Thoughts on Wrestlemania I-VII

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Wrestlemania is Sunday and these "thoughts on..." threads have been generating some interesting stuff, so let's roll through these bad boys this weekend:

 

Wrestlemania I

Wrestlemania 2

Wrestlemania III

Wrestlemania IV

Wrestlemania V

Wrestlemania VI

Wrestlemania VII

[goodhelmet]

Wrestlemania I - There isn't a great match on the card but i can sit through the entire thing and enjoy the hell out of it... even to this day. I think I like it because it takes me back to a place where I was ten years old, the world was a-ok and I hadn't really hit puberty yet. I'll be honest.. I get amped when I hear Eye of the Tiger play and hear the crowd go batshit for the main event.

 

Wrestlemania 2 - It is no secret that one of my favorite Wrestlemania matches is the Bulldogs-Dream team match. I mark out for Ozzy. I marked out for the title win. I love it. This was also the first time i can ever remember trying to predict the winners of the card. I think the only match I missed was the Funks-JYD/Santana match. I thought there was no way in hell two old guys were going to beat my team. I was wrong

 

Wrestlemania III - this card has two of my favorite Wrestlemania moments. Adonis getting his hair shaved and Steamboat becoming IC champion. I still remember not being able to sleep that night because I was so energized over this show.

 

Wrestlemania IV - I watched this live and had no idea that Clash I was on at the same time. I picked the wrong show. I fell asleep during the middle of the show and my mom was upset. I think we paid FIFTEEN DOLLARS to watch this. I marked out for Savage winning and still remember them showing clips on the morning news the next day. I also enjoyed the battle royale. I was secretly hoping for a Bad News Brown win but the Bret Hart face turn was neat.

 

Wrestlemania V - Savage gives Hogan his best match ever and I forget what was on the rest of the card. Seriously, I can't remember and don't care to look it up.

 

Wrestlemania VI - I think this is another throwaway card where the main event, when seen today, is really mediocre.

 

Wrestlemania VII - Loss loves Savage-Warrior. I don't. There isn't any other match on the card i would pay to see and the greta match isn't that great to me.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Wrestlemania I: A show that gets a free pass for historical reasons. Not a single great match on the card, but it doesn't matter. It's responsible for taking the company to the next level and opening the door for everything that happened in the next two decades; the good and the bad.

 

Wrestlemania 2: Never liked it. Well, that's a lie, since I enjoyed anything WWF when I was a kid. But as time went by, I became quite familiar with Wrestlemanias III through IX, but usually passed this one up at the rental place. Neat concept, but in practice, I think it hindered the quality of the show. The roster was bloated, mostly with mediocre people who'd drop off the face of the Earth well before the '90s.

 

Because of the three venues, the talent is spread out all over the place and because they needed to fill a respectable card for three arenas in one night, there were a lot of people involved that wouldn't have been otherwise. Matches were too short; many didn't have an important feeling, and because of the split show concept, the announcers are all over the place with quasi-celebs sitting in on the action. I heart Elvira's volumptious rack, but her commentating during the main even of Wrestlemania wasn't the best idea.

 

Wrestlemania III: Another free pass. Couple of good matches, one great one, and an epic meeting that became a staple in Wrestlemania's legacy. Were this done in some arena, I doubt it'd be so fondly remembered, but it's still a fun show to check out on a regular basis.

 

Wrestlemania IV: It's no big secret I'm an apologist for the show. It's probably one of the most overblown 'Manias out there, with the least quality wrestling. But I still love it. It was my first Wrestlemania and I've easily seen this more times than any other 'Mania. And that's willingly, folks. Too much crammed into the show, but it's filled with so many memorable moments, both on a personal level and on a universal level. I just can't hate it.

 

Wrestlemania V: I always viewed this as inferior to Mania IV. It's not as bad from a wrestling standpoint, but it's definitely a bloated card with minimal quality ring action. Still another guilty pleasure of mine.

 

Wrestlemania VI : One of those Manias that people remember fondly because of atmosphere and a particular match. I always dug it, too, so I'm guilty as charged. As a kid, I was a fan of the undercard and never cared for the Warrior/Hogan meeting because I was a huge Hogan fan.

