WWF Wrestlemania V

WWF Wrestlemania V

Venue: Atlantic City, New Jersey

Date: 02/04/89

Attendance: 18,946

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

For the second year in a row Wrestlemania took place at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was headlined by the huge showdown between Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan for the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship. Could Wrestlemania V improve on the previous year's disappointing show?

Review

To the surprise of many the opening contest between Hercules and King Haku was fairly respectable. Hercules went over in order to gain a measure of revenge against his former manager Bobby Heenan... The Twin Towers defeated The Rockers in a classic example of how two contrasting styles can produce a good match. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty sold wonderfully for the big men, the best example being Akeem's clothesline on Michaels which looks as awesome today as it did back then... Ted Dibiase and Brutus Beefcake battled to a pointless double count out and while the ending was lame at least the match itself was decent enough... The Bushwackers upset the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers in a terrible match... Mr Perfect, who was fast on the rise in the WWF, made the Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) look his equal before taking the win with the Perfect-Plex in a good little bout... Run DMC's performance of the "Wrestlemania Rap" in the ring went down like a lead balloon. It seemed the Trump Plaza crowd just didn't get it... The tag team title was defended under handicap rules as Mr Fuji teamed with the Powers of Pain to face champions Demolition. This was a big feud that had been going on for months and saw Fuji double cross Demolition at Survivor Series 1988 to join forces with the Powers of Pain. This was the big showdown with the title on the line but it was never going to be a classic. Fuji was the man who took the fall for his team which, while making sense in terms of storyline, was a bit of a cop out as the Powers didn't have to lose to their rivals...
 

The Rockers nail the Big Boss Man with a double dropkick

Dino Bravo beat Ronnie Garvin in a quick match which was rubbish. Before the opening bell sounded and with both Bravo and Garvin standing in the ring, Jimmy Snuka made his return by strolling to the ring and taking a bow. Strange... Match quality took a big step in the right direction next as the Brain Busters took on Strike Force who had recently reformed. However Rick Martel walked out on Tito Santana who had nailed him accidently with a flying forearm during the match. Santana was left to face the Busters alone which naturally ended in defeat. Martel would go on to be a successful mid-card heel following the Strike Force split... A special edition of Piper's Pit took place in the ring featuring Brother Love, Morton Downey Jr (a chain smoking chat show host) and of course Rowdy Roddy Piper. The segment went on too long, was only mildly funny and the crowd just weren't interested... Backstage Hulk Hogan gave what I consider to be one of his best interviews as he prepared to face the Macho Man in the main event. Hogan recapped the whole Mega Powers saga brilliantly in his usual over-the-top style... Another big feud came to a head as Jake The Snake Roberts battled Andre the Giant in a match refereed by Big John Studd. Towards the end of the bout Roberts attempted to bring Damien into the ring but Ted Dibiase ran down to attack Roberts and steal Damien who was still in the bag. Roberts chased down Dibiase and retrieved Damien while Andre attacked Studd in the ring. Roberts sent Andre packing, well Damien did anyway, and Roberts was declared the winner by disqualification. The match was dire and the ending settled nothing which makes you wonder why they even bothered...

Mr Perfect battles The Blue Blazer

The Hart Foundation beat Rhythm & Blues in a decent match where the Harts thwarted the heels attempt to use Jimmy Hart's megaphone as a weapon and Bret Hart decked the Honky Tonk Man with it for the win. You may have noticed in other reviews that I don't like to see faces cheating to win unless it's justified or in retaliation but as the heels own dirty tactics backfired on them here I have no problems with this finish... Ravishing Rick Rude upset the Ultimate Warrior to win the Intercontinental Championship in Warrior's best match of his career up to that point, arguably the only good match of his career up to that point! Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura did a superb job of forcing home the importance of the Intercontinental Title, a title which sadly the WWE have ensured doesn't mean so much these days. Selling like his life depended on it, Rude's performance was fantastic which in turn made the Warrior's offense look equally good. The finish came when Bobby Heenan hung on to the Warrior's leg from outside of the ring preventing him completing a suplex and also from kicking out as Rude landed on top of him. The result was a big surprise and after the decision Warrior took his frustrations out on Heenan giving him a botched Gorilla Press Slam injuring "The Brain"...

 

The Ultimate Warrior clotheslines Ravishing Rick Rude

Bad News Brown and Hacksaw Jim Duggan fought to a double disqualification in an awful slugfest that achieved nothing... The Red Rooster gained his revenge on an injured Bobby Heenan in a very quick match. Perhaps Heenan was unable to do any more or maybe they were short on time but either way it didn't do much for the Rooster... Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage in a very good main event to regain the WWF Heavyweight Championship. It was the climax of a superb year long storyline which started and ended in the middle of the ring at Trump Plaza. Elizabeth was an integral part of the story but thankfully she was removed from the equation mid-match enabling the two rivals to fight to a finish with a clear winner. Savage's performance was excellent as the insanely jealous outgoing champion and it was also one of Hogan's best performances of his WWF career. Hogan won cleanly and decisively which was the right decision on the big stage but don't feel too bad for Savage, he made good money with Hogan in the role of challenger over the summer of 1989.

