Wrestlemania 5: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This topic is part of a thread series where we are looking back on previous Wrestlemania events, from the first all the way up until last year's edition of the biggest PPV brand of them all. Wrestlemania 30 is on its way, so let's continue to take a look at the history of Wrestlemania until the big day in April. I'll be submitting these topics one by one, this is the 5th of 29.

We are discussuing Wrestlemania 5 this time around.

Wrestlemania 5 took place on April 2, 1989. It was held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey which was also the location where the Wrestlemania 4 event was hosted at. 18,946 fans attended. Here are the results of the show:



1. Hercules defeated King Haku (with Bobby Heenan) in a singles match (06:57)

2. The Twin Towers (Akeem and The Big Boss Man) (with Slick) defeated The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) in a tag team match (08:02)

3. Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) fought to a double countout in a singles match (10:01)

4. The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) (with Jimmy Hart) in a tag team match (09:10)

5. Mr. Perfect defeated The Blue Blazer in a singles match (05:38)

6. Demolition (Ax and Smash) (c) defeated The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian) and Mr. Fuji in a handicap tag team match to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship (08:20)

7. Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) defeated Ronnie Garvin in a singles match (03:06)

8. The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) (with Bobby Heenan) defeated Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) in a tag team match (09:17)

9. Jake Roberts defeated André the Giant (with Bobby Heenan) by disqualification in a singles match with special guest referee Big John Studd (09:44)

10. The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) defeated The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) in a tag team match (07:40)

11. Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) defeated The Ultimate Warrior (c) in a singles match to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship (09:36)

12. Jim Duggan and Bad News Brown fought to a double disqualification in a singles match (03:49)

13. The Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan (with The Brooklyn Brawler) in a singles match (00:31)

14. Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage (c) in a singles match to win the WWF Championship (17:54)




Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the show:


What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

Should they have held the event at the same location two years in a row for Wrestlemania 4 and 5, or would you rather have had it take place somewhere else instead of Trump Plaza? Why or why not?

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 5, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in April 1989. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Wrestlemania 5 in this thread. The other Wrestlemania events will be getting their own retrospective threads shortly, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[The Brain]

I think I’m in the minority here but I loved WrestleMania V. I never see much talk about this mania on here but from what I’ve read most people don’t care for it. It’s not considered to be a bad mania but it’s certainly not considered to be a good one. Most seem to think it was just mediocre and forgettable. Not to me. I’ve always enjoyed this show a lot. This was during the time when mania would get about 14 matches and only half had any kind of storyline and the other half was just considered filler. If you weren’t a fan at the time you probably think so many filler matches on mania was a pointless waste of time. That’s not how fans saw it back then. Today a match like Ronnie Garvin vs. Dino Bravo would be on Main Event on ion television. In 1989 it was acceptable for mania. I thought the entire roster was matched up perfectly for this show. Each wrestler was on his opponent’s level.

My favorite match on the card was the main event. To paraphrase from Jesse Ventura on commentary, Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage was the definition of WrestleMania main event. It was a great story that was a year in the making. I think most people remember the story more than the match but the match itself was very good. The top two guys from my childhood wrestling for the title in the WrestleMania main event. What could be better?

My least favorite match would have to be The Red Rooster vs. Bobby Heenan. It’s easy to pick on the 30 second squash involving a manager, and clearly this match wasn’t meant to be a serious competition. The point was to see Heenan get what he had coming for humiliating Rooster for the past six months. I just didn’t think it did anything for Rooster. Sure he got a win but he barely even touched Heenan, and even if he did get some time to beat him up, so what? Beating a manager wasn’t going to make Rooster look good. I suppose a match against Heenan was better than a match against The Brooklyn Brawler and all Heenan’s other guys had other things going on.

I wouldn’t change any of the matches on the card. I would have tried to give some of those filler matches a storyline. I know I said filler was fine for mania during this time but this mania could have used some more story behind it. This is especially true for Brutus Beefcake vs. Ted Dibiase. These were two guys that were at the top of the mid card and occasionally the main event. It was a good match for mania but for some reason there was no story behind it. The match could have gone on exactly like it did but a real storyline between the two would have made it a lot better.

As for Trump Plaza, it's not the ideal mania setting but I liked it. Probably because manias 4 and 5 were the first ones I watched live and just didn't think about it at the time. That building is pure nostalgia for me. Also it worked well since Hogan helped Savage win the title at WM4 and one year later in the same place they were fighting each other for it. Seemed appropriate. If it were WM6 and WM7 in the same venue it wouldn't have been as cool, but WM4 and WM5 worked for me.