 

Wrestlemania VII: Idiotic angle be damned, another fun show in my eyes. Warrior/Savage has its flaws, but it's still a great match with a truly memorable moment afterward. It's got one of the best 'Mania openers with Rockers vs. Barbarian and Haku. Things get tedious towards the home stretch, where all of a sudden, you're hit with five or six three-minute matches. It was as if they realized how short they were running on time and they still had to get 15 guys out there before the main event.

[Guest Some Guy]

Wrestlemania I - I remeber the first time I saw this in the video store (I was 3 when it happened) I marked out for Mr. T. being on the cover. Other than found memories from childhodd this show sucks.

 

Wrestlemania 2 - I never really liked this one that much, even as a kid. Although I remember thinking Hogan/Bundy was brutal because Bundy bled. Now, I like the Bulldogs match. The Bulldogs were pretty much gone by the time I started watching wrestling (late 88) so I never got into them as a kid.

 

Wrestlemania III - This was my second favorite WM as a kid and the first one I ever dubbed. I still have that tape and th VQ is fucking horrible because I watched it so many times and it's 15 years old.

 

Wrestlemania IV - My favorite WM as a kid. I really don't know why, but I loved this fucking show and watches a lot as a young mark. Andre tripping Duggan, the cool stun gun finish to DiBiase/Murracco, Savage winning four matches, and the Hulkster saving the day for Macho. Other than the stun gun, I hate this show now.

 

Wrestlemania V - Hogan/Savage still holds up pretty well. Rude does his best to carry Warrior and wins the IC title, which I marked for as a kid. I always loved Rude. This is the first WM that I watched the build to. The dulaing Hogan/Savge promos were really cool.

 

Wrestlemania VI - Hogan/Warrior does not hold up well at all from a match standpoint or a marl out moment (I was rooting for Hulk anyway). Rock/Hogan came along 12 years later and stole this macthes thunder as far as epic "crowd makes the match" type matches at WM go.

 

Wrestlemania VII - I remember not really being too excited for this one as a kid and I was in full fledged watch wrestling every saturday morning mark mode by this time. I still like Warrior/Savage as an overall angle and the match is pretty and probably Warrior's best. (Summerslam 92 might be better but I haven't watched either in so long that I can't remember). There is nothing else on this show that sticks out to me as being any good. I think HBK got his first WM win here, though.

[Guest KingPK]

Wrestlemania I - Vince's big gamble, which ultimately paid off for him. Nothing all that special on the card, but the main event is decent (since Mr. T wasn't involved that much)

 

Wrestlemania 2 - Now, THIS one sucked. The Bulldogs tag match and the Piper/Mr. T boxing match are the only bright spots.

 

Wrestlemania III - Can't really hate a show that has a damn good IC title match, King Kong Bundy squashing a midget, and probably the most notable North American wrestling match of all time on it.

 

Wrestlemania IV - I like tournaments, so this was a fun show to watch. Add on the battle royal and the Piper's Pit segment (I THINK that was IV), along with Bob Ueker's interview with Andre ("Hey, you mind getting your foot off my shoulder?") and Vanna White manning the brackets, it's a pretty enjoyable (but pretty long) show.

 

Wrestlemania V - I can't really remember any of the card here either, outside of Savage/Hogan and Demolition winning the tag titles.

 

Wrestlemania VI - Would you believe that, other than Warrior/Hogan, I've never seen this one?

 

Wrestlemania VII - Nothing really to write home about. I think Warrior/Savage is good, but not **** good, but Liz coming in and hugging Randy is a markout moment.

[Loss]

Wrestlemania I - Historic, for obvious reasons, but that's about all it has going for it. Steamboat/Borne was all right, but that was about it. I hate how in this era of the WWF, they rang the bell before the match, after each introduction, and then again to start the match. Lay off, will ya?

 

Wrestlemania II - Not a good show, but a very fun one, because of the three locations thing that Starrcade would rip off later in the year, and because it's such a great time capsule of the era. Hogan is freakishly huge in the main event. Also, cool to see Bret as the next-to-last guy in the NFL/WWF battle royal, although I wish we could have gotten Bret/Steamboat, which was the original plan.

 

Wrestlemania III - Enormous. Bad. Faces going over all night is cool. Savage/Steamboat is probably my least favorite good match of all time.

 

Wrestlemania IV - I skipped it in favor of Clash I. Yay for me. I got three great matches out of five aired matches, and in half the time to boot.