The Mega Powers are about to explode

Overall

As with Wrestlemania IV the show suffered from being in front of a largely non-wrestling crowd and while they were a bit more receptive for the 1989 card, most notably for the main event, there were still long periods of silence throughout the show. The card itself was a touch better than the previous year but again there were too many poor or average matches which made the show seem overly long. The match that everyone wanted to see was Savage versus Hogan and thankfully it delivered in the ring as well as at the box office thanks to the tremendous build and execution of the feud. Wrestlemania V drew 767,000 buys which was a massive number especially at a time when pay-per-view availability was still quite limited. That number would not be surpassed until some ten years later at Wrestlemania 15.

For more on the Mega Powers story click here.

Results

1 Hercules pinned King Haku (6:57) **

2 The Twin Towers def The Rockers by pinfall (8:02) ***

3 Brutus Beefcake fought Ted Dibiase to a double count out (10:01) **1/4

4 The Bushwackers def The Fabulous Rougeaus by pinfall (9:10) DUD

5 Mr Perfect pinned The Blue Blazer (5:38) ***

6 Demolition (c) def The Powers of Pain & Mr Fuji by pinfall to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (8:20) *

7 Dino Bravo pinned Ronnie Garvin (3:06) 1/4

8 The Brain Busters def Strike Force by pinfall (9:17) **3/4

9 Jake Roberts def Andre the Giant by disqualification (9:44) DUD

10 The Hart Foundation def Rhythm & Blues by pinfall (7:40) **1/2

11 Rick Rude pinned The Ultimate Warrior (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (9:36) ***

12 Jim Duggan & Bad News Brown fought to a double disqualification (3:49) DUD

13 The Red Rooster pinned Bobby Heenan (0:32) SQ

14 Hulk Hogan pinned Randy Savage (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:54) ***3/4

Rating

23.50/70 = 33.57%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Royal Rumble 1989

WWF Royal Rumble 1989
Venue: Houston, Texas
Date: 15/01/89
Attendance: 19,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

Officially the first Royal Rumble was a TV special that aired on the USA Network going head to head with Jim Crockett Promotions' NWA Bunkhouse Stampede pay-per-view on 24th January 1988. However there was a Royal Rumble prior to that on 4th October 1987 in St. Louis, Missouri which was used as a test run for the concept. It was won by the One Man Gang who lastly eliminated the Junkyard Dog. The 1989 Royal Rumble was the first to be a pay-per-view event and would become one of the WWF's 'big four' alongside Wrestlemania, Summerslam and Survivor Series.

 

Jacques Rougeau has Bret Hart in trouble in the opening bout

Review

The show got off to a good start as the Hart Foundation teamed with Hacksaw Jim Duggan to face the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers and Dino Bravo in a best two out of three falls contest. The French Canadians took the first fall when Raymond Rougeau pinned Bret Hart only for the faces to even the scores when Jim Duggan pinned Raymond. The decisive fall came when Duggan nailed Dino Bravo with a 2x4 behind the referee's back allowing Hart to cover for the victory. The match was action packed and the crowd was very into it but one of my pet hates is to see babyfaces blatantly cheating to win a match especially when it's unjustified. Duggan did this a lot during his WWF run...

 

A great shot of the Houston Summit

Rockin' Robin defeated Judy Martin to retain the Women's Title in a match that very few in the arena appeared to care about. The ladies rushed through a lot of moves and the match only seemed to exist to set up a future match between Robin and Sensational Sherri who had challenged the winner. Sherri also sat in with the commentary team during the match but sounded uncomfortable and added little... Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior faced Ravishing Rick Rude in a "Super Pose Down" where the winner was decided by the response from the crowd. Naturally under those rules, Warrior was the victor. During Warrior's final pose Bobby Heenan sprayed oil in his face, which Warrior neglected to sell for some reason, and Rude attacked him from behind to set up their title clash at Wrestlemania... The all-heel match between King Haku and former King Harley Race was another strange inclusion and was in fact cut from the video release of the event. The match was designed to help legitimise Haku as the King of the WWF but the highlight was Bobby Heenan, who managed both men, repeatedly switching his allegiance throughout the match depending on who had the advantage. Haku won clean by pinfall in a plodding but passable affair in what would be Race's last match in the WWF... Big John Studd was the surprise winner of the Royal Rumble match lastly eliminating Ted Dibiase who had supposedly purchased his number thirty entrance spot from Slick which enabled the Twin Towers to have their entrances next to each other. The decision to have Studd win the match was a strange one as his career was all but over and his victory led to precisely nothing.