 

[LODemolition]

This was a pretty strong card in my opinion and my 2nd favorite behind WMIII out of the first 5 'Manias. My favorite match was Savage and Hogan of course, because it had the best story. Savage turning heel on Hogan after he went to check on Liz on SNME was one of my favorite wrestling moments. I also enjoyed the Jake and Andre feud. I remember being shocked that the Warrior lost the IC Title to Rude. Also, Demolition and the Powers of Pain were 2 of my favorite tag teams growing up, so I liked this match as well. Jeez, look how strong the tag team division was back in those days. 5 of the 14 matches involved tag teams. There's not much I'd change about this card, except I would've rather seen the Hart Foundation vs the Brain Busters and I would've liked to have seen Mr. Perfect in a higher profile match. But it was his first WM, so I understand.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

It was one of the more memorable Manias just from the Main Event alone, and as Brain said they matched everybody up almost impeccably from the bottom of the card to the top.

I don't think you could have really changed any of the matches without changing storylines around. But one thing I definitely would have changed is some of the cheap and/or non-finishes. It's my personal opinion that Mania should be decisive almost all of the time.

-I would have had DiBiase go over Beefcake, maybe with Virgil interference if they wanted to keep Beefcake strong.

-I would have cut The Bushwhackers vs. Rougeaus, and given more time to Brainbusters vs. Strike Force.

-I would have had Jake go over Andre in a more decisive way, because let's face it the Giant was on the downside of his career and Jake could have used a better rub than the one he got.

-I would have had Bad News beat Duggan only because I really enjoyed the Bad News character and would have liked to see him get a bigger push.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

This one is memorable for me as it's the first Mania I saw while over in the States as it happened.

The card itself wasn't brilliant, it seemed to suffer from some of the poor decisions of the previous year as some of the talent simply wasn't around, Steamboat and Bigelow in particular. Had they used both guys better in that tournament and for the rest of 88 they may still be around.

It's memorable for the sheer number of "Mania debuts" for future legends in the WWE "legends sense" and Hall of Famers. Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Arn Anderson, Big Bossman and Curt Hennig, The Bushwhackers and Powers of Pain. Some are clearly legends in the Hall of Fame sense while you could call the Whackers, Warlord and Barbarian "legends" in the way WWE uses the term. The point is those guys who debuted, with the exception of Arn formed the core of the next 3 Wrestlemanias. This was the time they were swapping out their roster and trying some new names from the outside en masse for the first time, the tag division was the main place they focused it so you had The Brain Busters, Twin Towers, Powers and The Rockers all exciting and perhaps the beginning of the best Tag period for the WWF.

In terms of the singles feuds, they seemed a little neglected with the exception of Hogan v Savage and Warrior v Rude. Jake vs Andre was disappointing and somewhat a waste. Andre had been run through by the Warrior at this stage so not letting Jake win clean made it somewhat redundant. Likewise for the DiBiase v Brutus feud and the match ending as it did. It seemed a big step down for DiBiase to be fighting Brutus when Piper was doing The Pit with Morton Downey and Brother love... it seems to me Piper v DiBiase would have been a much better feud, they could have even had Piper Brutus and Jake vs The Mega Bucks and Virgil and it would have done more for each guy.

Perfect vs Owen was a good match, if too short it got Hennig over but made Owen look great, even if his costume/gimmick was lame. I can see why they did the Blazer, but to me it made more sense to bring him in as Owen Hart then, especially as they had already broken and aborted the Hart Foundation up once. Had they done so Bret could have moved up that bit sooner and faced a Rick Rude or Curt Hennig for the IC far sooner, he was more than ready. Owen could have slipped into his place in the Harts and then worked with the Rockers in particular.

Some matches were a waste though... why hire the guy who was NWA World Champion and job him to Dino Bravo.. indeed why push Bravo at all at the time when there were other, better big/strong men on the roster including Hercules.

This was perhaps the most Heenan centric Mania and it showed, basically he was a part/main factor in the stories for 4 of the 14 matches which is a lot really. The Rooster match was wasted as they didn't rid him of the name and push him. Terry Taylor in 89 was awesome as a worker but they kept him trapped in that gimmick after he'd beaten Heenan.