 

Wrestlemania V - I actually think this was the best WM up until that point, although it still has some weirdness going on. Hogan/Savage is one of the better performances of both. Brother Love is funny in the Piper's Pit segment and I marked for the Martel turn. Rockers v Towers is a good big man-little man match.

 

Wrestlemania VI - Hogan/Warrior I still like, but it's not outstanding or anything. The rest ... who cares.

 

Wrestlemania VII - The best WM ever at the time. Has Savage/Warrior, which was an incredible match, Rockers v Haku/Barbarian, which is also fun, and a better than given credit for Hogan/Slaughter main event. Heenan and Gorilla are also on fire in the announce booth.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

I hate how in this era of the WWF, they rang the bell before the match, after each introduction, and then again to start the match. Lay off, will ya?

It didn't help that it was a lethargic ring. Duh---Duh-Duh---Duh.

 

Wrestlemania II - Not a good show, but a very fun one, because of the three locations thing that Starrcade would rip off later in the year, and because it's such a great time capsule of the era. Hogan is freakishly huge in the main event. Also, cool to see Bret as the next-to-last guy in the NFL/WWF battle royal, although I wish we could have gotten Bret/Steamboat, which was the original plan.

I always forget that was the original plan. But to me, this show is just a reminder of the crop of guys they had on the roster that just wound up going nowhere. Most of them rightfully so, but it was such an uneventful year for the company. It's especially so when you think of the four years wrapped around 1986.

 

Heenan and Gorilla are also on fire in the announce booth.

Heenan really gets it going during the fall-out of the Savage/Warrior match. I love the Demoltion match simply because of Heenan and Gorilla's interaction. For those of you who've got a copy of the unclipped match, go watch it now if you don't know or remember what I'm talking about. "His name's Fred Katow? What an odd name for a Japanese guy."

[Al]

Wrestlemania II - Not a good show, but a very fun one, because of the three locations thing that Starrcade would rip off later in the year, and because it's such a great time capsule of the era.

Didn't Starrcade also do the alternate arenas setup the year before as well?

[Guest Sass]

Wrestlemania I - awful show. One match (ME) worth watching.

 

Wrestlemania 2 - awful show. One match (BB/DT tag) worth watching.

 

Wrestlemania III - awful show. Two matches (IC & ME) worth watching.

 

Wrestlemania IV - awful, awful show. No matches worth watching.

 

Wrestlemania V - weak show. Two matches (Hennig/Blazer & ME) worth watching.

 

Wrestlemania VI - very lame show. ME is only match worth watching. One of Hogan's best matches.

 

Wrestlemania VII - lame show. Two matches (Rockers/Twin Towers & Warrior/Savage) worth watching. Truly, a decrepit show overall.

[Marty]

Trying not to repeat what others said...

 

WrestleMania: I like the old-school darker look of it, with the MSG aura, but that's about it. Most of the matches were exhibition showcases, almost done in a way to introduce the world to who's who. Main event was fine, and Mr. T certainly wasn't the worst celebrity in history to wrestle.

 

WrestleMania 2: Blah show. I liked the BB/DT tag, and the battle royale's a guilty pleasure. Nothing else of note.

 

WrestleMania III: Main event and IC match are worth watching, and the Adonis-Piper blowoff was fun for me as a kid. Maybe I'm looking far too deep into it, but Hogan-Andre was about as good as it was going to be in the early going before they decided to take the match outside. Then it got embarrassing for both guys. Steamboat-Savage reminds me of Lesnar-Angle (at WM XIX): a feud of hatred (although the latter is less so), with the resulting match making zero sense in the context of the buildup. Still good for historical reasons, I guess.

 

WrestleMania IV: I haven't seen this show since watching it at a friend's birthday party in October 1988. We were all bored of it back then too.

 

WrestleMania V: Most of the card is filler, filler, filler, but I still really like Hogan-Savage. I like Savage more, always have, but even the Main Event angle of him destroying Hogan had me freaking out at him at the time. Such a great, great worker he was. One of Savage's finest performances, as well as Hogan's.

 

WrestleMania VI: Hogan-Warrior is good. The rest, blah.

 

WrestleMania VII: Never saw the show. I hated the WWF at the time for the Iraqi angle and took a break from it. A local TV station here in Ottawa showed WCW Worldwide and that was all the wrestling I was watching at the time. I will correct Sass though: The Rockers faced Haku/Barbarian, not the Twin Towers.