 

The Rockers perform a double elbow as Mr Perfect looks on

In other happenings in the match: Ax and Smash of Demolition drew numbers one and two and had to battle each other... Andre the Giant jobbed Jake The Snake Roberts and sent him packing about two minutes after he entered the fray. Roberts returned later with Damien and caused Andre to eliminate himself, you know, because even monster heels are scared of snakes... Randy Savage entered at number 15 closely followed by Hulk Hogan at 18 in the hottest portion of the match. Hogan eliminated Savage who raced back into the ring to confront the Hulkster prompting Elizabeth to enter the ring and help smooth things over between the Mega Powers. Hogan then had to face both members of the Twin Towers alone but ultimately he was unsuccessful and found himself eliminated soon after. Showing great sportsmanship Hogan then eliminated the Big Boss Man from the outside and the two men fought all the way to the back... In an ending similar to the Survivor Series, Mean Gene Okerlund interviewed Savage who claimed there was no problems between he and Hogan and their clash during the Rumble was nothing more than a misunderstanding. The Mega Powers were about to explode...

 

Things heat up as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage enter the fray

Overall
Two good matches out of four makes the Royal Rumble look average on paper but thankfully the two good matches on the night were the more important ones. The Rumble match itself was enjoyable and unpredictable although it fell a bit flat after the eliminations of Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan. The six man tag team match was also a fun bout but the remaining two contests were nothing much to write home about. The "Super Pose Down" was an important part of the Warrior/Rude feud leading into Wrestlemania but it was in truth a bit boring until Rude's sneak attack at the end. The first Royal Rumble pay-per-view drew just 165,000 buys.

He may have bought number 30 but it's not looking good for Ted Dibiase

Results
1 The Hart Foundation & Jim Duggan def The Fabulous Rougeaus & Dino Bravo in a Best 2 out of 3 Falls Match (15:42) ***
2 Rockin' Robin (c) pinned Judy Martin (6:24) *1/2
3 The Ultimate Warrior def Rick Rude in a "Super Posedown" contest N/A
4 Haku pinned Harley Race (9:01) *1/2
5 Big John Studd won the Royal Rumble match (64:53) **3/4

Rating

8.75/20 = 43.75%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Survivor Series 1988

WWF Survivor Series 1988

Venue: Richfield, Ohio

Date: 24/11/88

Attendance: 13,500

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

As with the inaugural event, the second annual Survivor Series took place at the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio and was comprised completely of tag team elimination matches. This year there was no clash with Starrcade which had been moved to December.

Review

The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus The Barber Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Sam Houston & Jim Brunzell vs The Honky Tonk Man, Greg The Hammer Valentine, Bad News Brown, Ron Bass & Danny Davis

Eliminations: Beefcake beat Davis; Brown pinned Brunzell; Brown was counted out; Bass pinned Houston; Valentine beat Blazer; Beefcake and Honky were counted out; Warrior pinned Bass; Warrior pinned Valentine. The Ultimate Warrior was the survivor.

Notes

Originally on the face team, Don Muraco left the WWF prior to the event and was replaced by Jim Brunzell... Danny Davis was eliminated in short order by Brutus Beefcake's sleeper hold... Bad News Brown was struck accidently by Greg Valentine during the match and took a walk eliminating himself... Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior was massively over here but his participation is kept to a minimum to help conceal his limitations. Warrior was left alone to face Valentine and Ron Bass but he disposed of them both rather quickly with a running double axe handle. Fortunately he didn't use that as his finisher for long, it was rubbish... Good opening match overall.

Bad News Brown drops a leg on Sam Houston as his teammates look on

---

The Powers of Pain, The Rockers, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation & The Young Stallions vs Demolition, The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, The Bolsheviks & Los Conquistadores

Eliminations: Bret Hart pinned Raymond Rougeau; Boris Zhukov pinned Jim Powers; Marty Jannetty pinned Boris Zhukov; Tully Blanchard pinned Bret Hart; The Rockers and The Brain Busters were counted out; Smash pinned The Dynamite Kid; Smash was counted out; The Barbarian pinned Uno. The Powers of Pain were the survivors.

Notes

Demolition were the tag team champions and were in the midst of a big feud with the Powers of Pain. The climax of this match saw a double turn as Mr Fuji turned on Demolition causing them to be eliminated. Demolition then gave Fuji a hiding and after they had left ringside the Powers of Pain took pity on Fuji bringing him into their corner. The Powers went on to win the match and celebrated by lifting Fuji on their shoulders with half the crowd still cheering and the other half confused... The Rougeau Brothers and the British Bulldogs were involved in a legitimate feud at the time. According to Bret Hart, Jacques Rougeau had sucker punched the Dynamite Kid knocking his teeth out in response to Dynamite's constant bullying. Rumour has it Vince McMahon found out about a plan by the Bulldogs to attack the Rougeaus after the match so he booked the Rougeaus to be eliminated early on and ensured they had left the building before the Bulldogs were eliminated. The Bulldogs left the WWF after this event. Davey Boy Smith would be back in about two years but Dynamite would never return... The match was very good although it did drag slightly towards the end. The Conquistadors were a strange choice to go the distance for the heel team especially with other more accomplished teams in the match. They survived far too much punishment, especially from the Powers of Pain, to be believable for a lower card team. The match is most remembered for the big double turn at the end.