So it's a mixed bag when it comes to Mania's and quality - some ground breaking and crucial moments for the WWF/E going forward but some wasted opportunities using safe or old talents that they had successfully replaced already.

If I was going to change it I'd go with.

Piper, Jake & Brutus v The Mega Powers and The Widowmaker - Windham strictly wasn't on the roster at this point - he debuted in July but I would do the deal sooner and bring him in as a mystery partner. If that couldn't be done you could bring Snuka back as a heel or use Martel (after his walkout earlier in the night it would have gotten him more heat to have done it for DiBiase's money.)

Bad News over Duggan as suggested as Duggan really was a blown opportunity by that point.

I'd scrap Garvin vs Bravo all together. If you're gonna use Ronnie Garvin then put him with Haku which was a more natural match and if you must have a "muscle feud" then put Bravo vs Herc instead. But the show could have succeeded without Garvin or Bravo on it.

If I could "pinch" someone from the NWA at that point it would be Lex Luger. He would have been perfect to run in and save Heenan from Rooster and a great acquisition - bearing in mind the Busters barely lasted till Summerslam. Failing that sign Earthquake that bit earlier and have him do it and replace Andre in Heenans group as the big man.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

When WWF re-released the first fourteen WrestleManias through their WWF Home Video line, man I'm dating myself here, this is going back like 15 years ago, and we're still talking VHS. Man, I'm getting old. I immediately bought Mania V on VHS along with IV to basically complement one another.

Anyway be that as it may, some things stuck out, "The Model" Rick Martel was born, Mr. Perfect made his WrestleMania debut going over The Blue Blazer, The Ultimate Warrior was outsmarted by the cunning of Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan, and of course The Hulkster took his second World Title from Randy Savage. The IC and World Title matches alone were enough for me to be sold on the event.

There were other moments in their like the rekindling of Big John Studd and Andre The Giant's feud, whilst Studd refereeing Andre's match with Jake Roberts. But to be honest, I found the venue overwhelming. Granted, Vince must have had a sweet deal with Donald Trump to return to where last year's Mania was, plus in a very symbolic way, it gave a sense of storyline legitimacy with the Mega Powers exploding. Think of it, the same venue where Randy Savage won the title a year earlier with his then-ally is the same place he lost it against that said ally.

However, Macho Man and Hogan were deserving of a grander platform for a WrestleMania and the fact that this happened at Trump Plaza and not at big venue disappoints me. Years later, they squandered their potential with WrestleMania VIII by giving us an underwhelming main event with Sid and Hogan closing out the show with a DQ ending and Flair and Savage having to take a backseat. No offense to Hogan but I wasn't feeling that.

My take is that Vince and Hogan had their hand in wanting to grand stand the event with the "Is this Hogan's last WrestleMania" bullcrap. Hogan was of course loving the spotlight and not to speak totally ill of that, for that incarnation of the event I wasn't pleased. Not to mention that Vince wanted to likely close the night out with the Ultimate Warrior whom he had given a second chance. So a bunch of factors I think went into squandering that particular Mania. I apologize for going off course with that, but what I'm trying to get back to is that Mania V needed a venue like a Silverdome or Hoosier Dome and sadly we didn't get that.

Especially since this was where The Mega Powers had exploded. Again, just wishful thinking but who can blame me. A bigger injustice than that is the fact that all Macho Man ever got were DQ and count out wins over Hogan and never a pinfall. Such a thing would have made their feud an even better one, instead it was almost similar to the lopsidedness of the Rock and Austin feud and the Hogan and Sting feud, with the exception that at least Rock got a pinfall victory over Austin at Mania 19. But that really isn't saying much considering how much Austin got over on Rock during that time.

Eh, you can't win 'em all I guess.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Mania V is one that I don't think of to often other than the main event. That would be my pick for my favorite and best match of the card. I wouldn't really change much since outside of the main event stuff I really didin't know what else was going on.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I loved wrestlemania 5. My favorite match was the main event. One of Hogan's best matches in his career. The buildup for the match was amazing too. I wish these days they can do builds like that. Mr Perfect vs Blue Blazer is a very underrated wrestlemania match. It was too short to be memorable. They definitely needed more time. There was a lot of filler matches on this show like Duggan vs Bad News(which is my least favorite match). What I love about the early wrestlemania like this one is there are a lot of matches so everyone could be on the show. The last few years there have only been 8 matches and a lot of talented people don't get to perform on the big show.

