Showing posts with label Rick Martel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Martel. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 24, 1993

WWF 1993 Survivor Series (11/24/93)



1993 SURVIVOR SERIES
BOSTON GARDEN
BOSTON, MA
NOVEMBER 24, 1993


Commentators: Vince McMahon Jr and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel


We've finally made it to the 1993 edition of WWF Survivor Series. After months of hype following the aftermath of Summerslam, here we are. Let's get to the feuds going into this thing. The opening match is supposed to be Team Razor featuring WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, Marty Jannetty and 123 Kid against Team IRS featuring IRS, Adam Bomb, Diesel and "The Model" Rick Martel. Razor & Kid have history with IRS while Razor beat Martel for the vacant IC title. Diesel helped cause Mr. Perfect to lose his IC title match at Summerslam to Shawn Michaels. Jannetty, Adam Bomb and Martel are pretty much throw-ins. Next is The Hart Family taking on Jerry Law....er.....Shawn Michaels and his Knights. After Summerslam it was supposed to be Bret Hart and Owen Hart teaming with their retired brothers Keith and Bruce Hart taking on Jerry Lawler and three knights. Then weeks before the ppv Jerry Lawler got indicted on a rape charge so Vince McMahon swapped Lawler out with the returning Shawn Michaels who served a 30 day suspension for a failed piss test. Shawn pretty much picked up where Lawler left off while carrying the IC title belt that he claimed he never lost, more on that later. Then we get a Smoky Mountain Wrestling tag team championship match featuring The Heavenly Bodies taking on the legendary Rock N Roll Express. Vince signed Jim Cornette in the summer and as a favor to Jim, allowed the tag match to be on this ppv to showcase both teams....problem was he barely promoted the Express who were gods down in Atlanta. Next is the Four Doinks taking on Team Bam Bam consisting of Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger and The Headshrinkers. When Doink The Clown turned babyface he started pulling his pranks on the heels with Bam Bam Bigelow being the primary target. Bam Bam had already teamed with Samu & Fatu at Summerslam so it made sense to put them with him along with Booger being another big ugly dude. Problem was Doink promised four of himself so nobody knew who was going to be on his team. Then the main event was originally supposed to be The All Americans consisting of Tatanka, The Steiner Brothers and Lex Luger against the Foreign Fanatics led by WWF Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna along with Ludvig Borga and WWF Tag Team Champions The Quebecers. Luger and Yokozuna was the primary feud while The Quebecers used chicanery to win the tag belts from the Steiners. Borga ended Tatanka's undefeated streak and was being booked as a secondary adversary so at least everyone matched up. Then the substitution factor came in which I'll explain later. With that out of the way, let's get to the event. Before the show started there was a dark match for the Boston Garden crowd.


Dark Match

Brooklyn Brawler vs Billy Gunn (with Bart Gunn)

If you ever wondered why the hell the Smoking Gunns would appear later in the show, this was why. Billy faced Brawler in the dark match and Billy won.


Time of match: 7:46

Winner: Billy Gunn by pinfall



The Coliseum Video tape opened with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Vince McMahon preparing to enter the curtain in the Gorilla position with Heenan nervous as all hell that he might run into Gorilla Monsoon. Vince makes fun of Bobby for being nervous as we cut to our opening graphic. The Bobby and Gorilla dynamic would be a theme all night and it was also going to lead to Heenan's departure from the company. Now the actual live broadcast opened with Lex Luger with his wife and kids in his house in front of a fire saying they're thankful for Thanksgiving and family. Isn't that nice? Then we cut to a guy singing the national anthem but no graphic saying who it is. Vince and Bobby open the show running down the card with Gorilla Monsoon sitting at the "radio" booth threatening to hit Heenan. After Heenan makes hilarious gestures, Howard Finkel sends us to our first match. Team IRS comes out first together and IRS gets on the mic saying this team of survivors will audit everyone. Then we get separate entrances for the babyfaces. 123 Kid and Marty Jannetty make their entrances before Razor Ramon comes out next, peculiar. Razor gets on the mic and says Mr. Perfect tagged out before the match started. In real life, Mr. Perfect's back acted up again and he wouldn't be seen for a while. Razor says he's got a surprise for the audience though, someone with as much "machismo" as he does.....MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE!


Match 1 (2)

Team Razor (WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, 123 Kid, Marty Jannetty and "Macho Man" Randy Savage) vs Team IRS (IRS, Adam Bomb, "The Model" Rick Martel and Diesel with Harvery Whippleman)

With Perfect out, Randy Savage subs in thus giving the babyfaces the advantage as Heenan points out not only is he a former IC champ like Jannetty, but he also was 2 time WWF Champion as well. Bell rings and Savage wants IRS but leaves. Razor himself starts with Martel and they shove each other to start. Martel slaps Razor as Vince brings up Razor's victory over Martel to become IC champ on October 11th. Martel gets in an arm ringer and they exchange reversals until Martel drops the champ with a drop-toe hold. Rick goes for a headlock but Razor slips out and goes for the hammerlock. Heenan says Kid, Marty and Savage should just leave so they can have a better crack at the IC title once the heel team is done with Ramon. Martel slaps Razor again but this time Razor slams him back. Martel gains the advantage but Razor reverses a whip into the corner. Martel goes up and over and runs to the other corner, hitting a bodypress that Razor rolls through for 1....2...nope. Martel ducks a clothesline and goes for a bodypress but Razor catches him mid-air. Razor hits the fallaway slam and covers for 1....2..nope. Vince goes over the rules as Razor blocks a kick and hits an atomic drop into his corner where Savage happily gets in a punch to Martel's head. Razor hits an inverted atomic drop and drops him with two consecutive clotheslines. Martel tags to Adam Bomb as Heenan says he smells napalm. Bomb is larger than Razor and he throws Ramon into the corner on a lock-up. They lock up again and Adam shoves him down. Adam wants a test of strength then locks in a headlock. Razor fights out of it but a shoulderblock sends him to the mat against. Adam once again wants a test of strength and this time Razor goes for it. Adam wins the game of mercy but Razor looks to power out of it, only to get a boot to the ribs. Heenan says "Razor would have given up" four times in a row to annoy Vince as Razor rises again. This time Razor powers out of it and delivers a northern lights suplex. He covers and spots Martel coming, moving out of the way as Martel drops an elbow on Bomb....D'oh! Harvey gets in the ring and shoves Martel. Rick shoves him down and Bomb clocks Rick for it. Diesel gets in and pushes Bomb back before IRS comes in and plays peacemaker. Razor's team has the crowd going wild at the dissention as IRS successfully calms his team down. Diesel, Martel and IRS leave with 123 Kid tagging in to face Bomb. Kid gets a headlock but eats a shoulderblock. Kid goes for a sunset flip but Adam turns it into a Baldo Bomb. Diesel tags in and hits Kid with a forearm before hiptossing him 3/4 across the ring. Heenan "I smell rubber burning, is that the Diesel?" Diesel hits a forearm to the back and delivers a gut wrench suplex with Heenan screaming for each spot done to Kid. Kid runs into a big boot but turns a sidewalk slam into a headscissors. Kid makes the tag to Macho Man who drops Diesel with an axehandle off the top rope. Savage intercepts Bomb and IRS with elbows before scoop slamming an interfering Martel. Savage hits an atomic drop on IRS that sends him into Martel. Savage whips Bomb into Diesel before a knee to the back sends Bomb to the outside. Savage scoop slams Diesel then goes upstairs. He hits the flying elbow and covers for 1...2....3 to eliminate DIESEL 10:20 into the match. The faces celebrate as Diesel can't believe it. 

The refs get Diesel out of there as Martel attacks Savage in the corner. Martel gets whipped into the corner and Savage backdrops him. Martel gets punched into his corner and IRS tags in. Vince says Irwin has lost the services of the mighty Diesel. They lock up but IRS gets a knee to the stomach. IRS rams Randy into the corner but Randy ducks the write off. Randy does a crossbody for a one count then two left arm clotheslines. Randy tags Razor back in and they work over the left arm. Razor locks in an arm-ringer as Heenan says everyone in the match would love to be IC title match as Vince says Shawn Michaels claims he's still the champ. Razor gets a knee to the back from Martel from the outside and Rick officially tags in with an axehandle from the second rope. Heenan asks if Vince ever cheat anybody with Vince saying no. Wait 4 years Bobby! Adam Bomb tags in and continues the onslaught before tagging Martel back in. Martel hits an axehandle to the back and IRS tags in to deliver an elbow drop followed by a leg drop. IRS covers for 1....2...nope. Heenan says Jannetty is fresh as Martel switches places with IRS as Vince bitches about it. Referee Joey Marella lets it go as Martel sends Razor off the ropes. Razor counters with a knee lift as again Heenan praises Jannetty. IRS tags in and Razor gets sent into the corner, only for the charge to eat boot. Razor tags in Savage who gets nailed in the ribs. Irwin puts his head down and eats a boot before a knee to the back sends Irwin sternum first into the buckle. Savage drops IRS throat first off the top rope then hits a scoop slam. Savage goes for the flying elbow when Crush makes his way to ringside. Savage spots him and makes a beeline to him. Kid, Jannetty and Razor try to hold Randy back and actually manage to get him back in the ring. Savage climbs to the second rope to point at the taunting Crush. IRS then sneaks up on Randy and does a schoolboy from the second rope for 1....2....3 and RANDY SAVAGE is gone 16:47 into it.

Savage immediately gets out of the ring and chases Crush to the back. The Coliseum Video version shows an irate Savage looking for Crush in the back but thankfully the live broadcast keeps the action in the ring. Jannetty tags in for the first time all match as IRS regroups in his corner. Jannetty gets in a headlock as IRS sends him off but gets hiptossed. Marty hits a dropkick and covers for 1....2...nope. Martel tags in and works over Jannetty in the corner before tagging in Bomb. Adam hits a back suplex and chokes him on the top rope. Heenan "A good big man will always beat a small little punk." Vince mistakenly calls Bomb "Diesel" as Martel tags in to apply an abdominal stretch. Bomb hangs on to Martel for leverage as Vince tells Marella to open his eyes. Martel sends Jannetty into the buckle but Martel's charge eats ringpost. Martel makes the tag to IRS as Jannetty makes it to Ramon. Razor cuts him off with punches and sends IRS into opposite corners before hitting a modified chokeslam. Razor gives the signal for the Razor's Edge. Razor gets him and nails the finisher before covering for 1....2....3 and IRWIN R SCHYSTER is out 20:32 into it.

Martel tags in to prevent Razor from tagging Kid in. Martel works him over in the corner but Razor reverses it. Bomb gets in to nail Razor so Kid & Jannetty get in to cut him off. Marella deals with Bomb, Marty and Kid as Razor gets Martel in the Razor's Edge. All of a sudden IRS gets in with his briefcase and nails Razor with it. Razor falls out of the ring as the camera shows Irwin is bleeding under his left eye as he leaves. Marella then counts RAZOR RAMON out at 21:42 to even it at 2-2 with both captains gone.

Martel, Bomb and Whippleman celebrate thinking they got this as the crowd chants 1-2-3. Heenan says its amazing the people in Boston can count to three. Now its a standard tag match as Martel starts working Kid over. Kid leapfrogs and drops down on Martel and Rick cartwheels to safety. Kid locks in a headlock, gets sent off, Martel leapfrogs, Kid drops down and Martel is armdragged vertitcally. Kid locks in an armringer but Bomb tags in. Bomb sends Kid off but Kid slides under him, pulling him down by the ankles. Kid ducks under a clothesline and does an elevated dropkick to stun Adam. Bomb bails to the outside and Kid goes for the suicide dive.....but Bomb catches and slams him. Heenan says this is where Larry Bird used to dribble a ball and now they're dribbling the Kid. Bomb rolls Kid back inside and hits the slingshot clothesline. Rather than cover Kid he taunts the crowd and calls for the Adam Smasher. Kid gets whipped hard into the corner and goes down to avoid the move. Kid is whipped into the other corner but moves out of the way of a charge, schoolboying Bomb for 1.....2..nope. Bomb drags Kid into his corner and tags Martel back in. Martel drops an elbow and goes to work on Kid, sending him off and delivering a punch to the ribs. Martel goes to the second rope but Kid nails him coming off. Jannetty gets the hot tag and comes in like a house of fire, dropping Martel with a flying back elbow. Marty sends Martel into the opposite corner before ramming his head into the buckle ten times. Marty snapmares Martel and covers for 1...2..nope. Kid tags back in and they do a double back elbow smash. Martel whips Kid into the buckle and charges, but Kid turns it into a sunset flip for 1...2.....3 and RICK MARTEL is eliminated at 26:50. Kid crawls to the corner and tags in Jannetty who sunset flips ADAM BOMB for 1...2...3 to win the match. Kid and Jannetty celebrate as Vince says "Can you believe this??" Bomb, Whippleman and Martel complain outside as Marty and Kid pull off the upset. Kid and Marty get the duke for Team Razor and Vince had big plans for these two. It should be noted this is the first and only match in Survivor Series history to this day to have an entire team score a pinfall or submission. All four members of Team Razor got a pinfall and nobody has done that ever again.