 

Bret Hart defeats Raymond Rougeau with a small package

 

---

Jake The Snake Roberts, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey vs Andre the Giant, Ravishing Rick Rude, Mr Perfect, Dino Bravo & Harley Race

Eliminations: Rude pinned Patera; Bravo pinned Casey; Santana pinned Race; Andre pinned Santana; Duggan was disqualified; Roberts pinned Rude; Andre was disqualified; Perfect pinned Roberts. Mr Perfect and Dino Bravo were the survivors.

Notes

The Junkyard Dog was originally on the face team but left the WWF prior to the event so was replaced by B. Brian Blair. However, Blair also left the company before the event and had to be replaced by Scott Casey... The match was centred around Jake Roberts' feud with Andre the Giant. Roberts' team was down to two versus four when Jim Duggan got himself disqualified leaving "The Snake" alone. Duggan came across as an imbecile in doing so. Roberts fought against the odds bravely as a babyface should and eliminated Rick Rude with a DDT before Andre entered the ring and choked Roberts out. Andre was disqualified for refusing the release the choke but the damage was done and Mr Perfect picked up an easy pinfall victory for himself and Dino Bravo. Decent enough match.



Jake Roberts nails Mr Perfect with a short clothesline

 

---

Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B Ware vs The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted Dibiase, Haku & The Red Rooster

Eliminations: Savage pinned Rooster; Akeem pinned Hillbilly; Boss Man pinned Koko; Dibiase pinned Hercules; Savage pinned Dibiase; Boss Man was counted out; Akeem was disqualified; Hogan pinned Haku. Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were the survivors.

Notes

The Mega Powers (Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan) versus the Twin Towers (Big Boss Man & Akeem) was the top feud in the WWF at the time... The Red Rooster was berated by his manager Bobby Heenan after being crushed by Savage and Hogan early on. It would lead to a feud between the two... The faces toppled leaving Savage and Hogan against four. Savage pinned Dibiase before Hogan was handcuffed outside of the ring by the Big Boss Man leaving Savage alone. The Boss Man was counted out but returned to the ring to help Akeem attack Savage which led to Akeem being disqualified. Eventually Hogan clobbered Slick on the outside allowing Elizabeth to steal the keys to release him. Savage manages to tag Hogan who finishes off Haku to win the match for the Mega Powers. During the celebration Hogan hugs Elizabeth as he did at Summerslam, only this time Savage is more visibly angered while Hogan remain oblivious to it. After the show Jesse Ventura tries to stir the pot in an interview with the "Macho Man" but Savage denies there are any problems between he and Hogan. Good main event.

The Mega Powers survive but trouble is on the horizon

Overall

While not as strong as the original event the second annual Survivor Series was still a very good show with not a single bad match on the card. After giving us the smallest of hints at Summerslam, the WWF were a little less subtle in showing us there could be trouble ahead for the Mega Powers duo. The build to the "explosion" at Wrestlemania was being worked slowly and expertly and this was the first real step in that direction. The big tag team elimination bout was the match of the night and while not quite at the level of the 1987 version, it is perhaps more memorable because of the double turn at the end. Survivor Series 1988 drew 310,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results

1 The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, The Blue Blazer, Jim Brunzell & Sam Houston def The Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Greg Valentine, Ron Bass & Danny Davis (17:50) ***

2 The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Rockers, The Powers of Pain & The Young Stallions def Demolition, The Brain Busters, The Fabulous Rougeaus, The Bolsheviks & The Conquistadors (42:12) ***3/4

3 Andre the Giant, Mr Perfect, Rick Rude, Dino Bravo & Harley Race def Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Tito Santana, Ken Patera & Scott Casey (30:03) **1/2

4 Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Hercules, Hillbilly Jim & Koko B Ware def The Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted Dibiase, Haku & The Red Rooster (29:10) ***

Rating

12.25/20 = 61.25%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Summerslam 1988

 

WWF Summerslam 1988

Venue: New York, New York

Date: 29/08/88

Attendance: 20,000

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Superstar Billy Graham

The first Summerslam event took place in August 1988 at Madison Square Garden as the WWF added a third pay-per-view to their calendar. The main event followed on nicely from the climax of Wrestlemania 4 as WWF Heavyweight Champion Macho Man Randy Savage teamed with the returning Hulk Hogan (Hogan had been away filming No Holds Barred) to face the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and Andre the Giant. Jesse Ventura was named as the special guest referee for the match so Billy Graham filled in on commentary duties.