They definitely should have done another venue. Going to Trump Plaza again was a waste of time. Those fans didn't seem into it. Supposedly Trump gave them a good deal to host the show there again.otherwise they would have not gone back there.

Only thing I would change is giving Henning vs Owen more time. Would have been an awesome match instead of a good one.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

When WWF re-released the first fourteen WrestleManias through their WWF Home Video line, man I'm dating myself here, this is going back like 15 years ago, and we're still talking VHS. Man, I'm getting old. I immediately bought Mania V on VHS along with IV to basically complement one another.

Anyway be that as it may, some things stuck out, "The Model" Rick Martel was born, Mr. Perfect made his WrestleMania debut going over The Blue Blazer, The Ultimate Warrior was outsmarted by the cunning of Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan, and of course The Hulkster took his second World Title from Randy Savage. The IC and World Title matches alone were enough for me to be sold on the event.

There were other moments in their like the rekindling of Big John Studd and Andre The Giant's feud, whilst Studd refereeing Andre's match with Jake Roberts. But to be honest, I found the venue overwhelming. Granted, Vince must have had a sweet deal with Donald Trump to return to where last year's Mania was, plus in a very symbolic way, it gave a sense of storyline legitimacy with the Mega Powers exploding. Think of it, the same venue where Randy Savage won the title a year earlier with his then-ally is the same place he lost it against that said ally.

However, Macho Man and Hogan were deserving of a grander platform for a WrestleMania and the fact that this happened at Trump Plaza and not at big venue disappoints me. Years later, they squandered their potential with WrestleMania VIII by giving us an underwhelming main event with Sid and Hogan closing out the show with a DQ ending and Flair and Savage having to take a backseat. No offense to Hogan but I wasn't feeling that.

My take is that Vince and Hogan had their hand in wanting to grand stand the event with the "Is this Hogan's last WrestleMania" bullcrap. Hogan was of course loving the spotlight and not to speak totally ill of that, for that incarnation of the event I wasn't pleased. Not to mention that Vince wanted to likely close the night out with the Ultimate Warrior whom he had given a second chance. So a bunch of factors I think went into squandering that particular Mania. I apologize for going off course with that, but what I'm trying to get back to is that Mania V needed a venue like a Silverdome or Hoosier Dome and sadly we didn't get that.

Especially since this was where The Mega Powers had exploded. Again, just wishful thinking but who can blame me. A bigger injustice than that is the fact that all Macho Man ever got were DQ and count out wins over Hogan and never a pinfall. Such a thing would have made their feud an even better one, instead it was almost similar to the lopsidedness of the Rock and Austin feud and the Hogan and Sting feud, with the exception that at least Rock got a pinfall victory over Austin at Mania 19. But that really isn't saying much considering how much Austin got over on Rock during that time.

Eh, you can't win 'em all I guess.

I disagree. They didn't need the big venue for that match it didn't need the scale people think it did... Savage was an intense guy and the smaller venue worked to bring that out... What screwed it up if anything was the burst Bursa Sac that basically meant he wasn't making the show without heavy painkillers and risking blood poisoning.

This however was the first feud for the title where there was a seemingly genuine 50/50 chance and Elizabeth played a big role in that. They hewed it out more the following year in the "big arena" but in reality Savage v Hogan set Warrior v Hogan... it proved it could be done that Hogan could go in with an equal rather than a monster.

Sadly by then Hogan had one eye on Hollywood (sweet irony was that Piper had already surpassed anything he could ever do with They Live) and in some ways as big as the Mega Powers were and as much as these guys should have fought... it could have waited... They could have had Savage v DiBiase or even poached Flair around that time, which was a legit option and gone with that. Savage v Hogan could have waited till 6, Hogan v Warrior could have waited to 7 and Warrior v Savage till 8. Neither of those matches needed to be for a title. WWE could have brought in a Flair or built Bam Bam in the previous year to take that title and carry it... Hogan prevented it, pure and simple, he hand picked his replacement knowing it was in his deal he would crush him a year later...

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

I disagree. They didn't need the big venue for that match it didn't need the scale people think it did... Savage was an intense guy and the smaller venue worked to bring that out... What screwed it up if anything was the burst Bursa Sac that basically meant he wasn't making the show without heavy painkillers and risking blood poisoning.