Time of Match: 26:58

Survivors: Marty Jannetty & 123 Kid


Vince sends us to Todd Pettengill for an interview with Shawn Michaels. Shawn says he should be the WWF Superstar of The Year. Todd calls him the former IC champ as Shawn rebukes him saying he's still the champ and is wearing the IC title belt. Todd puts over the upcoming Family Feud match featuring Shawn's team against the Hart family. Todd sends us to an interview with Family Feud host Ray Combs and the Hart family. Bruce, Keith, Owen, Bret and Stu Hart all flank Ray for this one. Stu is wearing a Detroit Pistons jacket...d'oh! Now we know who Bret and Owen are but how good were Keith and Bruce? Keith Hart turned pro in 1973 and was a mid-carder for his father in Stampede Wrestling before becoming a firefighter after retiring in 1989. Bruce had a bit more success as he could cut a good promo and was in a tag team with a young Brian Pillman called Bad Company. Bruce also promoted Stampede Wrestling when Stu began to get old but hasn't wrestled since 1991. Stu himself was a legendary promoter & wrestler in Calgary. His feud with The Stomper drew a ton of money and even scared a young Bret Hart which is a story I'll get to later. Ray puts over the importance of the match and asks Bret how he feels about Shawn's comments about the family. Bret puts over his brothers and Stu then says Stu has had it up to HERE with Shawn Michaels and his Knights. Bret says they don't care about the Knights, they just want Shawn and he's going to pay for the skit he did mocking the Harts on Raw. Ray says that this brought two brothers out of retirement and asks the others for their thoughts. Owen says this is the biggest family feud ever and they don't kindly to Shawn and his Knights. He says Shawn's team is going down and sends it to Keith. Keith says Shawn is going to need EMTs because there's going to be a massive Hart attack in the ring. Ray says the Harts will be there and Bruce says "everyone". Keith is ready for action, Ray "Survey says, this is a match you don't want to miss.

After the interview we go back to Shawn who laughs it off and says if he had parents that looked like Stu & Helen Hart, he'd have put them 6 feet under whether they were dead or not. In real life, Shawns mother was one of the best part of Before They Were Superstars. Shawn goes on to say he owes Bret for last year's Survivor Series but the difference is he's still got his gold while Bret's got nothing. Shawn runs down Owen and Keith saying he's so hot Keith can't put him out. He runs down Bruce as a substitute teacher and says he can't teach Shawn anything. Shawn says the Harts are going down and if Stu gets involved he's gonna waffle him and somehow make him uglier than he already is. Todd sends it back to ringside.

Before the next match starts Ray Combs is in the ring for the introductions. Also it should be known that ex-Hart Foundation member "Dangerous" Danny Davis is the referee, bad news for HBK. Combs says welcome to Martha and Georgia Hart along with Helen at ringside. Georgia is the mother of the infamous Teddy Hart who was 13 at the time and Martha was Owen's wife. Martha also happens to be holding their son Oje Hart who was just over a year old then. Heenan calls Oje ugly as Combs gives a shoutout to the other Hart brothers Ross and Wayne. Wayne Hart was a referee during Stampede's heydey and Ross as we know was the jobber Ross Lindsey who was doing jobs for WWF TV a few years earlier. Helen Hart gets a good ovation as she waives to the crowd as Vince calls her a super lady. Remember earlier I mentioned Archie "The Stomper" Goulding? Stomper was in a feud with Stu in the 60's and a young Bret was playing outside when Archie showed up to the Hart house. Bret made a mad dash to warn his mother that the Stomper was here to hurt his father but Helen just smiled and walked outside. She said "Hiya Archie, Stu has your money all set" and Stomper greeted her warmly much to Bret's confusion. Heenan says "Is that her rail hair?" Vince "Stop it Bobby Heenan!" Ray then says all this started because of Shawn Michaels and he makes a bunch of bad jokes about Shawn and his parents. Again, the real Mrs. Carol Hickenbottom was awesome but since Shawn was a heel, she gets the Mama Cornette treatment.

The sad part was this was all reserved for Jerry Lawler but he was in serious legal trouble at the time. I already mentioned what earlier so no need to mention again. Shawn was coming off a suspension for a failed drug test so they just threw him into Lawler's spot and everyone acted like he started this all along. Ray then says "Its time to play the feud!"



Match 2 (3)

The Hart Family (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart & Keith Hart with Stu Hart) vs Shawn Michaels, The Red Knight, The Black Knight and The Blue Knight

Guest commentator: Ray Combs

As we get started, who are the knights? The Black Knight was pro football player turned wrestler turned armed robber Jeff Gaylord. Jeff played for the Boston Breakers of the United States Football League in 1983 before becoming a wrestler. The Red Knight is Barry Horrowitz, we all know who he is. The Blue Knight is none other than Greg "The Hammer" Valentine who was due to return to the WWF for the Royal Rumble so this was most likely him just getting some work in. Shawn's team comes out first and HBK messes with the Harts at ringside, causing Wayne Hart to almost take a swing at him. The Harts come out next with Bret wearing olympic style singlet tights for the first time in his career although they're in his standard pink. Stu Hart now has a Boston Bruins jacket on so at least someone told him where they were. Vince said Stu wrestled in the Boston Garden back in 1945 while Heenan says it was 1845 at the tail end of his career. Stu was actually 78 at this time so he would have been 30 then. Bells gone and Shawn continues to heckle Wayne and Ross. Ray joins the commentary team as Shawn immediately runs over to heckle Stu. Heenan says Stu is 3 weeks older than Family Feud announcer Gene Wood and Ray says Gene could take Bobby in a fight. Heenan responds that Stu and Helen are Senile In Seattle and Ray says it won't take much for one of the Hart brothers to kick the living daylights out of him. Vince says the Harts are directly behind them as Heenan says "That's the smell!" Vince then says Gorilla Monsoon is nearby as well so he better behave. Owen starts with Shawn but Shawn wants Bruce instead. Bruce tags in and Shawn immediately gets in a headlock as Ray says some of the Hart women could take Bobby. Shawn brings Bruce to the corner and tags in Barry the Red Knight as he's sent off the ropes. Bruce and Red do drops downs with Shawn running the ropes and Bruce sends Shawn crashing into Red. Shawn shoves Red and tells him to get in hear before he tags back in. Bruce chops Blue before Shawn goes to whip him into the other corner. Bruce then ducks under Shawn and double clotheslines Blue and Red.  Black holds Bruce but Shawn nails Black by accident with Ray screaming for every spot. Bruce armdrags Shawn into his corner and Keith tags in. Keith works over the left arm as Heenan says "What a stupid name. You got nine months and you come up with Bruce?" Keith ducks under a Shawn leapfrog but Shawn dips the shoulder and boots Keith the rubs. Shawn goes for a suplex but Keith counters with an inside cradle for 1...2..nope. Keith takes down Shawn and locks in an arm-bar as Heenan says he's definitely Dungeon trained. The crowd starts chanting "Gomez, Gomez" because Keith looks strikingly like John Astin's portrayal of Gomez Adams. Heenan asks where Mary Hart is as Shawn bodyslams Keith. Red tags in but misses an elbow drop then walks into an arm-drag. Owen tags in and he works over the left arm before Red pokes him in the eyes. Owen arm-drags Red then overhead arm-drags him as Heenan calls Owen "The Shadow" since he's in the shadow of Bret. Owen arm-drags Red and hits a dropkick that sends him into the corner. Heenan brings up Reo Rogers as Black tags in only to get arm-dragged. Black gets slugged by each Hart in their corner before Black is hiptossed into his corner. Owen tags in Bret as Black tags in Greg the Blue Knight. These two were on opposite teams 3 years earlier and the on the same in 87. Blue rakes the eyes and he delivers some forearms. Bret catches the leg and hits both kinds of atomic drops. Bret clotheslines him down and covers for a deuce. Keith tags in and works over the left arm and hits a nice fireman's carry take down. Bruce tags in as Heenan says "HEY STU WAKE UP!" Vince says "He'll come over here next" and Bobby without missing a beat says "That'll take two hours, we'll be off the air."  Bruce is sent off right into a knee to the back by Shawn. Blue scoop slams Bruce before Shawn tags in to deliver a backbreaker. Shawn drops a sries of elbows to Bruce as Black says "Look at your boy now baby!" Red tags in and nails Bruce with an axehandle off the second rope. Heenan asks how many kids Stu had and Vince says 12. Unfortunately Dean Hart passed away in 1990 but everyone else was still here in 93. Red hits a double underhook suplex for a two count and two covers get nothing. Bruce tries to fight out of it but Black tags in. Black kicks Bruce in the sternum as Vince says Black is the biggest of all the nights. Jeff Gaylord had a great physique but too bad he was a better burglar than a wrestler. Black punches Bruce down but Bruce counters with a backslide for a two count. Shawn tags in and hits an axehandle to the back then works over Bruce. Bruce falls outside and Shawn comes outside to get him. Bret comes over but Shawn slides inside but Bruce hangs on from the apron then slams Shawn into his own corner. Bruce is knocked back inside by Red as Heenan calls the Harts the cowards of Canada. Bruce ducks under a Shawn clothesline then hits an absolute lariat on Shawn. Shawn tags in Black as Bruce falls and tags Bret back in. Bret O'Connor rolls Black for a two count then catches him with a small package for another two. Bret hits a backbreaker as Heenan praises Bret for winning every title in the WWF. Bret hits his second rope elbow drop and covers for 1,,,2,,nope. Shawn broke up the count as Owen tags in for his spinning heel kick. All 8 men get in the ring but the Harts take over. They send Shawn's team crashing into each other causing Shawn, Red and Blue to bail. Keith whips Bruce who clotheslines Black in the corner then Owen comes off the top with a dropkick. He covers for 1..2....3 and BLACK KNIGHT is eliminated 10:49 into the match. 

Ray thinks its over but Heenan reminds him the match keeps going. Owen starts working over the left leg of the Red Knight before Bret tags in for a double wishbone. Bret then works over the right leg before Keith tags in for more damage to the right leg. Keith works over the left leg in the corner as Vince says there's 20 members of the Harts in attendance, Heenan says that's a ghetto. Stu can be heard yelling "Work on that leg, wear him down!" Keith and Bruce do another wishbone as Bruce shoves Red down. Bret tags in for yet another wishbone and now Keith tags in but gets kicked into the buckle. Red headbutts Keith down then delivers a snapmare. Red misses the knee drop and Keith locks in a figure four as Heenan says the only thing worse is to have JJ Walker as a tag team partner. This catches the announce team off guard to the point Shawn interferes to drop an elbow on Bruce with Ray saying "Get JJ out of there!" Blue tags in and chops Keith as Ray says he "weenie slapped" him. Keith delivers forearms as Vince slips and says "and Greg....having his problems here" referring to Valentine as the Blue Knight. Red trips up Keith and Shawn slingshot splashes Keith's left arm. Good teamwork by the heels. Blue works over the left arm as the crowd continues to chant "Gomez, Gomez." Shawn comes off the top with an axehandle then sends Keith shoulder first into the buckle. Shawn sends him shoulder first into the other corner as Heenan makes fun of the firefighter. Red tags in and drags Keith into the ring post. Bret kicks Red into the guardrail as Blue comes over to assist Red. Red yells "SHUT UP" to some fan as Bruce complains in the ring. Red slingshots Keith into the bottom rope then boots Keith. Blue drops a leg on the left arm and Greg slams him shoulder first to the mat. Blue drags Keith to the center then tags in Shawn. Blue goes for the Rocket Launcher (ironic) but Keith rolls out of the way to tag in Bret. Shawn tags out to Red but Bret cuts him off. Bret punches Red but is sent off the ropes only for Red to jump in his arms. Bret slams Red down and locks in the sharpshooter. RED KNIGHT gives up 18:06 in as Bruce literally gets in the ring and just watches as Blue clotheslines Bret after the bell.

