot more than the first two. Looking forward to watching Wrestlemania 4 tomorrow.

I think my favorite part about Wrestlemania 3, is that while it's a solid show, the longest match (of the 12) was 14:35. I definitely think it got better over time with quality over quantity becoming the focus. Still though, Steamboat/Savage is one of the best matches ever, and still holds up today.

WM 4

Battle Royal- The only thing memorable about this was the career highlight of Bret Hart breaking Bad News Brown's trophy. Lol.

DiBiase def. Duggan- Surprisingly solid for a short match. It's ridiculous how over Duggan really was back in the day. Hilarious seeing Andre things up.

Muraco def. Bravo- Long story short Dino Bravo is a joke of a wrestler. Absolute crap. Awesome seeing Superstar though.

Valentine def. Steamboat- Kind of surprised seeing Steamboat fall this quickly in the tournament considering the MASSIVE shot to the moon he recieved beating Savage just the year prior. That, and Valentine.

Savage def. Reed- Forgetable match. Nuff said.

OMG def. Bam Bam- Just...knowing what becomes of OMG next Wrestlemania...it just kind of makes me giggle that he made it through.

Rude draws Roberts- When the 1980s fans start chanting boring, problem. You look at this match on the card and think holy crap, this is going to rip the place apart...one hell of a match coming. It started out solid but then a couple of minutes into the match it became the war of rest holds. Sucks, was expecting a classic.

Warrior def. Hercules- Arrive, STOMP BAWLS, Leave.

Hogan draws Andre- Again, these two have crap in ring chemistry, but it took Rock and Michaels to pull a respectable match out of Hogan like...15 years later so, you know, whatever. It continued on the story and set the scene for the later match.

DiBiase def. Muraco- Typical DiBiase match. Just didn't have his henchmen to do his bidding so he had to cheat himself.

Savage def. Valentine- Savage = Hero. Anyone who beats Valentine is great in my book.

Beefcake def. Honkey- Peggy Sue reminded me of Cherry. The first Wrestlemania as the Barber, Beefcake sold it well, and Hart getting his comeuppance was AWESOME. Screw the Colonel. Kind of sucks knowing that the Barber never got a title outside of one tag title, but that was a different era. With the amount of OVER he was, he would be a 1,000 time champ at this point in this era.

Islanders/Heenan def. Bulldogs/Ware- Heenan's about to get one hell of an opponent next year...savor the win while you have it.

Savage def. OMG- Onto the finals Macho goes! Can't say OMG gets quite as...glorious...of a next up story... **starts dancing in a blue shirt**

Demolition def. Strike Force- 1-3

Randy Savage def. Ted DiBiase- You know, if I was a fan back then I would have likely rooted for DiBiase. I love Savage, but I just find it so hard to believe that DiBiase never got himself a world title. But knowing the greatest storyline in the history of professional wrestling is on its way via Mega Powers implosion, I won't complain.

I missed discussing Wrestlemania 3 so I will do that and 4 together

Wrestlemania III

Now this is my opinion and I know many will disagree, but Wrestlemania III to me (hey did I just bust a rhyme?) was like the end of the whole "Rock & Wrestling" period of the WWF before we entered the next phase kind of like how Wrestlemania 17 was the wrap up of the Attitude Era in many peoples eyes.

The event from a presentation and spectacle point of view was pretty spectacular and I can imagine that being there live must have been incredible. The event was not bad....... it has for the most part not aged all that great, but I still really enjoy Savage vs Steamboat, Piper vs Addonis and Robberts vs HTM.

Wrestlemania IV

My most vivid memories of Wrestlemania IV are of how the VHS tape here in the UK was a double tape and it came in a double sized box!!!! the actual event was ok, not great just ok. My favourite match believe it or not is Demolition vs Strike Force, I agree with Rude vs Robberts being a snore fest that match should have been a balls to the wall brawl! Of course this was Randy Savages night and it was well deserved,

I just think that this Wrestlemania lost a little bit of that "big event" feel that they created with Wrestlemania III.

Haven't had a chance to see WM5 today, will have to do it tomorrow.

Finally finished WM5

One of the first things I’ve noticed here is that the production values are WAY up.

Someone needs to tell Haku that Jerry Lawler stole his entrance music!

Hercules works quite well as a face, he’s pretty popular too. I think he deserved an IC run at some point, for a power wrestler, he was way ahead of guys like Reed, Bravo and Patera.

