We kick off the show with Vince McMahon welcoming us to WrestleMania III, live from the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. He then throws to Aretha Franklin, who sings "America the Beautiful." We then go up to our commentators for the night Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura along with celebrity guests Mary Hart & Bob Uecker.
Match #1: The Can-Am Connection vs Cowboy vs Bob Orton & The Magnificent Muraco-This is the pay-per-view debut of Tom Zenk & Rick Martel, collectively known as the Can-Am Connection. Martel had actually been in the WWF before this from 1980 to 1982, even winning the Tag Team Championships with Tony Garea before leaving for the AWA. In what ends up being a fairly enjoyable tag match, the Can-Am Connection picked up the win after Martel hit a crossbody on Muraco, pinning him for the three and the win in 5:37. It's a nice little opener, nothing special, but enjoyable.
Rating: 2.5 stars
This is actually the end of the Can-Am Connection on pay-per-view. Zenk ends up leaving the WWF after a pay dispute. Zenk claims that Martel had negotiated a contract worth three times more than Zenk's for himself, but Martel has denied that claim. Zenk would go on wrestle as the Z-Man in WCW. And what of Rick Martel? Just wait until the next review.
Match #2: Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules-Our next match is the "Battle of the Full Nelsons" pitting Billy Jack Haynes against Hercules with Bobby Heenan in his corner. This match came about after Heenan boasted that Hercules was the real master of the full nelson, which was Haynes' finishing move. This led to a confrontation on Superstars of Wrestling, where Haynes challenged Hercules to put him in the full nelson so he could break out of it. However, Hercules ended up attacking him before putting him in the hold. So naturally, this a submission match where the only way you could win is by submitting your opponent with the full nelson, right? Nope...it's just a regular match. So anyway, Haynes really looks like a store brand version of Randy Savage. He's the Great Value Macho Man. This is more or less an uneventful match with a bad finish. The finish comes when Haynes locks in the full nelson, but Hercules is able to break the hold by falling out of the ring with Haynes. Rather than get Hercules back in the ring, Haynes locks in the full nelson outside the ring and both men get counted out after 7:44. Heenan knees Haynes in the back to make him break the hold, prompting Haynes to go after Heenan. This allowed Hercules to hit Haynes with his chain, busting Haynes open before locking in the full nelson. Not really anything worth watching and the non-finish sort of takes away from the match.
Rating: 1.5 stars
Match #3: King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo, and Lord Littlebrook vs Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver, and the Haiti Kid-Man, the fall of King Kong Bundy was quick. After main-eventing WrestleMania 2, Bundy has dropped down the card to team with little people in a comedy match. So this match is contested under mixed tag rules so Bundy & Hillbilly Jim can only wrestle eachother and the little people can only wrestle the other little people. There are a couple of pretty funny spots. The first is the four little person criss-cross followed by Hait Kid & Little Beaver row boating Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook's legs. The second is when Beaver dropkicks Bundy, which has zero effect, prompting Beaver to run to his corner and tag in Hillbilly Jim. At one point, all three men try to pin Bundy after a bad elbow drop by Jim, but Bundy kicks out. Beaver ends up running in a couple times to stop Bundy before Bundy just bodyslams him and drops an elbow on him for a DQ in 3:25. Bundy tries to splash Little Beaver, only for the remaining little people to save him. Hillbilly Jim sends Bundy out of the ring. It's obviously not a technical masterpiece by any means, but it's fun for the most part.
Rating: 1.75 stars
Match #4: "King" Harley Race vs The Junkyard Dog in a Loser Must Bow match-This match comes about after Harley Race won the King of the Ring tournament, dubbing him "the King of Wrestling." He would start wearing a crown & robe, entering to "The Great Gate at Kiev" (which would end up being Jerry Lawler's entrance theme) and force his opponents to bow to him after beating them (with help from Bobby Heenan). The Junkyard Dog took offense to this, leading to this match where the loser must bow to the winner. At one point, Race tries to top the Dynamite Kid's nasty bump from WrestleMania 2 by going for a diving headbutt off the apron to the outside and missing. Race keeps trying to headbutt JYD, but JYD's head is too hard and he hurts himself. Eventually, JYD gets distracted by Heenan on the outside, allowing Race to hit a belly-to-belly suplex for the three and the win in 4:22. After the match, JYD bows to Race, only to get his heat back by hitting Race with a chair and leaving with the robe. This was nothing and a waste of time.