Vince says Red Knight is out of here as Blue throws Bret to the outside with Keith trying to pick him up with his right arm. Shawn jumps off the apron with an axehandle smash. Shawn sends Bret back in who gets suplexed by Blue. Blue gets a deuce on a cover then drops an elbow on Bret. Blue tags Shawn and HBK whips Bret into the corner. Shawn puts the boots to Bret as Vince says the Harts are a good looking family causing Heenan to laugh. Shawn hits a diving back elbow smash then covers for 1...2...nope. Heenan says the Harts belong on America's Most Wanted as Shawn locks in a chinlock. Ray says Heenan's family would be on America's Most Unwanted, ha! Bret powers out of it but runs into a knee to the ribs. Blue tags in and he delivers a headbutt to the mid-section. Blue covers for 1,..2..nope. Blue attacks Bret in the corner but a charge eats boot. Bret clotheslines Blue down and tags in Owen who hits a dropkick on Blue. Owen hits Blue ten times in the corner then scoop slams him Owen hits his top rope elbow but Shawn breaks up the count. Bruce gets in and he and Owen hit a double noggin knocker on Blue & Shawn. Shawn slides under Bruce and goes for Stu only to eat a left hand that sends Shawn 8 feet backwards. Owen hits a plancha on Shawn before sending HBK back in. Bruce and Owen whip the heels into each other and Owen hits a crossbody onto Blue. Shawn drops an elbow on Blue by accident and is double clotheslined over the top by Owen and Bruce. Owen hits a bulldog on Blue and locks in the sharpshooter. BLUE KNIGHT submits 23:55 into the match as Ray says "AND THEN...THERE...WAS...ONE"

Shawn is all by himself now and he throws a tantrum outside with Owen clapping in the ring. Bret nails Shawn and throws him in the ring with Owen. Shawn begs off but misses a punch. Owen atomic drops Shawn into the corner where all the brothers take a shot at Shawn. Owen drops Shawn with a punch before tagging in Bruce who drops two knees then covers for two. Bruce whips Shawn into the corner but the charge eats elbow. Shawn does a blatant choke as Danny Davis says he'll disqualify Michaels. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music and covers for 1.....2...nope. Let it be known that the only Hart brother to ever kick out of SCM including Davey Boy and Niedhart was Bruce Hart. The camera shows Stu from the back and Heenan says there's a picture of Helen on the back of his jacket. Ray and Vince point out its a Bruin, hahaha. Bruce kicks Shawn in the face as Ray incorrectly calls it a dropkick as Bruce 3 quarter rolls over Shawn to tag Bret. Bret hits an atomic drop that Shawn sells like he got shot out of a cannon. Bret sends Shawn into the corner and slingshots him into the buckle. Bret drops an elbow then covers for 1...2...nope. Bret hits the russian leg sweep and covers for a deuce. Bret goes for the backbreaker but Shawn rakes the eyes. Bret tags in Owen and bails to the apron. Owen sends Shawn off and hits a beautiful over the head belly to belly suplex and covers for 1....2...nope. Shawn whips Owen off as Bret tries to make his way to the corner and Owen collides with Bret. Bret goes front first into the guardrail as Shawn rolls up OWEN HART for 1...2......3! Heenan proclaims "the shadow" is gone as Owen is out 27:36 into the match.

Bruce, Keith and Stu check on Bret as Owen throws a temper tantrum in the ring and yells at Bret on the outside for getting in the way. Owen says "Why are you worried about him, what about me?" Owen continues to throw a tantrum as Bobby tosses a water bottle to Shawn Michaels. Owen leaves saying "What about Bret, what about me?" Ray Combs screams and the camera quickly pans to the ring where Bruce is chopping Shawn. Bruce hits another huge lariat and covers for 1...2...no. Bruce delivers a jawbreaker as Heenan imitates Stu calling Bret a lazy, no good, bum. Vince "He did not." Bruce locks in a sleeperhold as Vince says Shawn's narrowed the odds a bit. Shawn sends Bruce face first into the buckle as Bret makes it to his feet finally. Shawn whips Bruce off and they shoulderblock each other down. Bruce tags Keith in as the crowd chants "Gomez, Gomez" again. Keith locks in an abdominal stretch but Shawn hiptosses him. Keith tags Bret in and he strikes Shawn in the corner before Shawn does a Flair corner flip into a right hand. Shawn is sent into the corner where he gets kicked nad first onto the top rope. Bret goes for the sharpshooter but Shawn squirms out of it and slides out of the ring. Shawn says the hell with it and runs to the back. SHAWN MICHAELS is counted out and the match is over. Bret, Bruce and Keith Hart survive as Heenan calls it a smart move. The Hart family celebrate as Owen comes back to the ring. Rather than celebrate Owen pulls Bret off the middle rope and shoves him. Owen continues to shove Bret and Vince says he's embarrassed. Keith and Bruce try to console Owen as Heenan says Owen is sick of living in the shadow. Owen sticks a finger in everyone's face and says he doesn't need them. Bret is holding back as Heenan says right in front of his mother and father. Helen starts crying as Bret says to let him go as the crowd boos Owen. Bret leaves as Stu wants to talk to Owen one on one. Owen says he had Shawn beat but Bret got in the way and he doesn't get any recognition. Owen goes to the second rope and gets booed as Ray says this is a REAL family feud. Bret, Keith and Bruce bail as Vince says Owen is being booed out of the Boston Garden. Vince hopes they can reconcile for Thanksgiving.....they're Canadian you divot head, their Thanksgiving was a month earlier. Anyway this was supposed to close the book on Bret vs Lawler and transition into the biggest push of Owen's career. It was a blessing in disguise as the Lawler feud would continue another day and Owen would still get that push. The Harts win the Family Feud match and the crowd was dead for most of it mostly because of the 3 knights, Bruce and Keith having no heat going into it. Its not any of their faults, its the promoters fault for not promoting them better. Keith and Bruce should have had matches on TV to showcase their abilities and the Knights at least could have made an appearance beating up 3 jobbers. Otherwise it was a solid match and heel Shawn bumping his ass off is always a good thing.


Time of match: 30:57

Survivors: Bret, Bruce & Keith Hart


Todd Pettengill tries to get a word with Owen but Owen tells him he doesn't want to talk about it. Todd sends it back to Vince who says they're about to switch commentary teams. Bobby and Vince are going to do radio while Gorilla and Jim Ross will do PPV. Gorilla says he's ready and says he might get his hands on "that poor excuse for a human." Bobby says how can he talk about Ray Combs like that. Gorilla "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT RAY COMBS, BRAIN!" They send it over to Todd who tries to explain the Hart situation when the cameras pick up Monsoon grabbing Bobby and yelling at him. Monsoon goes to clobber Heenan but Heenan begs off. Gorilla goes back to his table as Bobby trips on the way to his. What the hell is this about? Unfortunately it was the beginning of the end for Bobby as he had planned to retire. But he's still with us for this show. We're sent to a Wrestlemania 10 commercial with Todd Pettengill doing the voiceover. "Sunday....March 20th and event so hot it'll bake the big apple. Sunday....March 20th...back where it all began, Madison Square Garden in New York City. Wrestlemania 10....ten years in the making. Sunday.....March 20th."

Back to Jim Ross who asks Gorilla what that was about and Monsoon calls Bobby a fountain of misinformation. Ross says he has to deal with him every week on Wrestling Challenge. Ross then sends us to a montage of events leading up to the main event with Todd in the voiceover. It was supposed to be Lex Luger, Tatanka and The Steiners against Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga and the Quebecers but on the October 30th episode of WWF Superstars, Borga pinned Tatanka for the first time in his WWF career then had Yokozuna squash him with the banzai drop. Lex Luger ran out to help but was intercepted by The Quebecers and Tatanka was put out of the match. For weeks fans wondered who'd be their replacement partner then on the November 13th episode of Superstars Lex Luger revealed The Undertaker was their new partner who famously had a Betsy Ross flag inside his jacket. Then it was the Americans turn to put someone out as Lex Luger knocked Quebecer Pierre goofy in their match on the November 15th episode of Raw. Jim Cornette and the rest of the Fanatics then announced literally days before Survivor Series on the November 20th Superstars that Mr Fuji's protege Crush would be taking Pierre's place. So now we got The Undertaker and Crush in the main event instead of Tatanka and Pierre which makes no sense storyline wise but does add star power to it. On to the next match.


Match 3 (4)

The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) with Jim Cornette vs The Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Championship

Commentators: Jim Ross & Gorilla Monsoon

Here we have another case of Vince McMahon not having a clue on how to book outside talent. The Rock N Roll Express were one of the top teams of the 1980's in the NWA and were now working for Cornette's promotion. Rather than bring them in a month early for some TV tapings and interviews to get them over, Vince showed a smidgeon of SMW footage and expected them to sell some tickets for this tag match against the Bodies, who had a damn good showing at Summerslam against The Steiners. As it is, Ricky and Robert get almost no reception from the crowd during their entrance. Also keep in mind we're 11 months into the New Generation which was promoted strictly for children, kids were too young for the 80's Express so they didn't know who they were. Ross has to explain what Smoky Mountain is to the fans as the Bodies make their entrance. Ross actually gets in a dig at Jim Barnett by saying Cornette was on the phone earlier saying "any news?" which was Barnett's catchphrase. Now if you're watching the live broadcast or Coliseum Video tape, the Express make their entrance with the song Cornette would later come out with. If you're watching on Peacock, they come out to some generic theme with a clearly older Howard Finkel overdubbing the Express' names. The Bodies waste no time and attack the Express before they even get their jackets off. Prichard heaves Ricky outside and Jimmy heaves Robert out the other side. The Bodies slingshot Robert back in still wearing his jacket. They go to slingshot Ricky in but he blocks it and slingshots both Bodies over the top to the floor. The Express shed their ring jackets off as Robert holds the rope as Ricky suicide dives onto the Bodies. Now if Vince had them do that in matches leading up to this, they might have had a better crowd reaction. Cornette rips his jacket off as Ross makes fun of him for it. The camera man gets too close to Cornette who shouts "Get out of my face I'm trying to do something here!" Monsoon calls him a piece of work as Del Ray and Robert start. Monsoon asks how long they've been feuding and Ross says he was there from the start when it was the RnR Express against the Midnight Express. Its funny because Stan Lane was the original Heavenly Body tag team partner of Prichard for over a year but retired to become a WWF commentator. He was the link between the Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies feud with Gibson & Morton.  Jimmy eats a shoulder tackle, drops down, has Robert slip the hiptoss and Gibson flips over the buckle before hiptossing Jimmy.  Robert hits a head scissors as Joey Marella the ref tells Cornette to get away from the ring. Ricky tags in and Jimmy runs into a double back elbow smash. Prichard tags in and shouts "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!" Prichard pounds away on Ricky in the corner as Ross explains the feud that he himself was there to see. Thank God Jim is on commentary for this one because he knew the guys involved a hell of a lot better than Vince & Bobby. Tom blocks a hiptoss and Ricky almost botches the leapfrog but still hits the hiptoss. Ricky hip tosses Jimmy and Tom two more times apiece as Ross brings up Ricky Morton's father who was a legendary referee in the Tennessee territories. Jimmy accidentally clocks Tom with a superkick and Ricky & Robert whip Del Ray into the corner. Prichard is whipped into Del Ray and Ricky monkey flips Tom. Robert monkey flips Del Ray and they are atomic dropped into each other. Ricky & Robert row Tom and Jimmy as Del Ray bails. Ricky goes to work on the left leg of Prichard as Ross says he loves pumpkin pie. Monsoon "You resemble that remark." Ross "I certainly do." Robert tags in and he jumps into the ring directly onto the left leg. The Express roll over Prichard and clock Del Ray off the apron before Ricky returns to the left leg. The camera pans to Vince explaining to Bobby on radio that throwing someone over the top rope is an automatic disqualification in SMW. It was actually a universal rule in every territory but one going back decades....care to guess the only one that never had the rule? That's right, New York. The Express flip over Prichard again but Jimmy ducks this time only for them to wait a moment and clock him off the apron again. Robert kicks Prichard in the leg and tags Ricky back in who continues to work on the leg. Ross explains Robert's mother is deaf and they both know sign language because of it, often communicating with it. Prichard tags Jimmy in who runs right into an arm-drag. Jimmy gets the advantage in the corner and goes to whip Ricky into the other corner but Robert angles himself to block the impact. Ricky goes to whip Jimmy but Robert cuts off Tom trying the same thing so Ricky just whips Jimmy back into the corner much to Monsoon's delight. Ricky whips the Bodies together but they stop each other only to eat a double noggin knocker. The Bodies bail as Ross says they're confused and their timing is off leading Cornette to pound the mat in frustration. The Bodies regroup with Cornette as some idiot in the crowd chants "Boring! Boring!" Literally this is the most fast pace match of the night, the hell is boring? Then again this was the same guy chanting "Gomez" earlier for Keith Hart....and they say New York or Philly is a tough crowd? Prichard tags in and says he's gonna break Ricky's neck as Ricky goes to whip Tom into the corner. He goes for a backdrop and Tom counters with a sitdown powerbomb. Here comes the heat, folks. Cornette even wrote in his Midnight Express scrapbook "How to get rich beating on Ricky." Tom shouts "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" again as Cornette whoops it up. Tom puts the boots to Ricky and Del Ray tags in. Prichard scoop slams Ricky and assists Jimmy into a standing moonsault on Ricky for 1....2..nope. Del Ray elbows Ricky down the taunts Gibson. Tom tags in and throws Ricky outside. Cornette holds Ricky as Del Ray hits a second rope moonsault onto Ricky on the floor. Ricky is thrown back inside and Tom covers for 1...2...nope. No other team in the WWF was doing spots like this at the time. Tom and Ricky slug it out in the corner but Ricky gets whipped. Prichard hits a powerslam and covers for a two count before Jimmy tags in. Jimmy executes a snap suplex and poses for some heat before dropping a knee to the face. Del Ray drops Robert off the apron and Prichard runs in for a double team spot similar to the Smoking Gunns finisher only Prichard hits a bulldog instead of a legdrop. Tom covers for 1.....2..no. Prichard locks in a chinlock and the crowd barely makes a noise. Tom hits a delayed vertical suplex then tags in Del Ray. Jimmy goes upstairs and they execute a trash compactor (!!!) and Jimmy covers for 1.....2....noooooo. Jimmy goes for another powerbomb but Ricky counters with a frankensteiner for a two count. Jimmy tags in Prichard who eats an inside cradle for 1....2...nope. Prichard tags Jimmy for another moonsault and he hits for 1....2....nope, Robert breaks up the count. The Bodies send Ricky off but he catches them with a double ddt. Ricky rolls into his corner and Robert gets the hot tag. Robert cleans house to no crowd reaction at all as he wipes out both members. Ricky does the O'Connor roll even though he's not the legal man and Prichard heaves him over the top rope. Robert thinks the match is over and celebrates but Marella has to explain the over the top rule isn't in effect under WWF rules. Prichard heaves Robert outside but Ricky hits a flying bodypress on Del Ray but Prichard kicks him off. Ricky jumps over Prichard and the Express hit their finisher, the double dropkick. Robert makes the cover as Morton nails Cornette off the apron for 1....2.....NOOOOO! Somehow Prichard kicks out. Marella tries to get Ricky out but turns his back as Cornette tosses his tennis racket to Jimmy. Del Ray comes off the top and nails Robert in the back with it. Prichard rolls him over and covers for 1...2.....3 and we got new SMW tag team champions. That was an awesome match as Ross says if this was under SMW rules the Express would have won but it wasn't meant to be. Its a shame that the match was epic but underappreciated because of the double edged sword of failure to promote and kids having no idea who the Express were. Still, if you can set aside the crowd that's what a tag match should be.