While I still stand by the preference that I would have loved a Hogan-Savage meeting in an epic venue, you've got merit on this point. I'll have to acquiesce to that. That bursa sac burst was no joke either, hearing about what happened with Macho Man regarding that, well that's why I can honestly say he's an eternal favorite of mine for pushing through.

This however was the first feud for the title where there was a seemingly genuine 50/50 chance and Elizabeth played a big role in that. They hewed it out more the following year in the "big arena" but in reality Savage v Hogan set Warrior v Hogan... it proved it could be done that Hogan could go in with an equal rather than a monster.

Elizabeth's role was a great plot device, and what surrounded this made it one of my favorite Mania main events, despite how I wish it were held elsewhere. The fact that you propose the idea that it led into Warrior Vs Hogan for the year after, I didn't think of it like that, but now that you mention it, I see the merit there as well.

Sadly by then Hogan had one eye on Hollywood (sweet irony was that Piper had already surpassed anything he could ever do with They Live) and in some ways as big as the Mega Powers were and as much as these guys should have fought... it could have waited... They could have had Savage v DiBiase or even poached Flair around that time, which was a legit option and gone with that. Savage v Hogan could have waited till 6, Hogan v Warrior could have waited to 7 and Warrior v Savage till 8. Neither of those matches needed to be for a title.

Wait a second, you're going to tell me that Suburban Commando, 3 Ninjas Noon At Mega Mountain and Mr. Nanny weren't worthy to be Oscar winners?! It's an injustice the Academy snubbed these cinematic masterpieces! C'mon man, we disagree often but can we at least point out that Hulk Hogan missed his true calling in slapstick comedy and lovable lug protagonist based action outings?!

LOL, all kidding aside, if there's one thing you'll never get me to defend about Hogan is his movie career. The fact that he took a hiatus from WWF action to film No Holds Barred still irks me to this day as a fan. Piper did indeed have it over Hogan in that regard, and nobody can tell me any differently either.

A delay in the Mega Powers exploding? Never thought of that either, I do think though that Hogan vs Warrior for the WWF World title truly made it the Ultimate Challenge, especially with Hogan losing cleanly. Something that hadn't been seen with a face in WWE history since I believe Pedro Morales losing the then-WWWF title to Stan Stasiak. Then again, Bob Backlund always felt he was cheated out of his WWF title since Arnold Skaaland threw the towel in for him, but there was no cheating in a storyline sense there. Although it made for an interesting angle years later when Backlund challenged Bret Hart for the World Title and won the title back in a very similar way to how he lost it. But that's another story for another day. Now as far as the title for title aspect in Hogan Vs Warrior, I don't think mattered as much even though Warrior was a dominant IC Champion.

Your other ideas though for alternate booking, again I'm hard pressed to argue that. Although I definitely remain steadfast that I think Hogan vs Warrior was sold with the idea of it being for the World Title.

WWE could have brought in a Flair or built Bam Bam in the previous year to take that title and carry it... Hogan prevented it, pure and simple, he hand picked his replacement knowing it was in his deal he would crush him a year later...

Flair coming to WWF in the 80s as opposed to the 90s, it wouldn't have been terrible, I think it would have been amazing to see him do what he did anyway in 1992 and that's upset the balance (in a good way) and take the company's top prize. But his Real World's Champion angle, that was something else, nothing better than seeing him bring the Big Gold Belt in and claiming he was the true champion of the sport. On the flip side though an early jump to WWF would have been more WrestleMania moments, and that I think might have outweighed the whole controversy with him taking the Big Gold Belt to WWF.

Bam Bam Bigelow I always thought never got what he deserved in the way of a push either in WWF, he had some key moments in the organization of course, but I always felt WWF and WCW never utilized him the way he should have been.

As far as Hogan and Savage goes, considering Hogan's pull was still major at the time and he was still a vital commodity, I can see that being the likeliest scenario. I've always disliked how Macho Man never got to pin Hulk Hogan in either WWF or WCW, which I know I overstated in the previous post. From a storyline perspective though, I enjoyed seeing his tenacity and scrappiness when going against Hogan, and even though the count out and DQ wins he got over Hogan didn't mean the same thing, when you've barely moved out of the phase where you're done crapping your diapers, the Macho Man's sneakiness and cunning were enough to make you love to hate him. So much in fact that when you saw there was some good in the guy after all, his face turn meant all the more. To the point that when he did turn heel AGAIN you still couldn't complete hate him.