Davey Boy Smith corners Raymond Rougeau in the opener

 

Review

The British Bulldogs battled the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers to an enjoyable twenty minute time limit draw. The two teams legitimately did not like each other but they did have good chemistry in the ring. The lack of a finish was mildly irritating but the match quality made up for it somewhat... Bad New Brown beat Ken Patera in a basic encounter. Brown won clean with the Ghetto Blaster... The Junkyard Dog was disqualified in his match against Ravishing Rick Rude after Jake Roberts interfered. Rude revealed an image of Roberts' wife on his tights during the match inciting "The Snake" who ran down and hammered him. This really belonged on Superstars of Wrestling... The Powers of Pain looked impressive as they marched down to the ring for their match with The Bolsheviks. There was however nothing impressive about the match... The Honky Tonk Man's record breaking Intercontinental Title reign famously came to an end as he was crushed by the Ultimate Warrior in about thirty seconds. Honky's opponent was originally scheduled to be Brutus The Barber Beefcake but he was put out of action by Ron Bass prior to the event. The crowd was red hot for the Warrior here and the squash match went down a storm...

 

The Ultimate Warrior levels the Honky Tonk Man

 

Hacksaw Jim Duggan made an appearance on an in-ring version of the Brother Love Show. It was quite annoying... Dino Bravo beat Don Muraco in an awkward poor bout... Demolition retained the tag team title in a good match against the Hart Foundation. Jimmy Hart had previously been fired by the Hart Foundation as their manager but he was allowed to be at ringside as he still owned their contracts. His presence proved to be the difference in the end... The Big Boss Man's win over Koko B Ware wasn't much more than an extended squash... Jake The Snake Roberts DDT'd and pinned Hercules in a boring ten minute match... WWF Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan defeated Ted Dibiase and Andre the Giant in a good main event refereed by Jesse Ventura. Miss Elizabeth caused a distraction by climbing onto the ring apron and removing her skirt, which was quite racy for the time, and allowing the Mega Powers to make their comeback and win the match. Savage forced Ventura's hand in making the three count after The Body hesitated. During the celebration a subtle seed of dissension was planted as the Savage appeared to object to Hogan's post match hug with Elizabeth.

The Big Boss Man works over Koko B Ware

 

Overall

Not a great show by any means but it was an improvement on Wrestlemania 4. Firstly the Madison Square Garden crowd was infinitely better than the Trump Plaza crowd but more importantly there were three matches on this card that were superior to every match at Wrestlemania. Additionally the Ultimate Warrior's Intercontinental Title win over the Honky Tonk Man was perhaps the hottest squash match in WWF history. Unfortunately that's where the positives end because the remaining six matches on the card were poor, really poor in some cases, which pulled the overall rating of the show right down. Summerslam 1988 drew 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.

 

The Mega Powers prepare to battle the Mega Bucks

 

Results

1 The British Bulldogs fought The Fabulous Rougeaus to a time limit draw (20:00) ***1/4

2 Bad News Brown pinned Ken Patera (6:33) *

3 Rick Rude def The Junkyard Dog by disqualification (6:18) 1/2

4 The Powers of Pain def The Bolsheviks by pinfall (5:27) 1/2

5 The Ultimate Warrior pinned The Honky Tonk Man (c) for the WWF Intercontinental Title (0:31) SQ

6 Dino Bravo pinned Don Muraco (5:28) 1/2

7 Demolition (c) def The Hart Foundation by pinfall to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (9:49) ***

8 The Big Boss Man pinned Koko B Ware (5:57) *1/4

9 Jake Roberts pinned Hercules (10:06) *1/4

10 Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan def Ted Dibiase & Andre the Giant by pinfall (13:57) ***

Rating

14.25/50 = 28.50%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Wrestlemania 4

 

WWF Wrestlemania IV

Venue: Atlantic City, New Jersey
Date: 27/03/88
Attendance: 18,165
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

The WWF Heavyweight Championship was declared vacant for the first time in its history following Hulk Hogan's controversial defeat to Andre the Giant on 5th February 1988. Andre had tried to sell the championship to Ted Dibiase and was stripped of the title by on-screen President Jack Tunney shortly thereafter. As a result of this the title was put up for grabs in a 14-man single elimination tournament. Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant were both given a bye in the first round and would face each other in the quarter finals. The event was held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City which was quite a comedown from the Pontiac Silver Dome.