Time of match: 13:41

Winners: Heavenly Bodies by pinfall (new SMW tag team champions)


Ross sends us to last weekend's Superstars to set up the next match, The Four Doinks vs Team Bam Bam. Its funny how this was only days before Survivor Series but its clearly Matt Borne doing the promo despite the fact that he was fired a month earlier. Doink says he knows who his partners are gonna be this Wednesday night, the nasty Booger and the Headshrinkers. Doink grabs his head and says "Oh no!" Then he says his partners are Doink, Doink....and Doink. Now the live broadcast and Peacock had an interview with Team Bam Bam as the Headshrinkers, Afa, Booger and Luna Vachon all devour cooked turkeys but Coliseum Video doesn't have it. Todd asks how Bam Bam can deal with four of the same person and Bam Bam says it doesn't matter if its four Doinks or a hundred Doinks, his team is going to take care of the job. Bam Bam says he's going to end Doink's shenanigans once and for all. Todd sends us back to Vince and Bobby as Vince says none of those guys will be WWF Superstar of The Year. Heenan says "Booger is my pick." Vince "I beg your pardon? We're on the air....its a family show!" Heenan "I know, I pick Booger to win. He's my pick." Now the Peacock version doesn't have this part but the live broadcast has Vince rolling his eyes and says if you want to make your pick, call the WWF Hotline and vote yourself. Its 1.49 for the first minute, 99 cents for each additional minute and kids ask your parents permission before calling.....which I didn't. Vince then sends it to the Fink who introduces Team Bam Bam. Booger, The Headshrinkers and Afa all come out with turkeys and bananas as Vince says we don't know who Shawn Michaels Knights were but we're gonna find out who the Doinks are. Heenan says he knows who the Knights were but he's not telling. Doink's music hits then cuts to the Bushwhackers theme as Luke and Butch come out in Doink makeup & wigs. Luke is riding a scooter and Butch lugs a wagon to the ring. Great....a bait and switch. The Doink music plays again before the Men on A Mission rap hits....sure enough, here comes Mabel, Mo and Oscar all dressed in Doink wigs & makeup. Literally they hyped up the four Doinks for a month and it turned out to be Men on A Mission and The Bushwhackers.



Match 4 (5)

The Four Doinks (Luke, Butch, Mabel & Mo) with Oscar vs Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Bookers, Samu & Fatu (with Afa and Luna Vachon)

So much for Matt Borne as the four Doinks turned out to be two babyface tag teams. My theory is that Borne was gone so it made no sense to have four random guys as Doink so may as well throw four babyfaces in there in Doink makeup. Heenan says that's the best the Bushwhackers and M.O.M. ever looked. Heenan also calls them Doinks On A Mission as Mo is carrying balloons to the ring. Jim Cornette on his podcast lamented the fact that the Express and Bodies put on a tag team match for the ages that got no crowd reaction yet the kids went nuts for The Doinkwhackers and Doinks On a Mission. He's got a point as all the kids cheer during the intro rap. Bells gone as Vince says Team Bam Bam couldn't have possibly prepared for this. Mabel pretends to moon Samu and pretends to be scared. The crowd chants "We want Doink" as Vince passes it off as a babyface cheer. Heenan says he can't pick a winner because The Headshrinkers are the toughest tag team in the WWF but how do you prepare for two lunatics like The Bushwhackers? He's got a point, Team Bam Bam has four monsters so to speak on the team but they're against guys that are wackier than they are....at least on this night anyway. Bastion Booger starts with Luke and hammers him down to start. Booger hits a forearm to the back to drop Luke again. Luke looks to get up but sees Booger coming off the ropes and throws himself back down so Booger can hit the big splash. Booger doesn't try to cover as Vince points out referee Tim White is out of position. Booger punches Luke down as Fatu inexplicably offers Booger a banana and Bastion goes to eat it much to Bam Bam's chagrin. Luke bites Booger on the ass all the way to his corner where Butch pokes Booger in the eyes 3 Stooges style. Luke steps on Booger's feet who retreats to his corner where Fatu laughs at him. Samu tags in as Fatu offers Booger a banana again as Samu clobbers Luke from behind. Samu stomps away on Luke as the Peacock broadcast inexplicably edits out where Vince agrees The Headshrinkers might be the toughest tag team in the WWF. Butch then hands Samu a green balloon off the stick Mo was holding earlier and Samu bites it. Samu headbutts Luke as Mabel hands Samu a yellow balloon. Samu bites that one too then kicks Luke. Mo offers Samu a blue balloon but when Samu bites it, its actually a water balloon. Heenan "Oh they set him up!" Luke rolls up Samu for 1....2.....3 and SAMU is eliminated just 3:02 into the match. 

The Bushwhackers celebrate in the ring as Fatu clobbers Luke out of it. Butch didn't actually make a legal tag but he's in there now punching away on Fatu. He goes for the headbutt and naturally hurts himself as Fatu doesn't sell it. Fatu hits a suplex on Butch and headbutts him on the ground. Heenan says you can tell them apart by counting their teeth, one's got four and one's got three. Bastion Booger tags in who kicks Butch in the ribs before dropping a big leg. Booger pounds on Butch's back and tags in Bam Bam. Bigelow headbutts the side of the ribs of Butch and taunts the crowd. Heenan says you don't make fun of these guys. Bam Bam chokes Butch on the top rope and Fatu snaps him off. Booger doesn't even tag in, he just walks in and takes over. Booger scoop slams Butch and goes for Trip To The Batcave (Or the Chubby Checker Drop as Monsoon calls it). Booger hits it but inexplicably gets up to eat the banana Fatu is offering. Bam Bam yells at Booger to just pin the guy as Booger with a banana in his mouth goes for a second attempt. This time Mabel pulls Butch out of the way and there's nobody home when Booger drops. The Bushwhackers hit the battering ram on Booger and Mabel drops a huge leg with the banana still in Booger's mouth. He covers for 1....2.....3 and BASTION BOOGER is done 6:02 into the match.

If you happen to replay this match again after a first time watch, check out the ushers in the aisle's reactions to the leg drop, its kind of funny. Heenan "Whoopsie there it is!" The crowd chants as Booger gets up with the banana still in his mouth. Vince says "Leaving with a banana, that's all he'll get out of this matchup, he's history."  Fatu gets in with a turkey carcass and offers it to Butch before waffling him with it, splitting his head open....guess Fatu forgot the bones were still in it. Fatu clocks Butch again with it as Mo then randomly gets in the ring and rides around on a scooter to distract Fatu. Heenan "This is Animal House!" Bam Bam gets in and dropkicks Mo down. Bam Bam throws the scooter out of the ring and Heenan says Bam Bam means business. Fatu hits a side backbreaker and throws a banana peel into the center of the ring. Fatu then goes upstairs for the top rope splash and hits it....but doesn't cover Mo. Instead he picks up the banana peel and shows it to Bam Bam as Heenan says "THEY'RE NOT COVERING THEM!" Even Bam Bam tells him to get the three as Fatu drops the banana peel and turns around to see Butch standing there with a bucket. Tim White completely missed that there was no tag. Butch fakes throwing something on Fatu which makes him slip on the banana peel. Butch rolls up FATU for 1....2......3 to eliminate him 8:33 into the match. Yes, they got so cartoony he literally slipped on a banana peel.

Bam Bam is by himself and he clears the ring of both Bushwhackers and Mo but Mabel walks in. Vince "Bam Bam is huge but look at the size of Mabel." The crowd chants whoomp there it is as Bam Bam goes nowhere on a shoulderblock. Bam Bam tries it again but Mabel doesn't move. Bam Bam ducks a clothesline but eats a shoulderblock. Mabel hammers away on Bam Bam and whips him to the corner. The charge misses and Bam Bam hits him with a flying shoulder tackle. Bam Bam intercepts Luke and scoop slams him then covers. White does go down for the pinfall attempt even though Luke isn't the legal man but Butch runs over and heaves a bucket of confetti on Luna. Bam Bam gets up to check on him as M.O.M. sandwiches Bam Bam in the corner. He falls backward and all four guys pile on top for 1,...2......3 to end this debacle. Team Bam Bam may have been the toughest team but they also were the dumbest as The Four Doinks earn the clean sweep. Vince "This is a cartoon." For some reason Peacock edits Vince's post-match speech of "Forget about Looney Tunes, forget about Hanna Barbara, they have nothing on the WWF." Heenan "Not tonight, this looks like the type of match Chief Jay Strongbow should have been in." The babyfaces celebrate and leave as Heenan points out the ring was a mess. Vince asks Heenan how much weight was on Bam Bam at the end. Heenan says Mabel is 500 and both Bushwhackers add up to 500. As Bam Bam and Luna leave the real Doink appears on screen and his voice gives away that its Ray Apollo for the live show. Doink makes fun of Bam Bam and Luna and barks at her. Bad, bad match and once again it shows that catering to children was ridiculous yet the sign of the times. Once again, a great tag match got no crowd reaction but funny ha-ha had the crowd cheering. This would actually be the first and last ppv appearance for Bastion Booger but I'll get to why another time. Say goodbye to Matt Borne too.


