I already agreed with the person who said Steamboat. But, I had to come back and reemphasize. Originally, I was going off of memory. This weekend, I was watching WrestleMania III. This was the first Mania I saw live (on PPV, not in person) and I watched the tape hundreds of times afterwards. As I was watching this weekend--just because I felt like watching something familiar--I laughed that I still knew the commentary after all these years. As we got to the Steamboat/Savage match, I realized that although my memory of the original commentary and sounds of this PPV are still clear, there is one point where I knew a tweak was coming. And it came. And it was awful. During Steamboat's pre-match interview (which was great, along with Savage's) I knew exactly when the first note of the terrible replacement music would come in to interrupt him. I say interrupt him because it is ridiculously loud. Not "ridiculously loud" like a parent yelling at their kids to turn down the music. I mean in regards to playing over Steamboat's voice. The original music wasn't intrusive, yet this generic replacement garbage is?? The original music starting to play as his interview was winding down was AWESOME! It set the tone for his entrance and the match to come. It was a great part of this wonderful match. (And keep in mind, hundreds of viewings of a VHS put the original format in my mind and only 2 or 3 viewings since then have put this awful music in my memory, as I cringe like "ugh, here we go" right before it starts.)
Then, the end of the match is--I won't say ruined--but lessened by this same dreadful filler music. And it's loud again! Drowning out the commentary. Honest question--do they have to drown out the original music? I would think they could remove the original music and then simply add in this filler crap...at a low volume. But maybe that isn't possible on such old footage.
I don't want to come across as one of these people who act like they knew things before everyone else. I actually know a guy who thinks he started the "Jose Jose Jose" chants at Mets games. Nothing worse than someone who knew the celebrity back in high school, if you know what I mean. So, that isn't what I mean here. But, back before the internet, before forums, before really being able to talk to many people about wrestling--a lot of my friends didn't like it as much as I did--I overheard two kids talking about their favorite match. It might have been Hulk/Warrior from VI or something else, but I remember thinking then "I never thought about that...hmmm...I think Steamboat/Savage from Mania III." Yes, that match is on all of the lists now. But back then, there were no lists. I had never thought of it because there was nowhere to speak about it. My point in mentioning that is I had a special place for this match long before I realized how good it was historically. The build from Dragon's injury, his frustrating recovery, these two were going to BATTLE...and then Steele and Elizabeth thrown in as well. The pre-match interviews, the match itself....and the music! It was a beautiful package and, although many think commentary and music and atmosphere don't matter when discussing matches, I do. I think the overall feel is what makes it enjoyable. Not a wrestling clinic or false finishes. (Yes, this match had a million pin attempts, but that's not what I mean--I mean half a dozen finishers and kickouts of recent years.)
Anyway, like I said, I already "voted for" Steamboat's music, from memory, for lamest redone entrance music. But once I actually experienced it again, having forgotten about this thread, it all came back and I just had to say more. Haha. I mentioned in my earlier post that I prefer authenticity, even in the few instances when I prefer the redone song (JYD's Grab Them Cakes). I would rather see it how it was.