Bad News Brown double-crosses Bret Hart

Review
Before the tournament began there was a 20-man battle royal for which the winner would receive... a trophy. The match seemed to exist just to get a few more of the mid-carders and tag teams on the show and the only thing remotely memorable about it was the ending. Bad News Brown turned on Bret Hart and eliminated him after the two had joined forces to eliminate the Junkyard Dog. Hart gained a measure of revenge by ruining Brown's celebration and destroying his trophy. It would be one of many false starts for Hart as a singles wrestler... First Round: Ted Dibiase, accompanied by Andre the Giant and Virgil defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan in an acceptable tournament opener. The Giant was instrumental in Dibiase's victory... Don Muraco beat Dino Bravo in a barely passable affair with a lousy finish. Bravo was disqualified for pulling the referee in the way of the onrushing Muraco... Greg Valentine's win over Ricky Steamboat was a decent effort let down only by Valentine's overuse of the delayed falling tree-like sell... Randy Savage pinned Butch Reed in a nothing match... The One Man Gang's count out victory over Bam Bam Bigelow was dreadful... Ravishing Rick Rude fought Jake The Snake Roberts to a dire fifteen minute time limit draw to complete the first round... In a break from the tournament the Ultimate Warrior beat Hercules in another rotten match...

Ravishing Rick Rude battles Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Quarter Finals: Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant at least woke up the crowd as they fought to a double disqualification, thanks in part to interference from Ted Dibiase and Virgil. Inexplicably the result was not announced to the live crowd and many assumed Hogan had advanced by disqualification. It was only when Dibiase was awarded a bye later in the show they realised Hogan and Andre had been eliminated as there were no big screens to show the tournament brackets. Andre later revealed keeping Hogan out of the tournament was part of Dibiase's master plan... Dibiase returned to the ring, alone this time, to meet and defeat Don Muraco in a satisfactory bout. The win took Dibiase all the way to the final... Randy Savage's pinfall victory over Greg Valentine was okay...

Brutus Beefcake threatens The Honky Tonk Man with a haircut

The Honky Tonk Man escaped with the Intercontinental Title following a disqualification loss to Brutus Beefcake. Beefcake treated Jimmy Hart to a haircut during the proceedings. The match was pretty poor... The six man tag pitting Bobby Heenan and the Islanders against Koko B Ware and the British Bulldogs wasn't up to much. Heenan wore an attack dog outfit to protect himself from Matilda, the most placid dog imaginable. Heenan scored the winning fall before being chased off by the Bulldogs and Matilda... Semi Final: Randy Savage scored a disqualification win over the One Man Gang in a rubbish match to advance to the final. Gang was disqualified for attempting to strike Savage with Slick's cane multiple times. The finish made Gang look incredibly stupid... Demolition picked up their first tag team championship by defeating Strike Force in a pretty good bout. Smash pinned Rick Martel after he'd been KO'd by a cane shot from Ax... Final: Randy Savage defeated Ted Dibiase in a decent final match to become the Undisputed WWF Heavyweight Champion. Savage pinned Dibiase after a chair shot from Hulk Hogan who had come down to ringside to combat interference from Andre the Giant.

The Ultimate Warrior unloads on Hercules

Overall
Wrestlemania 4 was a big disappointment. Of the sixteen matches on the card only two could be considered good while the rest ranged from average to dreadful. The tournament may have seemed a good idea on paper but not in execution as it didn't produce much excitement until the finale. Randy Savage's big moment was the only real memorable part of the show which also tied up the loose end of Hulk Hogan gaining revenge on Andre the Giant and Ted Dibiase. It would also begin a year long story which would culminate at Wrestlemania 5, but that's for later. A major problem for Wrestlemania 4 was the location, Trump Plaza. The crowd was filled with Donald Trump friends and associates and casino high rollers leaving little room for the hardcore wrestling fans. Those who were able to attend had to pay high ticket prices. This meant you had a crowd who were not emotionally invested in the product and as a result the show played out to silence for large parts. It made the biggest show of the year appear even worse than it actually was. It may well have been a great deal for Vince McMahon and Donald Trump but for the people who matter the most, the wrestling fans, it wasn't. Wrestlemania IV drew 485,000 buys on pay-per-view plus a further 175,000 at closed circuit television locations.

Ted Dibiase helps ensure Hulk Hogan doesn't advance in the tournament

 

Results
1 Bad News Brown won a 20 man Battle Royal (10:40) *1/2
2 Ted Dibiase pinned Jim Duggan (4:54) **
3 Don Muraco def Dino Bravo by disqualification (4:53) *1/4
4 Greg Valentine pinned Ricky Steamboat (9:12) **1/4
5 Randy Savage pinned Butch Reed (5:07) *1/4
6 One Man Gang def Bam Bam Bigelow by count out (2:56) DUD
7 Rick Rude fought Jake Roberts to a time limit draw (15:00) 1/2
8 The Ultimate Warrior pinned Hercules (4:29) DUD
9 Hulk Hogan fought Andre the Giant to a double disqualification (5:22) *1/4
10 Ted Dibiase pinned Don Muraco (5:44) **1/4
11 Randy Savage pinned Greg Valentine (6:06) **
12 Brutus Beefcake def WWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man (c) by disqualification (6:30) 3/4
13 The Islanders & Bobby Heenan def The British Bulldogs & Koko B Ware by pinfall (7:30) *1/2
14 Randy Savage def One Man Gang by disqualification (4:05) 1/2
15 Demolition def Strike Force (c) by pinfall to win the WWF Tag Team Title (12:33) **1/2
16 Randy Savage pinned Ted Dibiase to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (9:27) **1/2

