31 Manias in 31 Days: Rewriting Wrestlemania III

[LODemolition]

For most people, myself including, WrestleMania III is the first one that stands out in history as being the most memorable. Over 93,000 (an indoor attendance record that stood for 25 years) jam-packed the Silverdome to see Hulk Hogan defend the WWF Championship against Andre The Giant. The sight of Hulk picking Andre up and body slamming him has become synonymous with the WrestleMania name itself. That match wouldn't be changed if we had the power, but what about the rest of the card? Today is the 3rd installment of my "Rewriting WrestleMania" series, where I'll show you what I would change to have made each and every WrestleMania the very best card possible.


WrestleMania III - March 29, 1987
Pontiac Silverdome (Pontiac, MI)

Can Am Connection def. Cowboy Bob Orton & Magnificent Muraco

Full Nelson Challenge:

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules went to a double count-out

Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver & The Haiti Kid def. King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo by DQ when Bundy flattened Little Beaver

Loser Bows Match:

King Harley Race w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Fabulous Moolah def. Junkyard Dog

The Dream Team, Brutus Beecake & Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, w/ Luscious Johnny Valiant and Dino Bravo def. The Rougeau Brothers

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper def. "Adorable" Adrian Adonis w/ Jimmy Hart

Hart Foundation & "Dangerous" Danny Davis w/ Jimmy Hart def. British Bulldogs & Tito Santana

"The Natural" Butch Reed def. Koko B. Ware

Intercontinental Championship:

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat w/ George "The Animal" Steele def. Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth to become new champion

Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts w/ Alice Cooper

Nikolai Volkoff & Iron Sheik def. Killer Bees by DQ

Main Event for WWE Championship:

Hulk Hogan def. Andre the Giant w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to retain


*Rewriting WrestleMania III

1. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts w/ Alice Cooper by disqualification

I feel this could've made for a much better opener than the match that they chose. HTM gets the win, clean or not. As we know it wouldn't be long from this point before he became the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in history.

2. King Kong Bundy w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan def. George "The Animal" Steele

These 2 could have been formidable opponents. Steele didn't have a match at WM3, and that kind of confuses me. He was much more of a fan favorite than some others that were put on the card. For him to only be used in Ricky Steamboat's corner seemed like a bit of a waste to me.

3. The Fabulous Rougeaus def. The Dream Team w/ "Luscious" Johnny Valiant and Dino Bravo

I would've kept the opponents the same, but given The Rougeaus the win. It makes more sense to have a tag team split (as The Dream Team did after this match) after a loss than a win, which is why that's the way it's almost always done. Brutus Beefcake turns face here and "The Barber" is born.

4. Billy Jack Haynes def. Hercules

I liked this matchup as these 2 matched up pretty equally.

5. Hillbilly Jim def. "Adorable" Adrian Adonis w/ Jimmy Hart

I basically just inserted Hillbilly Jim as Adonis' new opponent over Piper, as I thought Piper could've been used better in his first Mania as a babyface. I also don't think anyone much cared for Hillbilly and Bundy facing off in a mixed tag with midg...er, little people for partners.

6. Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff w/ "Classie" Freddie Blassie def. The Killer Bees

No reason to change anything here. 2 midcard tag teams made for good WM opponents here.

7. Intercontinental Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat w/ George "The Animal" Steele def. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) w/ Elizabeth

You'd have to be nuts to make any changes to this match. Considered a classic by everyone, and the greatest match of all-time by many.

8. Tito Santana def. "Magnificent" Don Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji

I feel like both of these guys deserved a spot of their own on the midcard rather than tag bouts. It'll become more clear as the rest of the card is unveiled.

9. WWF Tag Team Championship: The Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart and "Dangerous" Danny Davis def. The British Bulldogs

This match should've definitely taken place over the six-man tag including Danny Davis and Tito Santana. People would've preferred to see a referee as a tag team partner rather than seeing the former champs take on The Hart Foundation in a rematch? I doubt it very much. This could've been yet another classic on a card that already had 2 of them.

10. Loser Bows Match: "King" Harley Race w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and The Fabulous Moolah def. Junkyard Dog

I was just fine with this playing out how it did.

11. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper def. "Cowboy" Bob Orton

After Piper's return in 1986, he turned face as we all know. Why not have his opponent at WrestleMania III be the man who he had in his corner at the first 2 Manias? I think this could've been an excellent program where Piper really got the crowd behind him even more so than in reality, after getting fed up with Orton and laying a beating on him.

12. WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan def. Andre The Giant w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

To no one's surprise, there's nothing to change here.


Feel free to comment on how you would've rewritten WrestleMania III.

 

[MrTDG]

I get the idea of rewriting a PPV, but does this take into account the story lines at the time?

The Can-Am Connection tag team was really coming on and supposedly was going to have a run with the tag belts, so I don't get leaving them off the card unless we're taking into account the team eventually was dissolved.

Also, the Roddy Piper/Bob Orton thing was already settled. Piper beat Orton on a Saturday Night's Main Event in late 1986. Unless the feud continues and ends up in some type of specialty match at Wrestle Mania, there was no need for them to face off again. Also Adrian Adonis was much hotter as a heel at the time and the score with Piper had not been settled yet.

I don't think anyone much cared for the HBJ/Haiti Kid/Little Beaver vs. KKB/Lord Littlebrook/Little Tokyo match, but I think it served it's purpose. It was short and made Bundy looked like the terrible bad guy he's supposed to be. I do think it would've been more effective to have King Kong Bundy wrestle the George Steele and injure him, but then he can't participate in the Savage/Steamboat match later on.