Time of match: 10:58

Survivors: Men on A Mission and The Bushwhackers


After the match is over the Coliseum Video exclusive has Doink celebrating with Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers, have to assume it was Ray Apollo for the live show again. The live broadcast was supposed to get a commercial for the upcoming WWF Royal Rumble on January 22, 1994....a Saturday night, but Peacock cut it for some reason. It should be noted 93-94 would be the last time shows would be on any time other than a Sunday for another 10 years until Taboo Tuesday 2004. Then we go to Todd Pettengill with The Foreign Fanatics and Jim Cornette handles the promo. He talks about a human body and how there's a mind, a heart and a soul. He says the heart are the Steiner Brothers, the mind is The Undertaker and Luger is the soul. Cornette puts over the faces as athletes but the Fanatics will take them out one at a time, mind, heart and soul. Yokozuna shouts "BANZAI" as Todd sends it back to ringside. That's why Cornette was the best, folks. Heenan says he watched the eyes of the heel team and says they look determined and ready. Heenan says the Bruins, the Celtics and the Boston Garden will never be the same. The live broadcast and the Coliseum Video had a montage of the history of Boston narrated by the All-Americans but its cut from the Peacock showing. Scott Steiner says Paul Revere made a midnight ride to give a warning and Scott warns the Foreign Fanatics they're not going to survive. Rick says this battle will be like Bunker Hill and a decisive victory for the All-Americans. The Undertaker says Samuel Adams and John Hancock are buried in the Granary Burial Ground and four new headstones will be prepared for the Foreign Fanatics. The montage concludes with President John F Kennedy saying "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Luger says we know what we can do for our country, we'll defeat the Foreign Fanatics." My only guess to why this was cut was (seriously) the term Foreign. Otherwise giving the rich history of Boston with the good guys saying they'll win was a great promo on the heels of Cornette's great promo. Anyway, let's get to the main event.



Match 5 (6)

The Foreign Fanatics (Crush, Quebecer Jacques, Ludvig Borga & Yokozuna with Mr. Fuji, Jim Cornette and Johnny Polo) vs The All-Americans (Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, The Undertaker and Lex Luger with Paul Bearer)

Like I mentioned in the intro, this had months of buildup going back to Summerslam with Lex against Yoko and subsequently Ludvig Borga's challenge. The Steiners and Quebecers were supposed to be a feud but the additions of Crush and Undertaker kind of screwed up the chemistry, although it made sense on the heel side with Crush also being managed by Mr. Fuji. Then again, there was nobody left on the babyface side to use unless you wanted to go with Bob Backlund or Bart Gunn. Vince says Yokozuna was on Conan O'Brien the night before and Heenan asks if Conan is actually Bob Backlund. Vince brings up Survivor Series Showdown where Owen unknowingly cost Bret Hart the WWF title against Yokozuna. The Undertaker makes his entrance and Heenan apparently hid under the table for it. Heenan also claims the Steiners are from the University if Wisconsin since their jackets are on upside down. The camera shows Taker and Yoko having a staredown in the center and The Undertaker himself has gone on record saying Yoko was one of his favorite opponents ever. Cornette did an interview with Paul Bearer saying he loved that feud as well because he couldn't do anything to Taker and Bearer couldn't touch Yoko so he and Paul would just point menacingly at each other most of the time. We got all the managers in this one so ringside is certainly crowded for now. Heenan points out a sign in the crowd says Yoko-tuna. Heenan "I hate Thanksgiving, you don't get any gifts." Vince "Bobby Heenan!" Vince "You get a bunch of lousy food and relatives you don't even like, they hang around and kiss you with wet lips. Got to watch a lousy football game, nothing to do." He just described every child watching at home's Thanksgiving experiences growing up hahaha. Once you get older, you appreciate those times with family members that are no longer around but back then you're looking forward to the Burger King on the ride home and getting out of your dress clothes.....not that I would know anything about that. Heenan asks who the brains on Luger's team is as Cornette and Polo hilariously tell the camera man to buzz off in the other corner. Scott Steiner starts with Jacques and Jacques wants to shake his hand. Scott gives him the arm and the elbow then kicks Jacques in the ribs. Scott leapfrogs over Jacques and hits an overhead belly to belly suplex. Scott covers for a two count and Jacques looks around confused. Vince "And Jacques trying to find a place to hide, there is no place to hide." Rick Steiner tags in and Jacques retreats to tag in Yokozuna. Heenan asks if either Steiner could suplex Yoko and Vince isn't sure they could do it together. The crowd chants USA and Yoko shakes his head at the crowd. Yoko chops Rick down and sends him off the ropes. Rick ducks the line and hits the Steinerline. Rick hits a shoulder tackle to stun him. Rick then hits a third tackle to knock Yokozuna through the ropes to the outside. Rick caters to the crowd as Heenan points out Rick only stunned the champ, he didn't knock him out. He says only an Amtrak train could knock Yoko out but Vince points out Lex did it at Summerslam. Heenan "That's cause he's got more steel in his arm than an Amtrak train!" Back inside Yoko brings Rick to the corner and tags in Ludvig Borga. Borga punches Rick then sends him through the ropes on top of one of the cameraman as Heenan points out. Rick goes up to the top and nails Borga with a forearm smash. The cover only gets 1 and Rick puts on an arm-bar. Borga punches Rick in the ribs and Ludvig scoop slams him. He misses the elbow drop as Rick goes upstairs again. Rick jumps off the second rope and I think Borga was supposed to catch and powerslam him but instead Ludvig took a crossbody and just kinda slammed him over on his hip. Borga covers for 1....2.....3 and RICK STEINER is out 5:05 into the match. 

Rick noticeably limps out of the ring looking hurt for real as the heels celebrate. Cornette points and laughs at Rick as Jacques points at him and says "Out! OUT!" Scott gets in with Jacques taking over for Borga. Jacques locks in a headlock but is sent off into a gorilla press by Scott. Scott goes to heave him in the corner but Crush gets in and catches Jacques one handed. Jacques taunts Scott as Crush is in now.  Crush wants a test of strength as Heenan points out all four heels have been in but Luger & The Undertaker haven't tagged in yet. Crush chops Scott and drops him before going to work with right hands. Scott ducks under a line and hits his double underhook suplex. Vince says Randy Savage is back in the building as Scott drops Crush with a clothesline. He covers for 1...2...nope. Scott sends Crush off who leapfrogs over Scott and drops him with a crescent kick. All of a sudden Randy Savage makes his way to ring side with Tim White, Joey Marella, The Suit Brigade and the Smoking Gunns trying to hold him back. Like I mentioned before, I wondered why the Gunns were there but never knew they had a dark match until recently. Crush press slams Scott over the top to the floor and taunts Savage from the ring. Crush pulls Scott back in and drops him with a right hand. Crush does his kick combo and drops a leg on Scott. Heenan praises Mr. Fuji for turning Crush into a monster (which was a great heel turn) as Crush hits a jumping headbutt and then locks in a standing leg-lock. Crush drops a leg on Scott and kicks him in the leg three times. Heenan goes to explain something but Vince butts in and says Randy's coming back. Savage this time almost makes it to the ring as Heenan says to let them go. Crush says come on but gets dropkicked by Scott over the top to the outside. Crush abandons the match and attacks Randy in the aisle. Crush goes to press slam him on the guardrail but Savage punches his way out. In the confusion, CRUSH has been counted out 11:36 into the match. 

After everyone clears Savage out, Borga and Yoko pound on Steiner in the corner. Crush walks back to the ring only to be told to get lost by Hebner. Crush bitches about Randy interferring but he's been counted out. Jacques puts Steiner in a rear chin-lock with Borga holding onto the ankles. Jacques hits a flying back elbow and covers for a deuce. Jacques hits a piledriver as Heenan says that won't work. The cover gets a two as Vince asks why it won't work, Heenan responds he got dropped on his head and there's nothing in there. Steiner flips Jacques with just a shot to the ribs as Heenan points out Luger and Taker still haven't been in the ring. Scott hits another press slam on Jacques and finally tags in Luger 13 minutes into it. Lex hits a scoop slam on Jacques, goes to the second rope and drives a forearm into the chest. He covers for 1..2.....3..to eliminate QUEBECER JACQUES 14:04 into the match. Wow, that wasn't even a high impact move.

Heenan says Luger took out both Quebecers in a matter of weeks. Scott drags himself back in as Borga wants Luger now. Steiner says he'll handle Borga who's not interested, he wants Lex. Lex leaves as Borga says "Ohhh....ohhhh...chicken huh?" Borga sits on the middle rope to invite Lex in but Scott is in there. They look to have fisticuffs as Vince updates that Savage has been thrown out of the building. Heenan "How is he getting in, what is he Batman? Does he come through the rafters, is he hanging from a flag?" Borga eats a left armed clothesline and is headbutted in the corner. Borga whips him off and hits a modified Stinger Splash before hitting a devastating lariat. Borga goes upstairs but Scott stops him with a forearm. Scott then hits a superplex. Scott covers but Yoko breaks it up at two. Yokozuna stays in as Vince says there was no tag made. Yoko one arm slams Scott but misses the elbow drop. Scott gives the sign for the frankensteiner, yeah right! Scott goes for it but misses and crashes on the mat. Yoko hits the big leg drop and covers for 1....2....3 to eliminate SCOTT STEINER 16:57 into the match.

Heenan says we're down to the nitty gritty as Luger gets in. Heenan says he's not going over to sit with monkey breath as Vince hypes up this showdown as a continuation of Summerslam. Yoko and Lex slap each other but Yoko gets a kick and a chop in. Yoko goes to work on Lex and slams him as Borga waives the Japanese flag. Yoko misses a big splash and Lex rallies with right hands. Lex rocks Yoko with a clothesline but Yoko drops Luger with one of his own. Borga tags in and he continues to punch away at Luger. Borga nails Luger in the ribs as Heenan says "Taker may have died on the apron...well he's dead anyway, I don't know." Borga kicks Luger in the ribs as Heenan says Undertaker is going to start a basketball team for people 6 feet and under. Yokozuna tags in to continue the onslaught. Yokozuna nails Lex into the corner then whips him into the opposite one. Yoko misses the avalanche and Lex FINALLY makes the tag to The Undertaker. The crowd explodes as Taker rallies with chops on Yokozuna before hitting a jumping DDT. Taker chops him again and clotheslines him again. Borga hits Taker but Taker chops him down. Yoko catches Taker with a belly to belly suplex but Heenan knows Taker will sit up. Yoko drops Taker with a clothesline and drops the big leg. Vince says he thought he saw fear in the eyes of Yokozuna and Heenan confirms it. Yoko drags Taker into the corner and says no one's ever gotten up from the banzai drop. He says look what it did to Tatanka and Duggan.....d'oh! Not supposed to mention guys no longer in the company as Jim Duggan was gone at that point. Yoko hits the banzai drop but hangs onto the bottom rope to negate the pinfall attempt. Fuji wants another banzai and Yoko goes for it....but Taker sits up and Yoko misses the second one. Taker hits the flying clothesline and Yokozuna bails to the outside. Yoko rams Taker head first into the steel steps but Taker snaps his head back and shoots Yoko a glare. Yoko looks absolutely terrified as Taker rams his head into the steps. Hebner ends up counting out both UNDERTAKER and YOKOZUNA out 22:26 into the match. 

They brawl until Paul Bearer grabs Taker and pulls him off. Meanwhile Borga and Luger are the only ones left as Borga drops a leg on Lex. Borga covers for 1...2..nope. For some reason Johnny Polo, Fuji and Cornette still hang around ring side even though their men are gone. Luger walks into a sidewalk slam and Ludvig covers for 1...2...nope. Borga hits a suplex and covers arrogantly for 1....2..no. Borga sends Luger off and hits a powerslam then covers for 1...2...nope. Borga drops Luger with two clotheslines and covers arrogantly for 1...2...no. Vince says Borga's arrogance is appalling as Borga goes for another suplex. This time Lex blocks it and hits one of his own. Lex ducks under a clothesline and they clothesline each other down. Heenan asks if he hit him with the "true value" elbow but Vince says no. Polo and Cornette distract the ref as Fuji hands Borga the bucket of salt. Borga clocks Luger with it and gets rid of it. Borga covers Lex for 1.....2....no.  Luger rallies in the corner, sends Borga off the ropes and Borga sells a punch to the ribs hilariously. Lex hits a DDT on Borga then drops him with an elbow smash. He covers for a two count before Lex hits a powerslam on Ludvig. He covers for another two count before Heenan says we could be here all night. Borga sends Luger off the rope but Lex jumps over Ludvig and nails him with the loaded forearm. Lex covers for 1...2....3..to win the match. Luger is the sole survivor. Snow starts falling from the Garden rafters as Heenan says its the worst case of dandruff he's ever seen. All of a sudden Santa Claus comes to ringside and gets in with Luger to celebrate to Jingle Bells. Even Vince didn't wait to cut the turkey before catering to the Christmas season. Either way the match was designed for Lex to stand tall and set up Taker vs Yoko at the Royal Rumble and it completed its task. It was a good main event with a lot of stuff happening at once. Savage vs Crush, Lex pinning Borga, Taker and Yoko....at least it was fun to watch. The Coliseum Video exclusive has Todd with Lex putting over Santa and the holidays, yippie.