New WWF Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage with Elizabeth

 

Rating
22/80 = 27.5%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class
****     Very Good
***        Good
**           OK/Acceptable
*             Poor
DUD       Abysmal
SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

 

WWF Survivor Series 1987

 

WWF Survivor Series 1987

Venue: Richfield, Ohio

Date: 26/11/87

Attendance: 21,300

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

The first annual Survivor Series was created to go head to head with Jim Crockett Promotion's NWA Starrcade as Vince McMahon continued his ruthless attempts to eliminate all of his competition. Although JCP moved the start time of Starrcade to avoid the conflict, McMahon's threat to any cable company that carried Starrcade was that they would not be able to air Wrestlemania IV as a consequence. Fearing they would miss out on the huge income from Wrestlemania most cable companies dropped Starrcade, massively cutting the availability of the event. It would prove to be the beginning of the end for JCP, helped in large part by their own mistakes too it has to be said.

Review

Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan & Brutus Beefcake versus The Honky Tonk Man, Hercules, Harley Race, Ron Bass & Danny Davis

Eliminations: Duggan and Race were both counted out; Beefcake pinned Bass; Honky pinned Beefcake; Roberts pinned Davis; Savage pinned Hercules; Honky was counted out. Savage, Steamboat and Roberts were the survivors.

The first ever Survivor Series elimination match was centred around The Honky Tonk Man who was the Intercontinental Champion having scored a major upset in defeating Ricky Steamboat. Honky was a marked man in this contest as his last two feuds were with Jake Roberts and Ricky Steamboat, and he was currently involved in a big feud with Randy Savage, who had recently turned babyface in a memorable angle where Honky shoved Elizabeth down and nailed Savage with a guitar head shot. The crowd was hot for this opening encounter which was full of energy. The story of Honky's title reign was how he managed to survive by the skin of his teeth time after time and it was a similar story here. It was a role Honky played very well. The babyfaces cut through the heel team until Honky was the only one left. Honky took a bit of a beating from Savage, Steamboat and Roberts before deciding to make a run for it, thus eliminating himself. This was a really good match but I felt the ending was a bit cheap. I don't believe Honky would have been harmed by being beaten in the ring considering it was three against one at the end.

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Sensational Sherri, The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai & Judy Martin), Donna Christianello & Dawn Marie vs The Fabulous Moolah, Rockin' Robin, Velvet McIntyre & The Jumping Bomb Angels (Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno)

Eliminations: McIntyre pinned Christianello; Robin pinned Marie; Sherri pinned Robin; Martin pinned Moolah; McIntyre pinned Sherri; Kai pinned McIntyre; Yamazaki pinned Kai; Tateno pinned Martin. The Jumping Bomb Angels were the survivors.

At a time when the WWF was still making an effort with it's female division (it would be dropped completely in 1990 for almost four years) they had enough workers to present a five-on-five elimination match in a rare pay-per-view outing for the ladies. Sensational Sherri was the Women's Champion and The Glamour Girls were the tag team champions at this time. The action was pretty good although the crowd was a lot quieter than they were for the opener as you might expect. The match did drag a bit in places but it couldn't really be booked much shorter without rushing things due to the amount of participants involved. Velvet McIntyre put in a spirited performance as she defeated Christianello and later scored a victory over Sherri which put her in line for a championship match. The stars of the show in this one were the Jumping Bomb Angels whose high flying athleticism really set them apart from the rest of the female roster. The Angels scored pinfall victories over both Glamour Girls to win the bout and set up a match for the tag team championship at the Royal Rumble in January.

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Strike Force, The Killer Bees, The Young Stallions, The Rougeau Brothers & The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The Islanders, The New Dream Team & The Bolsheviks

Eliminations: Santana pinned Zhukov; Ax pinned Jacques Rougeau; Demolition were disqualified; Neidhart pinned Santana; Haku pinned Dynamite Kid; Roma pinned Valentine; Brunzell pinned Hart; Blair pinned Tama. The Killer Bees and The Young Stallions were the survivors.