Other than that, the rest of the card looks good.

I'd keep the Can Ams vs. Muraco/Orton match and have Tito Santana go over Paul Ordorff (deserved to be on the card), which would lead to Heenan souring on Paul and his eventual face turn.

 

[relentless1]

get rid of Savage vs Steamboat and Hulk vs Andre

 

[MMK]

My WrestleMania III

1.Tag Team Championship
Hart Foundation vs British Bulldogs
(Scrap the six man tag these two teams were involved in. Let these two classic teams battle for the tag team titles instead. Harts win the gold to open the show with a bang)

2) King Harley Race def Junkyard Dog
(I like this match as it was, including the crown being on the line)

3) Demolition def Killer Bees
(Demolition simply should have been on this event. No reason why not)

4)Honky Tonk Man vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Another match where I see no reason to rewrite anything

5) 16 Man Battle Royal @ halftime
Billy Jack Haynes, Hercules, Rick Martel, Tom Zenk, Butch Reed, Koko BWare, Volkoff, Iron Shiek, Jim Duggan, Danny Davis, Tito Santana, Hillbilly Jim, King Kong Bundy, Orndorff, Sika, Ron Bass
(Final 5: Hillbilly Jim and Hacksaw Jim Duggan team up against Shiek, Volkoff and Bundy. Hillbilly elims big Bundy but Bundy then pulls him out from the outside. Shiek and Volkoff double team Duggan to no avail and Hacksaw gets the victory)

6) Six Man Tag
Brutus Beecake & The Rougeaus vs Adrian Adonis & The New Dream Team
(Have Brutus get kicked out of the Dream Team a few months earlier and replaced with Bravo. Brutus seeks revenge at Mania. Brutus puts Adonis to sleep for the win. After the match Brutus shaves the adorable one bald)

7) Intercontinental Championship:
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Randy "Macho Man" Savage

8) Piper & Mr.T vs Orton & Muraco
(If it were possible for PIper and Mr.T to work together then this match would have been a fitting way for Piper to go out. Betrayed by his former partners Orton and Muraco, Piper enlists the help of his former rival Mr.T. The two enemies become allies and finish off a trilogy of Mania matches and a fiting farewell for Piper)

9) Main Event for WWF Championship:
Hulk Hogan def. Andre the Giant w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

 

[willross]

The whole thing behind Danny Davis being in the match was because it was going to be the opportunity for Tito and Bulldogs to get to him for the first time after he screwed them all out of their titles over the last year or so.

I really wanna know how old you are and how you are missing so many of these key plot points in so many great feuds.

You did nail the Orton vs Piper match though. Other than that WM3 was perfect as is.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Mania 3 is amazing. simply put.

there are some changes I would make though. not because I disliked the show or felt it needed a ton of upgrades, but just because there were some opportunities that I feel might have been missed.

for starters, I stated in the Mania 2 thread that I would have had the Bulldogs vs. the Hart Foundation for the Tag Titles. so for this year, I wouldn't have them in a match together at all. instead I'd have the Hart Foundation vs. the newly debuting Demolition. I can't remember if Demolition were face or heel when they debuted, but either way, a good solid match on the biggest show of the year to introduce them works on a few levels. it'd be tough to have a bad match with the Hart Foundation and I think the styles would have complimented each other well here.

were the Rogeau Brothers heel at this time? I feel like they were. if so, put them on the card against the Killer Bees and give both teams something to do as i'm about to take away the Bees' opponents a bit later.

since Dynamite Kid was injured, that would free up the British Bulldog to go one-on-one with someone else. give Davey Boy a chance to shine as a singles star as his team with Dynamite was nearing the end anyway. Bulldog vs. Valentine. it'd be a pretty good to great match and you can have the Beefcake turn from heel to face at this point in the show, setting up his return to the ring later in the Piper/Adonis match when he becomes "the Barber".

then you have Tito Santana get his revenge on Danny Davis one-on-one. that would have been uber-satisfying.

King Kong Bundy vs. George "the Animal" Steele is a good idea. i'd do that too.

a newly debuting Hacksaw Jim Duggan going one-on-one vs. the Sheik is a no brainer to me. USA vs. Foreigner, especially for this time period, is an easy sell. maybe make it a Flag Match.

having Orndorff on the show would have been icing on the cake. Ken Patera vs. Paul Orndorff could have worked. the full nelson finish to write off Mr. Wonderful since he was legit injured adds to the card.

Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog with the crown on the line was fun. i'd keep it as is.

I loved the turn of Beefcake and the Hair vs. Hair match. Piper/Adonis was not the best match ever but I still liked it. Piper should have been in a match at Mania and this was his best of the first 3 so far. I might be biased since I always liked Piper more as a face than as a heel, which is a crime against nature, I know. add to that Beefcake becoming the Barber and this is actually a decent WrestleMania Moment.

Jake the Snake and Honkey Tonk Man delivered also. being a Snake fan, I wish he had won, but I also understand that he didn't really care about the win/loss record. and the after attack on Jimmy Hart and Alice Cooper was pretty sweet too. so he got the last laugh and that's good enough for me.

Steamboat/Savage was perfect.

Hogan/Andre was epic.

nothing more needs to be said about either of these two matches. best Mania of the first 3 by a landslide.