Rating: 1 star
Match #5: The Rougeau Brothers vs The Dream Team-The Dream Team has a new addition to their team, with Dino Bravo joining Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine. Bravo is at ringside for this match alongside the Dream Team's manager Johnny Valiant. This ends up being a fairly standard tag match, with nothing of note really happening. The Rougeaus end up hitting their awesome finisher La Bombe de Rougeau, a bearhug/seated senton combo. Raymond Rougeau got the visual three, but the referee was distracted when Jacques Rougeau holds off Beefcake. This allows Bravo to get a cheap shot it, diving off the second rope and hitting Raymond and allowing Valentine to get the three and the win in 4:03. However, Beefer actually objects to the win, telling the referee that Bravo interfered. But alas, the Dream Team leaves the ring victorious without Beefcake. It's a match...that's about it.
Rating: 2 stars
Rating: 1.75 stars
Rating: 1 star
Match #5: The Rougeau Brothers vs The Dream Team-The Dream Team has a new addition to their team, with Dino Bravo joining Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine. Bravo is at ringside for this match alongside the Dream Team's manager Johnny Valiant. This ends up being a fairly standard tag match, with nothing of note really happening. The Rougeaus end up hitting their awesome finisher La Bombe de Rougeau, a bearhug/seated senton combo. Raymond Rougeau got the visual three, but the referee was distracted when Jacques Rougeau holds off Beefcake. This allows Bravo to get a cheap shot it, diving off the second rope and hitting Raymond and allowing Valentine to get the three and the win in 4:03. However, Beefer actually objects to the win, telling the referee that Bravo interfered. But alas, the Dream Team leaves the ring victorious without Beefcake. It's a match...that's about it.
Rating: 2 stars
Hot Rod's Last Ride
Match #6: Adrian Adonis vs Roddy Piper in a Hair vs Hair match-In what is billed as Roddy Piper's retirement match, Piper faces Adrian Adonis in a hair vs hair match where the loser gets their head shaved. Piper took a leave of absence after WrestleMania II, which allowed Adonis to replace Piper's Pit with his own talk show segment called The Flower Shop. This led to multiple encounters between the two, leading to both men hosting their shows against each other. That ended with Adonis destroying the Piper's Pit set along with Bob Orton & Don Muraco. That led to Piper destroying the Flower Shop, which brings us to this match. Adonis is in horrible shape, but he's actually able to take bumps and move around a lot better than I expected. Adonis' manager Jimmy Hart constantly tries to interfere, which usually ends with Piper tossing him at Adonis. Eventually, Adonis takes control and is able to lock in the sleeper hold, which Piper is unable to break by ramming Adonis into the corner. The referee raises Piper's hand three times and Piper is able to keep his hand up on the third. Adonis let's go, however, think he won before he & Hart celebrate in the ring. Suddenly, Brutus Beefcake runs down and wakes up Piper, who quickly locks in a sleeper hold of his own and knocks out Adonis for the win in 6:33.
After the match, Piper lets Beefer do the honors and cuts Adonis' hair. An enraged Adonis goes after Piper, but Piper avoids him before he leaves the ring with Hart's jacket over his head. Piper celebrates in the ring, kissing Howard Finkel on the head before a fan runs in.
Piper actually shakes his hand before security quickly gets him. Piper leaves in a tiny ring as Gorilla Monsoon says this will be the last time see Roddy Piper compete in the ring...except for Survivor Series 1989...and the Royal Rumble 1990...and WrestleMania 6...and Survivor Ser-I think you get the point. I thought this was a pretty enjoyable match, the action was good and the drama was built up fairly well.
Rating: 3 stars
Before the next match, Jesse Ventura gets introduced by Howard Finkel...that's it.
