Wrestlemania III - 25 years later

[HeenanGorilla]

Today is the 25th anniversary of one of the biggest wrestling events ever -- Wrestlemania III. I was not there, but this was the first wrestling PPV I ever saw live and I have watched the tape hundreds of times. I could probably recite each line Gorilla, Heenan, Ventura, Uecker..and even Mary Hart...uttered. Okerlund's interviews too... Anyway, I love the whole card. Let's take a look (forgive the lack of spelling out all participants names..I have a meeting soon haha):

Can-Am Connection vs. Muraco and Orton
Good opening match pitting two veterans against a hot new tag-team. Can-Ams were victorious and got the crowd hot.

Hercules vs. Billy Jack Haynes
The Battle of the Full Nelson showed Haynes with a huge press slam of Herc and ended with Billy Jack's face covered in blood, courtesy of Herc's chains

Bundy and midgets vs. Hillbilly Jim and midgets
This match was funny to watch and included the memorable moment of Bundy slamming Little Beaver, causing Hillbilly and all of the midgets to come to his aid.

Harley Race vs. JYD
I was disappointed that JYD lost, but he cracked Race with a chair and left with the robe, infuriating Heenan, Moolah and Race. Good moment for the crowd. Grab Them Cakes must have sounded awesome throughout the stadium

Rougeaus vs. Dream Team
Rougeuas win and Beefcake gets abandoned by Johnny V, Valentine and Bravo. Brutus face turn in progress.

Piper vs. Adonis
Billed as Piper's last match: win, lose or draw. He won, and along with Beefcake (face turn complete) shaved Adonis's head...another comedic moment for the audience. Piper soaked it all in, not taking the ring-looking forklift to the ring, walking the long aisle and enjoying his last (first last) hurrah

Harts and Davis vs. Bulldogs and Tito
We're back from intermission and night has fallen. Davis has screwed the Bulldogs and Tito out of titles and it's payback time. They rough him up nice..but Davis, thanks to a megaphone shot, gets the pin.

Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware
Tito rips up Slick's suit and has himr running for his life. Nice little match.

Jake vs. Honky Tonk Man
Honky cheats to win, but Jake and Alice Cooper (with his 4 inch "pythons") get to attack/terrify Jimmy Hart with Damien

Killer Bees vs. Sheik and Volkoff
Popcorn match...get your popcorn for the main event. But, Duggan came down and disrupted the Russian National Anthem, and later nailed Sheik with his 2x4--costing the Bees the match, but was good for the crowd.

Everyone knows about Steamboat/Savage and Hogsn/Andre, so I won't tell you what you already know. These two timeless matches are still respected to this day. RS and RS put on a clinic, while Hogan and Andre -- put on a show themselves. The staredown, the near-fall, the slam, the pin. HUGE moment in wrestling history and, in my opinion, the BIGGEST match of all time.

What a great card and amazing event. There are debates over the legitimacy of the announced attendance record, the ranking of Steamboat/Savage and Hogan/Andre in the annals of sports entertainment....but those for other boards. I am interested in what memories of WMIII you guys have.

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

Thanks for the recap down memory lane. What was built around being the biggest Wrestlemania of all time and arguably so. It featured the first icon vs icon match in the main event. The bout between Macho Man/Ricky Steamboat showed just why it shouldn't matter which match you're in, work your ass off. It is still reflected on 25 years later as the best match of Wrestlemania. Some might argue that there were too many matches on the card with it appears to be the final total being 12 in those times a 3 hour period. I've personally have always been a fan of more then better. At least in those days ok, there might have been 5-6 quicker matches but you have to think, they didn't have Raw, Smackdown, Nxt and the internet. At that time I think the only thing they might have had was Saturday Night Main Event and something similar to Superstars. Besides I rather get more superstar exposure then have to watch some matches drag on for no reason and the countless in PPV promo/commercial crap that happens in the modern events. It was a really good PPV for its time and today it might get knocked down a little for only having 2 matches that are truly remembered but I'm personally a fan.