I enjoyed the way a lot of this originally unfolded but I'm in agreement with how some alternatives would have worked out well.

 

[Pedigree1]

I actually quite enjoyed WM5 quite a bit. What better ME than to have the Mega Powers EXPLODEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! It was a huge huge main event and still one of the biggest in the company's history. Think about it,it took a year to build up properly brought along slowly,with savage acting out of jealously and being paranoid. I quite enjoyed WM5 didnt like the venue,but i suppose a small venue at that time,they wanted as much crowd reaction as possible.

I could have done without the Rooster vs Brain match up,there was no point in that. It was the debut of Mr perfect,he looked marvelous as did the Blue Blazer. On one card we had the best tag teams in history,the Powers of Pain,Demolition,The rockers,the Twin Towers,i loved that name. I never cared for Garvin,as i was happy Bravo mashed him!

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I really couldn't think of too much negative to say towards WrestleMania 5. It was a solid card all the way around with more entertaining matches than duds, and plenty of big moments to be had.

My favorite on the card was the main event, and it was probably the first time that the main event would be the truly best match on the card at a WrestleMania.

I recall liking the Twin Towers/Rockers match, and thought they did a good job of having a little guys/big guys vibe. Owen and Hennig was too short, but had some good moments. I loved Rude and Warrior, and the way Rude sold his off in the match. The Brain Busters and Strike Force also had a memorable match that ended with a great moment with Martel turning on Santana.

It wasn't perfect by any stretch: I've never understood the WWF's love affair with certain guys. Dino Bravo, for starters. Bad News Brown was another. Did that guy ever have a match at a PPV that didn't end in a DQ or Double DQ? Beefcake Vs. DiBiase...waste of talent, IMO.

But the good definitely outweighed the bad for me, so yeah, thumbs up on WM 5!

 

[thebarber]

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most?

Hogan vs Savage, what a cracking storyline it was and the match itself was classic heel Savage. Hogan winning the belt for the second time was huge for me in 1989.

What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

There were a few. The opener was rubbish, the Bushwhackers were entertaining but a throwaway match.

Should they have held the event at the same location two years in a row for Wrestlemania 4 and 5, or would you rather have had it take place somewhere else instead of Trump Plaza? Why or why not? I have no issue with the ppv being held there two years in a row. Savages world title run came full circle in the same building.

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 5, what would it be and why?
Ted DiBiase was wasted on this show. I think he could have been used much better. The Million Dollar Man, in a casino, having to struggle to have a watchable match with Beefcake. Id have had DiBiase vs Hercules, after all he had tried to sell him as a slave a few months before, Haku could have had a meaningless match with Beefy

 

[8thwotwATG]

The Mega Powers explode......without a doubt, a great tagline for wrestlemania 5. When I recall this event, I recall the Main event, Hogan vs Savage, and, not for nothing, I can't help but think that Hulk Hogan is a bit underrated as an in ring worker. I know that he gets little respect here on these online wrestling forums, but to my way of thinking, if he were as bad as all claim him to be, could he have put on the kind of match he had w/Macho Man here at WMV?
The Hogan vs Savage match for the WWF title was a great matchup, and, not for nothing, Hogan's performance in the match as the challenger, was without a doubt a major selling point for this event.
I would be one of the first to say that the Hulk was not one of the greatest in ring technicians, but in all honesty, he was much better than he receives credit for being. Macho was a truly awesome in ring performer., but he wouldn,t have had the notorioty that he had w/out Hogan, good, bad or indifferent. As a whole, WMV was not an outstandng card, but the main event made up for the rest of it...If I had to change something, it would be the location...Trump Plaza for a 2nd year in a row didn't cut it for me...

 

[MMK]

Here are two tag team matches that took place at Wrestlemania 5 in which the opponents should have been swapped.

The Rockers vs Twin Towers
Strike Force vs Brain Busters

Here's how it should have been:
The Rockers vs Brain Busters
Strike Force vs Twin Towers

Why? Strike Force split up at this event when Martel abandoned Santana. Martel leaving Santana in a handicap situation against the likes of The Twin Towers would have been more effective than leaving him to fend off Tully and Arn. Tito could have been squashed by two super heavywieghts while Martel watched and smiled. Not only that, but Slick managed the Twin Towers and later managed a heel Martel. So after the match, Martel could have simply joined Slick and the Towers in a post match celebratory interview in which Martel admits it was a setup all along. Not to mention the fact that just months earlier the Mega Powers had split up during a match against non other than, you guessed it, The Twin Towers. So there would have been some nice continuity there.