Match #7: The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis vs The British Bulldog & Tito Santana-It's six-man tag action as the WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation, Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart, and Danny Davis face off against the former champions The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana. This is Davis' debut match in the WWF, as he was formerly a crooked referee who allowed heels to cheat in their matches. He was the referee in the match where the Hart Foundation won the titles from the Bulldogs and the match where Santana lost the Intercontinental Championship to Randy Savage. As a result, he lost his job as a referee and is now a wrestler. Davis mostly stays out of the match, only coming in when his team is firmly in control so he can get a few shots in. At one point, Davis goes for a slingshot splash, but Dynamite Kid blocks it with his knees and makes the hot tag to Santana. Davey Boy Smith ends up tagging in for a brutal looking Tombstone Piledriver, followed by a suplex and a running powerslam. Eventually, chaos ensues before Davis can clock Davey Boy with Jimmy Hart's megaphone for the three and the win in 8:52. I thought this was also fine, a pretty enjoyable 6-man tag.
Rating: 2.75 stars
Match #8: Butch Reed vs Koko B. Ware-This match...is nothing. It's filler and it's completely uneventful. Reed ends up winning when he rolls through on a crossbody attempt by Koko for the three in 3:39. After the match, Reed and his manager Slick attack Ware before Tito Santana runs down to make the save and tear up Slick's clothes. This is nothing.
Rating: 0.5 stars
Match #9: Randy Savage (c) vs Ricky Steamboat-WWF Intercontinental Championship-Yes. Yes to all of this. So this match came about after Savage attacked Steamboat before a title match between them. Savage crushed Steamboat's larynx by laying him over the guard rail and dropping an elbow on him before ramming the ring bell into Steamboat's throat from the top rope. Now, Steamboat's recovered and out for revenge on Savage, with George the Animal Steele by his side for what is billed as Steamboat's last shot at the title. Considering how legendary this match is, it's no surprise that this match is fantastic. Once the action gets going, there are zero dull moments. Pretty much every second of this match is fast-paced with no stalling whatsoever. At no point does either man completely dominate the match, giving us a great back and forth match that is so unlike everything else from this time. I honestly can't do this match justice, you have to watch it for yourself to really see just how great this match is. The finish is a little much, however, with Savage accidentally throwing Steamboat into the referee. Savage hits the top rope elbow drop, but the referee is down and misses the visual three. Savage takes the opportunity to grab the ring bell and head to the top rope. However, he is stopped initially by Steele, who pushes him off the top rope when he goes up again. Savage recovers and goes for a bodyslam, but Steamboat reverses it into a small package, gets the three, the win, and the Intercontinental Championship to cap off an incredible match. The finish might be a little overbooked, but it's not enough to take away from easily the best match I've reviewed in a classic pay-per-view so far.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Match #10: Jake Roberts vs The Honky Tonk Man-This match came about as a result of the Honky Tonk Man attacking Jake Roberts on the set of the Snake Pit, hitting him behind his back with a guitar. Along with turning Roberts face, this legitimately injured him and cost him a run with the Intercontinental Championship, as he was supposed to take the belt off of Honky after he beat Steamboat. Also, Roberts has Detroit's own Alice Cooper in his corner for this match, both to counter-act Honky's manager Jimmy Hart and because he loves snakes, I guess. The match starts off really hot, with Roberts wasting no time taking Honky to the woodshed. However, once Honky takes control, the match slows down to a crawl. Additionally, the crowd is dead for half of this match, which probably has to do with being exhausted from the Savage-Steamboat match. They do pop big for the DDT, but a distraction from Hart allows Honky to roll up Roberts while grabbing the ropes for leverage in 7:04. This match is alright, nothing special.
Rating: 2 stars
Afterward, Roberts tries to smash Honk'y with his own guitar. Honky dodges it, causing the guitar to hit the ring post and disintegrate on contact.
Honky runs off, leaving Hart to let Roberts get his back by having Alice Cooper taunt him with Damien the snake.
Before the next match, Mean Gene Okerlund comes down to the ring to announce that WrestleMania 3 has made history with a new indoor attendance record of 93,173. Whether or not that's legit is up for debate, but I digress.
Match #11: The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs The Killer Bees-Sheik & Volkoff have a new manager, with Freddie Blassie retiring before WrestleMania 2 and selling all is wrestlers' contracts to Slick. Slick is at ringside for Sheik & Volkoff for the first time on pay-per-view, still sporting his ripped clothes from earlier.