Time of match: 28:02

Survivor: Lex Luger



Its funny how there was no real historical importance to this show other than bits and pieces here and there. Razor Ramon and IRS would settle things at the Royal Rumble, Bam Bam and Doink would settle it at Wrestlemania, Marty Jannetty and the 123 Kid proved to be a good team for future purposes, the spot with Yokozuna and Taker also led to the Rumble, the genesis for Bret vs Owen in 94 happened here and Lex Luger would get his crack at Yokozuna also at Wrestlemania. This was also the last ppv appearances for Bastion Booger and Ludvig Borga as both of them missed the Rumble for different reasons I'll get to another time. The Rock N Roll Express wouldn't be back for another 4 years for the god awful NWA invasion angle while Bobby Heenan wouldn't resurface until Wrestlemania 17. In terms of match quality the opener was good, the tag match was great, the Family Feud match was good, the Doink match sucked and the main event was good. It wasn't a bad show, there just wasn't anything iconic like Taker beating Hogan, or the Demoltion/Powers of Pain double turn, the return of Mr. Perfect or the debut of The Undertaker like previous shows had. With Survivor Series out of the way, now we point our attention toward the Royal Rumble. Some of the feuds were already known at this point while others needed time to play out. They had two months to get there so let's see how things play out along the way. Since this show was actually on a Wednesday, we'll see you this coming Saturday morning for WWF Mania. See you there!

Sunday, March 29, 1987

Wrestlemania 3 (3/29/87)



Wrestlemania 3
March 29, 1987
Pontiac Silverdome
Detroit, Michigan


Commentators: Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel


Vince McMahon Jr is the greatest wrestling promoter we've ever seen in most of our lifetimes. Love him or hate him, his impacts on the world of wrestling have been felt for 40 years plus. One may say the day he hit his stride was when he launched Hulkamania with Hulk Hogan in 1984 and parlayed that into the Rock n Wrestling connection of the mid 80's....however his greatest achievement was what we're about to witness. Make no mistake, the Rock N Wrestling era from 1984-86 was a lucrative jump for professional wrestling, but Wrestlemania 3 would go on to eclipse that and make Vince McMahon and honest to goodness millionaire. Wrestlemania 3 from an in ring standpoint was not the best Wrestlemania of all time, but because of the attendance figure, the importance and from basically everything going on at the time....it certainly feels like it. Wrestlemania 2 was broadcast in 3 different locations and was considered an out and out mess despite it doing good numbers on pay per view, so Vince decided to top that. Going back to early 1987, Vince felt that to give Wrestlemania 3 the pizazz it needed, he needed to present a match that hadn't seen before on a national level. He wanted Hulk Hogan to defend his title against Andre the Giant, but the problem was twofold. First, Hulk Hogan had wrestled Andre the Giant during the early 1980's at supercards in Shea Stadium and the occasional AWA tour so it wasn't like fans hadn't seen them go at it before, but in 1987 there was no internet and videotapes weren't as common as they would eventually become, so you had to have been the hardest of hardcore fans to have remembered that. The second problem was Andre had just gotten serious back surgery to deal with his condition and he basically claimed he was finished. To solve that problem, Vince basically had to beg and plead the 40 year old giant to come back for this one match, to which he agreed. Now...because Andre and Hogan had been faces for so long, the only way to make this match work was to turn one of them heel, and Andre being the more monstrous of the two, was the perfect fit. The storyline was Hogan had beaten everyone since he had won the title 3 years earlier (think Roman Reigns) but Andre, Andre had been undefeated for 15 years (never let the truth stand in the way of a good storyline) but felt he wasn't getting the recognition he deserved. On a special episode of Piper's Pit,  Andre turned heel, challenged Hogan for the title and took on Bobby Heenan as manager. Now the main event was set, the unstoppable champion Hulk Hogan against the gigantic undefeated Andre the Giant,....tickets started selling like hotcakes and when it was all said and done, 76 thousand people crammed into the Pontiac Silverdome (the fake attendance was 93 thousand, guess they felt 70 grand wasn't enough) and resulted in a buyrate of 10.2....a figure will probably never happen again. 10 MILLION people were watching wrestling on Sunday March 29, 1987. What's forgotten about this event happens to be the undercard and the opening. Even though Andre vs Hogan was the main draw, Vince still needed an undercard to deliver. "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat may have been Vince's 2 best in ring workers in the company so it made sense to put them together for an Intercontinental Championship match, what Vince didn't expect is that match turning out to be arguably the best match of ALL TIME. Also on the card was "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's "retirement" match...yes believe it or not after being wrestling's hottest heel for 2 years, he decided to call it quits. Standing in his way was a worthy opponent "Adorable" Adrian Adonis who also was rumored to be on his way out. To add pizazz to that match, they made it a hair vs hair match...which also made way for a new top babyface which I'll get to later. The only other really famous match was King Kong Bundy and Hillbilly Jim culminating their feud with midget wrestlers, and you'll see the result of that shortly. The rest of the card include a one on one encounter between Hercules and Billy Jack Haynes, a tag match featuring former WWF Tag Team Champions The Dream Team taking on The Rougeau Brothers, another tag team match between The Can-Am Connection against former IC Champ Don Muraco and "Cowboy" Bob Orton (ironically his only wrestling appearance), a battle of music encounter featuring Jake "The Snake" Roberts with legendary rockstar Alice Cooper in his corner against The Honky Tonk Man with his manager Jimmy Hart (part of the Top 40 garage band The Gentry's in the 1960's) in his corner, The Junkyard Dog takes on former NWA legend "King" Harley Race, a tag team match between The Un-Americanz (Volkoff and Sheik) against The Killer Bees, a one on one encounter between "The Natural" Butch Reed and Koko B Ware and a match who's real backstory outweighed the storyline, The Hart Foundation (Hart, Niedhart, Davis) taking on The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana. The card was set.....the stage was set....76 grand in attendance, 10 million watching worldwide...let's get to Wrestlemania 3. Vince McMahon stands in the ring and later admitted he could feel his late father's presence as he says "WELCOME...TO WRESTLEMANIA 3!" He sends things to Aretha Franklin who sings a beautiful rendition of  "America the Beautiful". The story behind this was Aretha had gotten stuck in traffic and didn't make it in time for a soundcheck, so she performed without one...and because she's so awesome no one knew the better of it. We then go to ring announcer Howard Finkel for the first match of this epic card.


Match 1

The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk) vs "Cowboy" Bob Orton and "The Magnificient" Don Muraco (with Mr. Fuji)

Rick Martel had been a tag team wrestler for most of his WWF career leading up to the mid 80's, so when he bolted for the AWA and won his first major heavyweight championship, you would think the WWF would have had big plans for him upon his return.....yeah, ANOTHER TAG TEAM. Anyway after being Roddy Piper's henchman for 2 years, Orton finally gets to wrestle on a Wrestlemania. Zenk starts with Muraco and Muraco poses for the irate crowd. Zenk starts with a side headlock and a shoulderblock drops the Magnificent one. Muraco backs Tom in the corner and gets in a forearm. Zenk goes up and over in the corner, hits an arm drag and a scissors monkey flip for 1..2..nope. Zenk sends Muraco off and tags in Martel for the double monkey flip. Orton gets a double armdrag for his troubles when he runs in. Orton then makes the official tag in and gets in a side-headlock and shoulderblocks Zenk. Zenk recovers with a scoop slam and Orton walks into a right hand by Martel. Orton gets arm-dragged and rammed into the buckle. Zenk armdrags Orton but Bob gets a knee to the ribs and locks in a full nelson. Zenk reverses it and Muraco runs in. Orton reverses it again but Zenk moves and Muraco clocks Orton by accident. Zenk covers for a deuce tags in Martel who comes off the top on the left arm. Martel works over the left arm and tags in Zenk, but Muraco gets the blind tag. Zenk scoop slams him but Orton gets a knee to the back on the apron much to Mr. Fuji's delight. Neckbreaker by Muraco is followed by a knee drop by Orton. Bob covers for a two count and they run off the ropes into a double shoulderblock. Muraco and Martel tag in and Rick goes nuts on Muraco who Flair Flips to the apron. All four men get in and a double whip has Muraco backdropping Orton by accident. A double dropkick drops Muraco and a regular dropkick sends Orton over the top to the floor. Muraco whips Martel off the ropes and Rick goes for a crossbody. Muraco trips over Zenk and falls flat for 1...2....3 to win the match. The Can Am's win it. Good opener that woke the crowd up real quick and this indirectly led to a long, slow face turn by Muraco. We go to the replay and Monsoon enjoyed the opener.


Time of match: 5:58

Winners: The Can-Am Connection by pinfall


We cut to a video package of the events leading up to our next match. Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules are battling over who has the best full nelson, yes that is the feud. Hercules attacked Billy Jack and locks the full nelson on him before we cut to an interview. "Mean" Gene Okerlund are with Hercules and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Heenan calls him "Billy Jerk Haynes." Hercules actually thinks he's the Greek God Hercules and Billy is going to feel his wrath. Heenan again says Billy Jerk Haynes. Wow, Heenan didn't carry the interview, the hell?



Match 2

Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (with Bobby Heenan)

Billy Jack was a legend in the Pacific Northwest so leave it to Vince to not capitalize on his success out there and instead have him in a feud with Herc over who has the better Full Nelson. They go nose to nose to start and a tie up goes nowhere. Billy backs Herc in the corner and Herc hit a knee to the ribs. A kneelift drop Billy and Hercules clubs away with forearms. A charge in the corner misses and Billy chops away before hitting an overhead press-slam. Billy goes for the full nelson but Herc retreats over to Heenan. Billy chops away at Hercules and whips him into the corner, but Herc runs out of it with a clothesline. Herc stomps away at him then sends him off the ropes. Herc hits a backdrop and rams Billy Jack into the corner. Another hard whip has Billy stunned and Herc delivers a vertical suplex. Herc covers for 1...2...Herc lets up Billy. Herc says he wants the full nelson but that allows Billy to fight back. Billy goes for a suplex of his own but can't lift him because of the hurt back. Herc delivers a backbreaker and stomps away at Haynes. Herc slams Haynes over his head and calls for the full nelson. Hercules locks in the full nelson but Monsoon says the fingers aren't locked. Billy fades and revives then starts to power out of it. Herc lets go and hammers Billy then sends him off the ropes. A double clothesline has both men down then Haynes begins to rally with a right hand and inverted atomic drop. A clothesline drops Hercules and after a boot to the ropes, another clothesline puts Herc down. Billy drops a leg then hits a second rope fist drop. Billy calls for the full nelson and hits it, Monsoon says the fingers ARE locked. Hercules manages to tumble out to the floor with Haynes still holding on to the hold. Referee Dave Hebner counts both men out and calls for the bell, you gotta be kidding me. Heenan gets a knee to the back of Haynes then retreats in the ring as Fink announces the double count out. Hercules grabs the chain and waffles Billy with it. Haynes blades in plain view of the camera and Hercules clocks him again and Haynes' face is a crimson mask. Hercules clocks him right between the eyes and locks in the full nelson. Hercules leaves with his heat and who thought this was a good idea? Vince was still learning that non-finishes were unacceptable at Wrestlemania and would rarely make this mistake again. The match itself gets a bad rap. Its a big hoss fight, were you expecting Flair/Steamboat from Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules?


Time of match: 7:53

Winner: No one (Double count-out)


We cut to Mean Gene with King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook and Little Toyko. Bundy says he'll squash the two midgets along with Hillbilly Jim if he has to. Bob Uecker joins Monsoon and Ventura in the commentary booth for our next match. The heels make their entrance as we cut to Mean Gene with the babyfaces. Jim says he's worried about his partners and says he'll have their backs. Its funny how the original broadcast has the original music Dont Go Messin With A Country Boy but the Peacock version has stock banjo music despite Monsoon saying the theme title. 



