|
|
Something unthinkable happened in the lead up to this show: The Mega Powes, Hulk Hogan and WWE Champion Randy Savage, imploded. Savage's ego, believing that people were cheering for Hogan and not him, and jealousy over the amount of time Hogan was spending with their manager Miss Elizabeth finally got the best of him and he turned on Hogan. And at this event the former friends would collide in the ultimate Wrestlemania Main Event.
But before we get there, there is an undercard, and despite the large number of matches, this one delivered some cool stuff.
The night started off with Hercules pulling out a victory over Haku, despite the presence of his former manager Bobby Heenan at ring side. Good fun, with Heenan interfering. "The Brain" was one of the finest wrestling personality of the late eighties and could sell any match. He was fun whether he won and bragged obnoxiously about it, or lost and whined like a baby.
Our next match was again a lot of fun as the Twin Towers Akeem and the Big Bossman, who had been such a formidable rival for the Mega Powers in late 1988, defeated The Rockers Shawn Micheals and Marty Janetty, making their first Wrestlemania appearance.
Ted Dibiase and Brutus Beefcake fought to a double count out in their match despite the interference of DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil. The Bushwackers, making their first Wrestlemania appearance then defeated the Fabulous Rougeaus Jacques and Raymond after they wasted valuable time celebrating a nice move. And next up Mr Perfect Curt Hennig defeated the Blue Blazer Owen Hart in a short match which was also an absolute scorcher. Perfect remained undefeated as a result of the win.
Next match was a big man handicap tag match between Demolition Ax and Smash and The Powers of Pain and Mr Fuji. Managers are always fun in handicap matches and Fuji cost his boys the tag team championship here, getting destroyed by Smash and then pinned by Ax to win the match for Demolition. Demolition are considered by many to be a rip off of popular NWA Tag Team the Road Warriors. If that's the case they were one of the finest rip offs in wrestling history. Fun match.
Next up we had a match borne out of the Royal Rumble two months before as Jake Roberts took on Andre the Giant with Big John Studd, who'd won the Rumble match, as the guest referee. Andre had eliminated himself from that match after Roberts had bought his pet snake Damien to the ring. But Andre had it covered this time, enlisting the help of Ted DiBiase and Virgil to grab the snake. Chaos ensues and Andre head butts our guest ref Studd. Can't do that son. Roberts by DQ.
The Hart Foundation Bret hart and Jim Neidhart defeated Rhythm and Blues Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine, Bret Hart using R&B manager Jimmy Hart's megaphone to knock out Tonky and get the win. A sweet moment for the Harts as Jimmy Hart had been their manager a year earlier.
Next up comes a major upset as Rick Rude ends the undefeated streak of the Ultimate Warrior, winning the Intercontinental Championship with the help of his manager Bobby Heenan who held Warrior's feet down so he couldn't kick out of the pin attempt.
Incredibly we have two more matches before the main event. Bad News Brown and Hacksaw Jim Duggan fight to a double DQ and in one of the few wrestling matches I've ever given five and a half stars, Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan in about half a minute.
This, at long last, following a dozen matches, brings us to the main event with the Mega Powers colliding. Savage looked like he had the match as he hit the flying elbow, but, inspired by the power of Hulkamania, Hogan hulks up, hits the leg drop and gets the win and the WWE Championship. That'll teach ya Randy Savage! Despite having far too many matches, this was a ridiculously entertaining show. The Ultimate Warrior had his winning streak ended, Heenan got his comeuppance. Hulkamania returned with a Vegeance, Owen Hart made his Wrestlemania debut and had a screamer. A great night, never to be forgotten, and just about the gold standard in how to build a PPV. Few have ever been done better.
score 10/10
bh_tafe3 14 February 2009
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2023013/ |
|
18-2-2021 02:42:04