No change of clothes, I guess? Volkoff tries to sing the Russian National Anthem (as is tradition) only to be interrupted by Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who is making his pay-per-view debut. Duggan storms the ring with his 2x4, complete with a tiny American flag.
Duggan says that Volkoff is done singing the Russian National Anthem because this is America...I don't think that's how that works. Duggan sticks around at ringside for this match. The Bees start off hot, dominating the match at the start only for Sheik & Volkoff to take control and dominate for the rest of it. Eventually, Sheiky Baby decides to break Jim Brunzell's break, make him humble as Duggan chases Volkoff into the ring. Duggan then decides to smash Sheik across the back with his 2x4 for the DQ after 5:54. The heels scurry away as Duggan leads a USA chant and the Bees celebrate with Duggan despite losing because of Duggan. Boo.
Rating: 1.5 stars
Unfortunately, this is the end of the Iron Sheik on pay-per-view. Two months after this event, Sheik and Duggan were pulled over on suspicion of DUI. Both men were found to be under the influence of marijuana (Duggan) and cocaine (Sheik) and had small amounts of cocaine on them... The news of two bitter on-screen rivals driving & doing drugs together completely shattered kayfabe at a time when it was alive and well. Sheik would end up being released and wouldn't wrestle on a WWF again until SummerSlam 1991 as Colonel Mustafa. The Iron Sheik character wouldn't wrestle on a pay-per-view again until 10 years later in WrestleMania X-7's Gimmick Battle Royal. As of Duggan, you'll just have to wait and see.
And with that, it's time of the main event.
Rating: 0.5 stars
Match #9: Randy Savage (c) vs Ricky Steamboat-WWF Intercontinental Championship-Yes. Yes to all of this. So this match came about after Savage attacked Steamboat before a title match between them. Savage crushed Steamboat's larynx by laying him over the guard rail and dropping an elbow on him before ramming the ring bell into Steamboat's throat from the top rope. Now, Steamboat's recovered and out for revenge on Savage, with George the Animal Steele by his side for what is billed as Steamboat's last shot at the title. Considering how legendary this match is, it's no surprise that this match is fantastic. Once the action gets going, there are zero dull moments. Pretty much every second of this match is fast-paced with no stalling whatsoever. At no point does either man completely dominate the match, giving us a great back and forth match that is so unlike everything else from this time. I honestly can't do this match justice, you have to watch it for yourself to really see just how great this match is. The finish is a little much, however, with Savage accidentally throwing Steamboat into the referee. Savage hits the top rope elbow drop, but the referee is down and misses the visual three. Savage takes the opportunity to grab the ring bell and head to the top rope. However, he is stopped initially by Steele, who pushes him off the top rope when he goes up again. Savage recovers and goes for a bodyslam, but Steamboat reverses it into a small package, gets the three, the win, and the Intercontinental Championship to cap off an incredible match. The finish might be a little overbooked, but it's not enough to take away from easily the best match I've reviewed in a classic pay-per-view so far.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Match #10: Jake Roberts vs The Honky Tonk Man-This match came about as a result of the Honky Tonk Man attacking Jake Roberts on the set of the Snake Pit, hitting him behind his back with a guitar. Along with turning Roberts face, this legitimately injured him and cost him a run with the Intercontinental Championship, as he was supposed to take the belt off of Honky after he beat Steamboat. Also, Roberts has Detroit's own Alice Cooper in his corner for this match, both to counter-act Honky's manager Jimmy Hart and because he loves snakes, I guess. The match starts off really hot, with Roberts wasting no time taking Honky to the woodshed. However, once Honky takes control, the match slows down to a crawl. Additionally, the crowd is dead for half of this match, which probably has to do with being exhausted from the Savage-Steamboat match. They do pop big for the DDT, but a distraction from Hart allows Honky to roll up Roberts while grabbing the ropes for leverage in 7:04. This match is alright, nothing special.
Rating: 2 stars
Afterward, Roberts tries to smash Honk'y with his own guitar. Honky dodges it, causing the guitar to hit the ring post and disintegrate on contact.