But the bigger reason for switching the pairings in these two tag bouts is that both the Rockers and the Busters were totally wasted at this event. The Rockers got squashed against the much larger Towers. If you're going to have the Towers squash a team, why not make it Strike Force seeing as how they were splitting up anyway. Meanwhile the Brain Busters were an afterthought and did not look all that impressive in their Mania debut competing in what ended up being a handicap match.

The Busters and The Rockers could have brought the house down in an opening match Mania classic that would have brought a rather lifeless audience to it's feet. This event lacked energy in the building. You can't go wrong having The Rockers open your show.

 

[Kool Aid Man]

Looking back retrospectively, and I am sure even at the time, this is easily one of the biggest main events of all Wrestlemania history. Hogan and Savage seemed to have real life issues later in their careers.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Mania 5 was a pretty great show with an amazing main event. in the history of sports entertainment, there are only a handful of main events that can even compete with this one from a storyline standpoint. the match itself wasn't half bad either.

looking at the overall card, I can't help but notice how many great tag teams were available. that said, I think MMK had a great idea...

Here are two tag team matches that took place at Wrestlemania 5 in which the opponents should have been swapped.

The Rockers vs Twin Towers
Strike Force vs Brain Busters

Here's how it should have been:
The Rockers vs Brain Busters
Strike Force vs Twin Towers

Why? Strike Force split up at this event when Martel abandoned Santana. Martel leaving Santana in a handicap situation against the likes of The Twin Towers would have been more effective than leaving him to fend off Tully and Arn. Tito could have been squashed by two super heavywieghts while Martel watched and smiled. Not only that, but Slick managed the Twin Towers and later managed a heel Martel. So after the match, Martel could have simply joined Slick and the Towers in a post match celebratory interview in which Martel admits it was a setup all along. Not to mention the fact that just months earlier the Mega Powers had split up during a match against non other than, you guessed it, The Twin Towers. So there would have been some nice continuity there.

But the bigger reason for switching the pairings in these two tag bouts is that both the Rockers and the Busters were totally wasted at this event. The Rockers got squashed against the much larger Towers. If you're going to have the Towers squash a team, why not make it Strike Force seeing as how they were splitting up anyway. Meanwhile the Brain Busters were an afterthought and did not look all that impressive in their Mania debut competing in what ended up being a handicap match.

The Busters and The Rockers could have brought the house down in an opening match Mania classic that would have brought a rather lifeless audience to it's feet. This event lacked energy in the building. You can't go wrong having The Rockers open your show.

this would be a perfect swap in my view.

Demolition vs. Powers of Pain just worked for me. outside of the main event, this might be my match of the night. I liked the pairing, the build up and the match. very satisfying all around.

as for the Hart Foundation, I thought that their match was just okay. maybe even good. but I felt that maybe this match was a bit of a waste, at least for Bret. in the Mania 4 thread, I stated that I thought Bret should have won the Battle Royal to start the night and then been entered into the tournament. if that's the case and Bret is a face singles star, then maybe have him in a one-on-one match at this event instead of in a tag match.

Warrior/Rude was a good match and allowed for further storytelling in the years to come with Warrior as the World Champion. so leave that as is.

Jake/Andre was pretty rough for me. also in my Mania 4 response, I stated that I felt Andre should have ended his singles career against Hogan in a rematch. if that were the case, then maybe have Jake against Ted Dibiase. Dibiase's match on this night wasn't that great either and he could have had a great match with Jake instead. think about the psychology told inside the ring on this one! the promos alone would have made this worth watching!

so a few minor changes, but no hard feelings against this, a great Mania.

 

[jones.ben1977]

I was very surprised that Savage turned heel in early 89 because he was so hot as a face and world champ but it all paid off with the explosion of the mega powers and to be honest a couple of years after WM5 when he turned face at WM7 that was one of the better face turns I can remember.

 

[klunderbunker]

This is another one that just doesn't work all that well. It's a one match show and I almost always have trouble picking the second biggest match on the show. Andre vs. Jake I guess? There's just nothing else memorable and it's a total nothing show. I would have had Savage keep the title by countout and have Hogan chase him over the summer. Can you imagine the heat for that?