Match 3

Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver and The Haiti Kid vs King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo

Why Bundy and Jim needed midgets to settle matters is beyond me, but what happened at the end made it well worth it. Bob Uecker joins in on commentary and proclaims his favorite to be Lord Littlebrook, heh. Bell's gone and Ventura says this is a different kind of match. Haiti starts with Tokyo and arm-drags him. Tokyo takes him down and they go into the midget antics. Ventura asks if Uecker can take the midgets and Uecker says his kneecaps would be re-arranged. Littlebrook and Tokyo run into each other and the face midgets row the boat. Haiti hits an atomic drop on Tokyo and tags Beaver in. Tokyo gets slapped in the face and tags out to Littlebrook. Monsoon says Littlebrook and Beaver are two of the best midgets in history, wow, now love to Low Low? Beaver kicks Bundy on the side and Bundy tags in. Beaver refuses to tag out even with Haiti Kid getting in to tell him to get out of there. Beaver goes though the legs and dropkicks Bundy for no effect. Beaver finally retreats to tag in Jim. Bundy clubs Jim in the back but Jim ducks the line. Jim drops Bundy with a clothesline and hits a big elbow drop. Jim covers with the other two piling on for 1.....2..no, Bundy throws them all off. Bundy drops Jim with a back elbow smash and a front facelock. Beaver runs in to smack Bundy to break the hold as Ventura correctly points out that if Beaver is touching Bundy, Bundy has the right to retaliate. Oh just wait, Jess. Bundy hits a splash in the corner and punches away. Beaver runs in to punch Bundy but Bundy catches him. Bundy scoop slams Little Beaver and Ventura asks if he's gonna splash hi. Bundy drops a big elbow on Beaver as the front row is visibly laughing. The bell rings as Bundy's been disqualified for attacking Little Beaver. Bundy goes for the big splash but Haiti Kid, Littlebrook and Tokyo all pull Beaver to safety. Monsoon says the other midgets don't like what Bundy did. Jim hits Bundy with a right hand as Ventura calls Bundy's partners turncoats. Jim's team is announced the winners as Jim picks up Little Beaver. Bad match but fun to see Bundy destroy Little Beaver.


Time of match: 4:07

Winners: Jim, Beaver and Kid by DQ


We cut to Mary Hart who's with Miss Elizabeth. Mary asks if Elizabeth is nervous and Randy Savage barges in and Mary tells him to buzz off. Savage tells her the interview is over and tells Elizabeth to get moving. Then we get a video package of the feud between "King" Harley Race and Junkyard Dog. Dog "This country aint never had no queen, this country aint never had no king!" Race wants the common man to bow to him but Dog refuses, hence the winner of the next match has to bow to the other. We go to "Mean" Gene Okerlund who's with Harley, Bobby Heenan and the "queen" Fabulous Moolah. Race says he's the only king, Moolah says she's there to crown the only king (Race) and Heenan trusts her to take care of the crown. Back to the booth, Bob Uecker gets excited because he's in love with Moolah and runs off to go see her. After that hilarity, Race makes his entrance. Then we cut to Gene Okerlund with JYD himself. Dog says Race has been on the throne for too long and its turn to wear it. On to the next match.


Match 4

Junkyard Dog vs "King" Harley Race (with Bobby Heenan and Fabulous Moolah)

The winner has to bow to the other, sounds dumb doesn't it? Harley Race was and always will be known as one of the toughest wrestlers the business had ever seen. He was one of the greatest wrestlers of the 60's and 70's and was greatly respected by everyone in the industry, however by 1987 he was all but washed up. I remember watching these old tapes when I was a kid and thinking he sucked, not knowing what he had accomplished many years before. He was two weeks away from turning 44 while Dog enters to Grab Them Cakes. Bell's gone and Race starts on the floor. Race gets in and they circle to start. Dog gets a right hand but Heenan instantly grabs the leg of JYD. Dog chases Heenan around the ring and inside where Race nails Dog. Dog rallies with a headbutt to drop the king but Race heaves him outside. Race kicks Dog down and goes for the diving headbutt, but Dog moves. Dog gets Race on the apron and clotheslines him back inside. Dog does a Backlund spot and Race flies backwards over the top rope to the floor. Dog scoop slams Race back inside and locks in an abdominal stretch. Race hiptosses Dog and does a diving headbutt....which Dog no-sells. Even Ventura says Race is crazy to think that would work and thought he was going to drop a knee instead. Dog whips Race who flips over the top to the floor. Heenan rolls Race back in who eats the doggie headbutts. Heenan hops on the apron and Dog chases him off. JYD turns around into the belly to belly suplex and Race covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Just like that! JYD is irate but fair is fair, he's gotta bow. Race puts the robe on and Heenan sets up a chair. JYD does a little bow but then crowned the king with a steel chair to a huge ovation. Ventura calls it a cheap shot and said if Race did it to JYD he'd have to hold Monsoon back. Dog puts on the robe much to Moolah's dismay. Many say this was a bad match, I actually dug it. If you don't expect today's standards, its easy to sit through. Dog gets the last laugh with the king.


Time of match: 2:18

Winner: Harley Race by pinfall


We go to Vince McMahon himself with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. Vince says we're an hour away and Hogan rants and raves about this is his last ride because people say he can't beat Andre. Hogan says its time to face the truth and he has to beat a 7'4 550 pound giant. Andre will have to beat all the Hulkamaniacs in the world and Andre will go down at the feet of Hulkamania in front of 90,000 people at the Silverdome. Watcha gonna do Andre when the real truth runs wild on you? Final count Man - 8, Brother - 4, Dude - 0. If you took the over, you win. We see The Rougeaus make their entrance and we cut to Mean Gene with the Dream Team (nice rhyme). Gene asks what Johnny V needs Dino Bravo out there for and Johnny doesn't even answer, he just speaks gibberish and Bravo says they're going to win. On to the match.


Match 5

The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond) vs The Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) with Johnny Valiant and Dino Bravo

Why Luscious Johnny V needed Bravo around was anyone's guess going in, but it would be revealed later. Monsoon checks out the Federettes before we start. Beefcake starts with Raymond as the bell rings. Brutus gets in a hammerlock but Raymond flips over and delivers an atomic drop. Jacques tags in and they do a double dropkick to send Beefcake flying. Valentine tags in and Raymond tags in. They do a double crossbody spot for a two count and Jacques tags in to deliver a back elbow smash. Jacques gets a near fall but misses the second rope crossbody. Valentine starts dropping elbows and scoop slams Jacques. Beefcake tags in and he covers for a two count. Brutus tags The Hammer back in and Valentine comes off the top with a forearm as Beefcake does a backbreaker. Suddenly Bobby Heenan intrudes the broadcast booth as Valentine locks in the figure four. Heenan claims he's 2 for 2 tonight and Monsoon says Hercules didn't win and Bundy lost. Valentine goes for a piledriver but Jacques sunset flips out of it then tags in Raymond. Raymond backdrops Valentine and gets in a sleeperhold. Beefcake comes off the top and axehandles Valentine by accident.  Jacques hits the coup de gras and Raymond rolls through for a pinfall, but the ref is distracted by Jacques fighting with Beefcake. Dino Bravo comes off the top with a knee on Jacques and Valentine covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Valentine, Bravo and Johnny leave Beefcake high and dry. Bravo gives Brutus the arm and the elbow and Johnny waves him off. Ventura asks what's the matter with Beefcake and Monsoon says what's wrong with the others? They didn't do a good job telling the story but basically they cut Beefcake loose for nearly costing them the match. Now Beefcake is by himself. The match itself was fine but the purpose was to put over Dino Bravo. Oh well, next.


Time of match: 4:03

Winners: The Dream Team by pinfall


We get a recap of the Roddy Piper/Adrian Adonis feud next. Piper took some time off in the summer of 86 and in his place, Adrian Adonis took over Piper's Pit, renamed it The Flower Shop and employed Bob Orton as a bodyguard. When Piper returned, he was aghast at the Flower Shop and Don Muraco gave him crap for leaving. Piper confronted Muraco and got jumped by Adonis and Orton. They hit Piper's leg with a chair. Piper then went apeshit with a baseball bat, destroying The Flower Ship and says the war has just begun. Then in a later interview, Jimmy Hart slapped him and Piper went to attack, but got jumped by Adonis. Adonis locked in Goodnight Irene to leave Piper laying again. Then during a one on match, Adonis squirted Piper in the eyes with perfume. Piper then gives a firey interview saying he's on his way out and he's not losing to someone wearing a dress. "No retreat and no surrender!" We go to a pre-recorded interview where Jimmy Hart says you spell wrestling A-D-O-N-I-S and Adrian says to call him Clipper Claude. Adrian says Piper is going to look like a baboon's behind and he's going to fall victim to Goodnight Irene.


Match 6

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs "Adorable" Adrian Adonis (with Jimmy Hart) in a Hair vs Hair match

This would be Piper's "last" match as he was going to leave for Hollywood. Adonis enters carrying hedge clippers and Jimmy Hart has a mirror. Piper walks to the ring instead of using a cart then jogs to it. Ventura says this is the last hurrah for the Hot Rod. Piper caters to the crowd to start and Dave Hebner calls for the bell. The barber sheers are at ringside and they start by trading punches in the ring. Piper had hidden his belt in the back of his tights and he whips it out to tan Adrian's hide. He grabs Jimmy Hart but Adrian clubs him from behind. Adonis whips Piper with the belt repeatedly then Flair Flips over the top and out. Piper drags Adonis back in who drags in Jimmy as well. Piper rams both their heads together and crowd explodes. Piper sends Hart into Adonis and they both go over the top to the floor. Ventura scoffs but the crowd is loving it. Back inside Piper unloads on Adonis and whips him into the corner. Jimmy goes upstairs and Piper launches him on top of Adonis. Ventura says Jimmy is taking a beating and Hart trips up Piper. Adonis rakes the back and the chest then hits a massive clothesline. Adonis punches Piper and Roddy falls to the outside. Adonis rams Piper into the timekeepers table and Hart slaps him too. Piper gets back inside and Adonis unloads with left hands. Piper says to bring it on and they trade blows in the center of the ring. Hart sprays Piper with the perfume and Adrian locks in Goodnight Irene. Piper wriggles on the ground then gets to his feet. He rams Adrian into the corner twice but it has no effect. Piper begins to fade and his arm goes down twice....but Adrian FOOLISHLY lets go thinking he's won already. All of a sudden Brutus Beefcake of all people runs to the ring and revives Piper. Adrian grabs the hedge clippers still thinking he's won and the revived Piper knocks Jimmy Hart off the apron. Adrian rushes but swings and the clippers ricochet back into his face. Piper locks in his sleeper hold and Adonis' arm drops three times, this match is over and the crowd goes berserk. Ventura says he let go of the sleeper too soon and it cost him. That wasn't a catch as catch can match, that was a FIGHT. Definitely the best match on the card so far for the intensity alone. Piper was never a great technician and Adrian was a fantastic bumper so this was the best they could do, it worked.


Time of match: 6:53

Winner: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper by submission


After Adonis is out cold, Beefcake gets in with the barber equipment. He hands the sheers to Piper and starts shaving Adrian's head with the electric shaver. Piper has his foot on Jimmy Hart to keep him from interfering. Beefcake then uses the scissors to continue to trim. They get about halfway done and Piper holds up the mirror when Adrian comes to. Adrian punches the mirror, charges Piper and falls out of the ring. I think they were supposed to shave him bald but Beefcake couldn't do it. Don't worry, this will become his new gimmick and he'll get better at it. Fink announces Piper the winner in his farewell match as a fan jumps in the ring to congratulate Piper. Piper plays it off before security gets to the kid. Blackjack Lanza and Pat Patterson escort Piper to his cart to avoid further confrontation. At least the kid was happy to see Piper, if it was an Adonis fan that could have gone a lot worse. Piper would be gone for two years so he goes out a winner. Adonis himself didn't have much longer in the company either.

We cut to Mary and Bob in the booth with Monsoon as Gorilla says Ventura wanted to be introduced in the ring. Uecker says Jesse is just jealous he's going after Moolah. We cut to the Fink in the ring who introduces Jesse who shakes hands with The Hart Foundation who's up next. Monsoon says Predator is opening on June 5th starring Jesse. The Harts are introduced but we cut to a pre-recorded interview with The Hart Foundation. Jimmy says Tito wanted a war, now he's got one and The Bulldogs are crybabies. Bret and Jim hype up Danny Davis and we go back to the ring.