Before the next match, Mean Gene Okerlund comes down to the ring to announce that WrestleMania 3 has made history with a new indoor attendance record of 93,173. Whether or not that's legit is up for debate, but I digress.
Match #11: The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs The Killer Bees-Sheik & Volkoff have a new manager, with Freddie Blassie retiring before WrestleMania 2 and selling all is wrestlers' contracts to Slick. Slick is at ringside for Sheik & Volkoff for the first time on pay-per-view, still sporting his ripped clothes from earlier.
Rating: 1.5 stars
Unfortunately, this is the end of the Iron Sheik on pay-per-view. Two months after this event, Sheik and Duggan were pulled over on suspicion of DUI. Both men were found to be under the influence of marijuana (Duggan) and cocaine (Sheik) and had small amounts of cocaine on them... The news of two bitter on-screen rivals driving & doing drugs together completely shattered kayfabe at a time when it was alive and well. Sheik would end up being released and wouldn't wrestle on a WWF again until SummerSlam 1991 as Colonel Mustafa. The Iron Sheik character wouldn't wrestle on a pay-per-view again until 10 years later in WrestleMania X-7's Gimmick Battle Royal. As of Duggan, you'll just have to wait and see.
And with that, it's time of the main event.
The Irresistible Force vs The Immovable Object
Match #12: Hulk Hogan (c) vs Andre the Giant-WWF Championship
In one of the biggest main events in the history of WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan defends the WWF Championship against the undefeated(*) Andre the Giant. Hogan & Andre were friends more many years in the WWF, with Andre even celebrating with Hogan following his WWF Championship win in 1984. However, tensions arose when Hogan was given a trophy for being champion for three years on Piper's Pit, a week before Andre was given a much smaller trophy for being undefeated* for 15 years. Hogan would come out to congratulate Andre, only to steal Andre's spotlight and cause Andre to walk out. This would lead to another Piper's Pit, where Andre officially turned heel by joining sides with Bobby Heenan and challenging Hogan for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania III. Despite Hogan's plea not to do this, Andre would rip Hogan's shirt and crucifix necklace off of him. This was the tipping point, and Hogan accepted. Before the match starts, we get some celebrity introductions. First off, special ring announcer Bob Uecker, a baseball sportscaster and future WWE Hall of Famer. He then introduces special guest timekeeper Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart.
So, if you've followed this blog long enough, you'd know I covered this match in the Worst of the World. However, with that series, I only really look at the match from an in-ring standpoint, not a storytelling one. That being said, yes, this match is bad in terms of in-ring work. It's really slow and Andre is hardly able to wrestle, even at this point in his career. But that's not what this match is about. You can't expect an in-ring masterpiece like Savage-Steamboat from Hogan and Andre. It's all about the story. Everything from the opening stare-down to the early near fall off a failed bodyslam by Hogan is done perfectly. Andre completely controls the match for the majority early and despite a flurry of offense from Hogan, is able to keep control for a long time. Even if the in-ring action isn't good, the crowd is incredibly hot for everything in this match. The match ends when Hogan is finally able to knock Andre off his feet after about 12 minutes with a clothesline. In an iconic moment, Hogan hulks up and manages to bodyslam Andre before hitting the leg drop for the three and the win to retain the championship in 12:01. Like I said, it's a bad match on a technical level, but the storytelling is about as great as it can be.
Rating: 3 stars
And that's about it. Overall, I'd say this is a good-to-great show. While there are a couple of lame matches, I'd say that the majority of the show is enjoyable enough that I'd say watching the whole show is worth it. Savage and Steamboat obviously steal the show and if you aren't looking to nitpick in-ring work, then the main event is a great watch. Additionally, Piper-Adonis is a pretty good match and the opening tag & the six-man tag matches are fine and easy watches. If you aren't looking watch the whole card, then I'd say skip the JYD-Harley Race and the Koko-Butch Reed matches, maybe the Hayes-Hercules and the penultimate matches, but other than that I'd say the rest of the card is worth giving a watch.
Thanks for reading this classic WWF pay-per-view review. As always, stay tuned for the next one.
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