 

[ECW Sandman]

I loved all the matches of WM III to think it's already been 25 years since it took place on March, 29th 1987 it's unreal. I personally believe WrestleMania III was the greatest WrestleMania of all time. The Hogan/ Andre match was good but I may be bias but since he was and will always be my favorite wrestler The Savage Steamboat match stole WrestleMania III with all the near falls they had in that match it was a lot better then the Hogan/ Andre match.

Yes Andre let Hogan beat him but Andre was in a lot of pain when that match took place he just had or was going to have back surgery and I believe if it was 10 years before in 1977 that match would have been better if you go back and watch after Hogan slammed Andre, Andre was wincing in pain.

 

[willross]

What other people may not realize is that if it didn't rain that day, then the first half of the show wouldn't be see by those in the upper deck due to glare. But in Vince McMahon fashion he said, "Then I guess it will rain tomorrow" when speaking to a producer about the issue they were facing the day before.

The other thing is that Savage/Steamboat went less than 15 minutes. So it proved the ultimate point as that you don't need to go on last and have a 25 - 30 minute match to put on a classic. Easily the best non-main event in Wrestlemania history, maybe even wrestling history (I still hold the Iron Man ahead of it, maybe a little biased cause I'm Canadian lol)

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

There's a lot than can be said about Wrestlemania 3...good and bad. It was the THE spectacle even for WWE, something they've tried, to varying degrees of success to meet or exceed every year since. It's still the biggest Wrestlemania crowd WWE has ever played to, and probably will hold that honor for as long as WWE exists given pro wrestlings popularity and place in pop culture these days.

Of course the iconic moment, and what made WM 3 what it was, is Hogan and Andre. It was really WWE's first iconic match, played on the biggest stage, a real stroke of brilliance for Vince McMahon. But the one thing I always remember about WM 3 is Steamboat vs Savage. It was only 15 minutes, but it was probably the most fluid, technical, masterful match in Wrestlemania history. The stage set, along with the incredible performances by Savage and Steamboat gave the Intercontinental Championship an air of importance that it has never had since. It really showed just what a mid card match could do for a PPV event, and that the smaller guys could not only hook wrestling fans, but bring them to their feet. Steamboat may never have had quite the success he deserved as a WWE performer, but there's no denying WM 3 made Randy Savage.

Of course it also made Hogan too, and going back and hearing Hogan talk about the injuries to Andre, the fact that Hogan hurt his own back slamming him, and just the genuine emotion and importance behind the scenes for their match really just adds to the mystique and iconic level of Wrestlemania 3.

The only thing I can really say against WM 3 was that it was the WM 3 that really started the bad tradition in the early days of the even of overbooking the PPV with too many matches. Had they trimmed the card just a bit, a match like Savage and Steamboat could have went a full 30 minutes.

With all that said though, I still believe WM 3 is the reason WWE is what it is today, and it contributed more to the overall business in one night than many wrestlers and continuing events have in their entire careers/existence. It was the even that helped pro wrestling stop being the pink elephant in the room of pop culture, and made WWE seem and feel like the global phenomenon that it would grow to become.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

Did you guys read the bill simmons article on it today? Was a nice piece on WM3 and the current year's wrestlemania that likened Cena/Rock to Andre/Hulk, and y2j/punk to savage/steamboat... What I liked best was how he said that one match he'd really want to show people was Roberts/HTM as it was truly representative of wrestling in that era and I thought about it and he was right. You had two guys who defined gimmicks and made it work because they were great on the mic and made you believe they were those guys. WM3 is definitely where the WWE got it right and haven't looked back. I only saw it on tape later but what a great card, I still remember jake and alice cooper along with Brutus coming out and shaving Adonis... man... I wish this years could be half as good and I'll be satisfied (and it just may be)