 

The tag team elimination match

The late 80s was the WWF's zenith as far as tag team wrestling was concerned. They had so many permanent teams who were over that in the first two Survivor Series events they were able to book twenty man elimination matches where a team would be eliminated should either of the members be defeated. It was quite a sight to see so many tag teams stood on the apron surrounding the action, a far cry from today where tag team wrestling has become somewhat of a lost art. Strike Force were the tag team champions at the time having recently unseated the Hart Foundation on Superstars of Wrestling. The champions were surprisingly eliminated around the midway point of the bout by the Harts which set up title rematches on the house show circuit. Demolition went early on as well, only they were spared from being defeated due to a disqualification. This made sense as Vince McMahon had big plans for them and a loss on their first pay-per-view appearance would've been bad for business. In contrast the British Bulldogs continued to slide downwards. The Dynamite Kid's back injury which prematurely ended the Bulldogs' title reign earlier in the year also meant their time as big time players in the company was over. The biggest surprise here was the winners, the Killer Bees and the Young Stallions. The Bees eliminated the Hart Foundation and then the Islanders to win the match for their team. The winning fall was another case of Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell donning masks in order to switch the legal man in the ring illegally which, as I've mentioned before, was a move I was never a fan of. Quite why a babyface team would need to cheat to win when they have a four-on-two advantage is beyond me. However it couldn't ruin what was one of the finest traditional Survivor Series matches the WWF would ever produce. It was unpredictable, fast paced and full of action.

 

The Islanders in control of the Young Stallions

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Hulk Hogan, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, Paul Orndorff & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, One Man Gang & Butch Reed
 

Eliminations: Hogan pinned Reed; Gang pinned Patera; Rude pinned Orndorff; Muraco pinned Rude; Gang pinned Muraco; Hogan was counted out; Bigelow pinned Bundy; Bigelow pinned Gang; Andre pinned Bigelow. Andre the Giant was the survivor.

 

Hulk Hogan's team

This would be Andre's first match since his defeat to Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 3 and was built around Andre's desire for a title rematch with Hogan. Hogan's team consisted of newcomer Bam Bam Bigelow; Paul Orndorff, who had just returned from injury as a babyface; Ken Patera, who had recently returned after serving time in prison for assaulting a police officer; and Don Muraco, replacing Superstar Billy Graham who had withdrawn due to injury. He would never wrestle again. Andre's team consisted of recent debutant Ravishing Rick Rude; King Kong Bundy, making his final WWF appearance for almost seven years; One Man Gang, who had also recently joined the company; and Butch Reed. This was surprisingly good considering the limitations of a few of the participants involved. It wasn't a great night for Butch Reed who was crushed in about three minutes, nor for Paul Orndorff who exited the match (and the WWF) with a bit of a whimper. On the other hand Rick Rude looked good in his first pay-per-view appearance, as did Bam Bam Bigelow who was the last surviving member of the face team. Bigelow felled both King Kong Bundy and the One Man Gang before falling to Andre's weak looking underhook suplex. The Giant was the sole survivor which set up his big rematch with Hogan in February on The Main Event. It was a surprise to see Hogan eliminated about three quarters of the way into the match by way of a count out but it made sense to avoid a finale involving he and The Giant. Following Andre's win Hogan ran back down and cleared the ring to send the fans home happy and to leave the thought of the rematch as the last thing in the viewer's mind as the show ended.

 

Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan

 Overall

The first annual Survivor Series was a quality offering from the World Wrestling Federation. In the ring it was far better than any of the pay-per-views that preceded it and even trumped Starrcade that night. This came as a big surprise to many as it was Jim Crockett Promotions that was considered the wrestling company as opposed to Vince McMahon's entertainment product. The show also set up Hogan/Andre II nicely, although some criticised Hogan for stealing Andre's spotlight at the show's end. Personally I thought it was exactly what was needed as the crowd fell a bit flat after Hogan's exit and besides, Hogan did not book himself to run-in. The big rematch between Hogan and Andre on 5th February 1988 attracted a whopping 33 million viewers on NBC, which still stands to this day as the largest viewing audience for any professional wrestling match ever. It's hard to criticise those numbers. Survivor Series 1987 drew 325,000 buys on pay-per-view.

 

Results

1 Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan & Brutus Beefcake def The Honky Tonk Man, Harley Race, Hercules, Ron Bass & Danny Davis (24:00) ***1/2
2 The Fabulous Moolah, Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin, Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno def Leilani Kai, Judy Martin, Sensational Sherri, Donna Christianello & Dawn Marie (20:00) **1/2
3 The British Bulldogs, Strike Force, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers, The Young Stallions def Demolition, The Hart Foundation, The Bolsheviks, The Islanders, Greg Valentine & Dino Bravo (37:00) ****
4 Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, The One Man Gang, Rick Rude & Butch Reed def Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Bam Bam Bigelow, Don Muraco & Ken Patera (22:00) ***1/2

Rating
13.5/20 = 67.50%

 

Star Rating Guide

***** Excellent/World Class

****   Very Good

***     Good

**       OK/Acceptable

*         Poor

DUD   Abysmal

SQ      Squash (Less than 1 min)