Quite a good little opener here.
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Shawn sounds way different.

You can tell Akeem got bored/fed up with having to dance all the time. It really says something for the tag division here in this time that a team like the Rockers never got a run with the belts.
In terms of his athleticism, Shawn is probably at his best during this time. It’s amazing seeing him being so nimble. Some incredible tag team wrestling by the Rockers. Very impressive. You don’t see tag teams functioning so cohesively any more.

Boss Man is ridiculous with his size, he can still move but he looked way better when he lost some weight. That clothesline by Akeem was as stiff as hell.

I forgot how good the Twin Towers were as a team too. What a fantastic match. I also don’t think Marty gets nearly enough credit, Shawn may have had charisma out the wazoo, but Marty was every bit as brilliant a worker as Shawn.

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Brilliant promo by Ted. I guess charisma skips a generation as Jr got none of his dad’s charisma. Too bad he went from main eventing to having a match with Brutus.

Very slow match, but it’s not really surprising. Weird to think these two clashed twice at Mania, and one was technically a (co) main event!

I really miss commentary as good as this. I also think we need to see more managers for heels. Having their managers attack the opponent on the outside behind the ref’s back is awesome.

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ALL AMERICAN BOYS.

The most memorable thing about this match was one of the Bushwhackers molesting the Rougeau in the middle of the ring.

<3 Sean Mooney.

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The debut of Mr. Perfect’s singlets, with the solid back colour.

I can’t believe we got Owen Hart vs. Curt Hennig at a Wrestlemania. This is like a dream match. Two all time greats gone too soon. Too bad it’s so short. I loved the Blue Blazer gimmick.

You’ll only ever see very few guys ever outwrestle Curt. This is one of those times. I can see what Bret means too about Daniel Bryan reminding him of Owen. Daniel’s body shape and mannerisms are extremely similar to Owen.

Great match, but I wish they’d been able to have more time and go all out together. Owen Hart could have the greatest Wrestlemania opponents list ever. It includes Bret, Hennig, Jake, Yokozuna, HHH, Foley, Billy Gunn and Vader.

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Always been a fan of both the POP and Demolition and can’t remember too much of this match so I think it should be pretty good.

The crowd completely died for a while in this match. Fuji seems to be the only one drawing a reaction until the end.

Demolition’s ring gear is so homo-erotic.

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Ewww Dino Bravo.
Ewww Ronnie Garvin.
Ewww Jimmie Snuka.

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Not much of a fan of either of these teams, especially the Brain Busters. Tito can’t catch a break at WM lol.

Arn Anderson: “Where’s your partner”?
Me: “Where’s you hair, Arn”?

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Brother Love could be the worst character ever.

When Jesse cut that promo on Hogan, he totally looked like CM Punk.

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Why the hell does John Studd have Jim Duggan’s entrance theme?

I never understood why every Andre match he did that spot where he got tied in the ropes.
Quite a weird match, Studd added a strange dynamic and Ted/Virgil’s interference seemed a bit random. It wasn’t bad or anything though.

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HART FOUNDATION YEAH. YEAH BABY AHAHAHAHA.

Jim’s looking in fantastic shape here (Bret too). Jim looked a little rough at WM3. That shoulder tackle over the top rope was absolutely textbook. Jim’s hot tag!!! Those were beautiful dropkicks. He’s hopping around like a frog!!

I quite like the team of Greg and HTM too. They looked more the part when Greg adopted the black hair look and wore the musical jacket. I liked the end too with Greg actually hitting Bret but just a fraction of a second late.
Great match, but I wish it had more time, it felt a little rushed and Jim didn’t get enough ring time.

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I always loved Rude and Warrior matches. Rude always sold like he’d been in a car crash. Very memorable ending.

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What a stupid match. Hacksaw Jim Duggan is so bad he couldn’t even punch. I’ll never, EVER understand how he was over like this.

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Lol Red Rooster. It’s absolutely shocking that the Brooklyn Brawler could ever appear at Wrestlemania.
The Red Rooster theme is actually kinda cool. But seeing terry Taylor bob his head is the most hilariously awful thing ever. This gimmick had to be a rib.

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Great match between Savage and Hogan. They recaptured the big fight feel this time that only WM3 really had so far.

Savage plays such a great heel.

Overall I really enjoyed this mania.