Match 7

The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) and Tito Santana vs The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Jim "The Anvil" Niedhart and "Dangerous" Danny Davis) with Jimmy Hart

The backstory to this overshadows the storyline. Danny Davis was a crooked referee who screwed The Bulldogs out of the tag team titles, so after being fired as a referee, he became a full fledged wrestler. Dynamite Kid had suffered a very serious back injury and couldn't wrestle for months, so they had Davey Boy put the Foundation over (with Dynamite on the ground the whole match thanks to a sneak attack from Bret Hart, which was the scripted reason why Dynamite couldn't go). Davis apparently "screwed" both The Bulldogs and Santana, which only makes half sense because Santana lost his title in 1985 long before Davis turned heel. The Bulldogs enter and Matilda chases Jimmy Hart out of the ring as Tito Santana tracks down Niedhart outside and whips him into Bret on the floor. Ventura hasn't even gotten out of the ring yet as Davey Boy presslams Davis onto his teamates outside, legitimately injuring Bret as Davis poked him in the eye while on the way down. Gorilla has to explain to Mary why action happened before the bell as Bret legally starts off with Santana. Tito goes to town with right hands in the corner before whipping Bret into the opposite. Bret goes for a head scissors but Santana catches him and drops him clavicle first on the canvas (ouch), then the camera cuts to Ventura taking off with Matilda on the cart. Someone will have to remind me if this was the start of the whole Matilda is kidnapped angle or if its just Ventura taking her for a walk like a good Samaritan. Davey Boy and Niedhart tag in for a power vs power matchup which goes nowhere at first. Mary Hut cuts off Monsoon with a very important announcement.....she and Jimmy Hart aren't related. You see that bowl of fuck flying overhead Mary? Nobody gives, especially when Davey Boy rams Bret and Niedhart's heads together. A thin looking Dynamite (he still hasn't fully recovered and the roids hadn't kicked in yet) tags in where the Bulldogs execute a double headbutt on Jim. Santana tags in and locks in an armbar as Monsoon says Santana is the best pure wrestler in the company.....I'm sure Dynamite, Bret, Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage will disagree. Niedhart backs Tito in the corner where Bret and Davis go to work while Jim distracts the referee. Bob Uecker correctly points out that Davis is "dangerous" when he's doing illegal tactics as Niedhart whips Santana, who leapfrogs over him and tags in Davey Boy. Davey backdrops The Anvil who begs off, before jumping up and nailing Davey with an axehandle smash. Bob says he never slid into third because he barely could ever get on third, ha! Least he admits it, meanwhile Mary Hart asks if Bret and Jim work out in their pink wrestling gear...even funnier. Then again, if you see Jim Niedhart working out I double dare you to make fun of him and see what happens.....matter of fact allow me to tape what happens. Bret tags in and misses his second rope elbow drop as Dynamite tags in. Tom whips Bret sternum first into the corner and clotheslines him down, finishing with a headbutt. Uecker asks when we're gonna see Davis and Monsoon says when Bret or Jim is in trouble. Niedhart interferes and nails Dynamite allowing Bret to get up and go to work in the corner. Monsoon says Davis probably has zero wrestling skills, which is funny because in real life he had been wrestling as the masked jobber Mr. X for 5 years leading up to Wrestlemania. Monsoon calls Bret the most improved wrestler in the last few years, true. Dynamite goes for his trademark snap suplex but Niedhart delievers and axehandle to the broken back. Niedhart tags in legally and applies a chinlock before setting him up for a Demoltion Decapitator, which Bret excellently executes.....why? Dynamite is obviously still in pain following major back surgery, why is he taking all the bumps and not perfectly healthy Davey Boy and Santana? Unless he insisted to take the pounding to show what a tough guy he is (which resulted him ending up in a wheelchair many years later) this makes no sense. Anyway, Davis tags in for the first time all match and the crowd boo's. He stomps away before tagging Bret back in, pissing off the crowd who desperately wants to see him get his. Bret continues to serve right hands to Dynamite before Niedhart tags in to deliever more damage. Mary says they're going to rename Dynamite"Firecracker Kid" if he doesn't shape up, its too bad he ended up a broken match stick at the end of his career. Bret and Jim continue to work over Dynamite before Davis tags in to strut around. Davis kicks him a few times before tagging out to Bret. This is nothing more than a handicap match between The Foundation and Bulldogs/Santana but the heels cut the ring in half so they've had the edge all match. Bret tags in to deliver more boots before they slingshot Davis...right into the knees of Dynamite. Kid FINALLY makes the tag to Santana who unloads on Davis with fists much to the crowd's delight. Davis takes a weird looking backdrop as Santana knocks Bret and Jim off the apron. Santana hits the flying forearm but doesn't make the cover, instead he delivers more fists to the crooked referee. Santana goes for the figure four but Anvil saves Davis, but only temporarily because Davey Boy tags in. Davey clotheslines Danny before sending him into the boot of Dynamite. Davey boy delivers the best spot of the whole match, a tombstone piledriver where Davis' head bounces off the mat....VERY dangerous and the crowd loved it. Davey goes for the delayed suplex but Davis feet curl and Davey couldn't hold him. Davey executes the running powerslam and makes the first pinfall attempt all match for 1....2 ..nope, Niedhart saves the day. Santana runs in and catches Niedhart with the flying forearm. Bret sends Santana outside before Dynamite cuts him off. Jimmy Hart throws the megaphone to Davis who clobbers Davey with it, then covers. The ref turns around 1...2....3 and its over, Davis gets the pinfall and the crowd is LIVID. The Foundation take off as Uecker says we'll never hear the end of it. That was a good match but putting the Harts over was definitely a weird decision since the Bulldogs never got their revenge 


Time of match: 8:52

Winners: The Hart Foundation by pinfall


The Bulldogs and Tito leave dejected as Mary and Bob leave the broadcast booth. We cut to Mean Gene with Andre The Giant and Bobby Heenan. Bobby says Andre is undefeated for 15 years and Hogan has never faced a man that's bigger, taller and stronger than him with a burning desire to win more than Andre. Heenan says the clock is ticking on Hulkamania and Andre will be the new champion. We go to Fink for the next match.


Match 8

Koko B Ware (with Frankie) vs "The Natural" Butch Reed (with Slick)

Its funny how 5 years earlier Koko B Ware was the bigger HEEL than Reed was in their promotions yet now he's a face to match up against him. Jesse says this is the match Barry Blaustein was looking forward to. We cut to Jesse in the booth shilling the Wrestlemania 3 t-shirt, imagine how much that would be worth today. Gorilla asks Jesse what it was like on the floor and even Ventura was impressed being in front of this many people. Bell's gone and Reed misses a right hand to start. Koko is wearing a Michael Jackson style glove and he backs Reed into the ropes. Reed clubs away at Koko but Ware ducks under the clothesline. Koko flips over Butch and tries an O'Connor Roll but Butch blocks it. Koko dropkicks Reed over the top to the floor and Koko does a cartwheel in the ring. Back inside Koko gets in a shot to the ribs and a punch to the head. Reed begs off but Koko puts his head down. Reed clubs Koko in the back and the camera shows Frankie chillin at ringside. Butch rams Koko into the buckle but Koko whips him off the corner into a hiptoss. Koko rallies with punches and a dropkick before the cover gets a two. Koko gets in a few right hands but a rake to the face stops that. Koko catches Butch with a small package for 1...2...nope. Koko ducks the line and hits a crossbody, but Reed rolls through it and hooks the tights for 1...2...3 to win the match. Koko bitches about it and nails Reed but Slick nails Koko with the cane. Tito Santana of all people hits the ring and rips Slick's clothes off. Jesse "This is terrible, he should be fined and suspended for actions like this! Its that latin temper of his, Monsoon!" Monsoon brings up Slick hit Tito with the cane in the past. Santana and Koko hit a double dropkick to clear Butch out. A moral victory for Koko but kind of a pointless match. Once again, Vince was still learning so having a Superstars taping style crash match at Wrestlemania was still common.


Time of match: 3:40

Winner: Butch Reed by pinfall


We go to a highlight package of the following Intercontinental Championship match. The storyline was Savage had busted up Steamboat and crushed his larynx with the ringbell to show he's a mean fella. When Steamboat battled back from the injury he enlisted the help of former Savage foe George Steele to make sure Randy didn't try any funny stuff. Savage had been the champ for over a year at this point and was arguably the best IC champ at this point. We go to a pre-recorded interview with Savage himself. Savage says he's not only going to beat Steamboat, he's going to put him out of wrestling. "History beckons the Macho Man, yeah!" He wasn't kidding. During Savage's entrance, we go to Mean Gene who's with Ricky Steamboat. Gene says this could be Ricky's last shot at a title and Ricky says the day has finally come and they've reached their moment. There will only be one winner and he will scorch Savage's back before coming away with the championship. Now if you're watching the original broadcast, he comes to the ring to Eye in The Sky by Alan Parsons Project but if you're watching Peacock, the overdubbed music actually drowns out the rest of Steamboat's promo. Nevertheless, here we go.


Match 9

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (with George "The Animal" Steele) vs "Macho Man" Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

Whoever that has not heard or seen this match needs to immediately. For years this was considered the greatest match of all time and you're about to find out why. Bell's gone and a tie up goes nowhere. Savage gets in a waistlock but Steamboat reverses out of it. Savage jumps outside and pulls Elizabeth away from George Steele before going back inside. Steamboat ducks the line and catches Savage with a series of armdrags before a choke bomb. Savage bails to the outside and Steamboat chases him where Randy nails him back in the ring. Savage chokes Ricky off the top rope then snaps him back in. He covers for a two count as Ventura says Macho is the best in ring wrestler in the world while Monsoon says you can't deny his talent. Savage rakes the face in the corner but misses the charge. Steamboat gets in a wristlock and an arm ringer before snapping it off the top rope. Steamboat continues to work over the left arm but Savage whips him off and delivers a back elbow smash. Savage sends Ricky over the top to the floor and Steele looks over at him, but doesn't do anything. Ricky gets booted back to the floor but Savage pulls him to the apron to hit him in the throat with an elbow. Savage taunts the irate crowd then puts the boots to Steamboat on the apron. Randy snaps Steamboat back inside and elbows him in the head. He covers for 1...2...nope. Savage drops a knee and covers again for a near fall. Steamboat rallies in the corner with right hands and ramming Randy's head into the buckle. Steamboat chops Savage into an Andre spot. Ventura says if he was a sportsman, he'd let Savage go. Monsoon says its payback for Randy using the bell on him. Savage breaks free but eats a crossbody for a two count. Ricky hits an arm drag and shoulderblocks Randy for a two count. Another shoulderblock and cover gets a deuce but Ricky misses a charge, allowing Randy to knee him in the back. Randy goes to throw Ricky over the top rope but Steamboat skins the cat back in, only for Savage to clothesline him out of the ring anway. Steele goes to help Ricky up but referee Dave Hebner shoos him away. Randy hits a knee to the back that sends Steamboat over the barricade into the crowd. Ventura says the referee should be counting but Dave is busy yelling at Savage. Steele picks Steamboat up and carries him back over the barricade as Ventura protests. Steele throws Ricky back in and Savage throws him over the top rope to the other side of the ring. Macho goes upstairs and hits an axehandle to the floor. Ventura says Macho should break Ricky's throat again. Savage goes out and throws Ricky back in then goes upstairs. An axehandle hits Steamboat between the eyes and an elbow drops The Dragon. Savage covers for two and jumps over the top rope while snapping Ricky off of it. Savage quickly covers for a two count then delivers an atomic drop. Savage covers for 1...2..nope. Savage hits a vertical suplex and covers for a near fall. They trade blows in the center of the ring but Savage delivers a gut-wrench suplex. He covers for a two count as Ventura bitches that it was a slow count. Ricky rolls through a back suplex and chops away at Randy. Ricky puts his head down and kicked for it. Randy charges but Ricky backdrops him over the top rope. Ventura bitches that should be a disqualification and it should be noted that the only territory not to utilize the "over the top rope DQ" stip was, in fact, New York aka WWF. WCW had that rule well into the 90's as well. Elizabeth looks concerned as Ricky goes outside to ram Savage's head into the ring apron. Savage rolls inside but Ricky comes off the top with a big chop. Ricky covers for 1....2..nope, foot on the rope. Steamboat drops Savage with a back elbow but the cover gets a near fall. Ricky drops chops to the top of the head and Savage rolls to the apron. Ricky punches him off the apron as Steele looks like he's going to do something, but he doesn't. Steamboat chases Savage back inside but learned from his earlier mistake, catching Savage in the ribs with a shoulderblock. Steamboat sunset flips inside for 1...2..no. Steamboat ducks the line and rolls him up for a deuce then Ricky rolls into yet another near fall. Ventura says this is one of the best matches he's ever seen as Ricky gets an inside cradle for 1...2...nope. Steamboat scoop slams Sandy and slingshots him into the ringpost. Steamboat sunset flips him for 1...2...nope. Steamboat O'Connor Rolls Savage for two but Randy grabs the tights to reverse it for 1.....2..nope. Savage grabs the tights and sends Steamboat into the ringpost. They try to whip each other but Steamboat collides with Hebner, knocking Dave out. Steamboat drops and Savage goes up to the top. Macho hits the flying elbow drop and covers but Hebner is out much to Ventura's dismay. Macho goes out to the floor and grabs the ring bell. Steele runs up and steals the bell but is kicked off by Savage. Savage has the bell and goes up to the top but Steele shoves him off the top rope. Ventura bitches again but Savage picks up Steamboat. He goes for a scoop slam but Steamboat turns it into a small package for 1...2....THREE, WE GOT A NEW CHAMPION! Ventura says that was a miscarriage of justice but Monsoon says history has been made. The iconic image of Steamboat holding up the title with Steele raising his arm is shown. Steele puts Ricky on the cart and Ricky leaves holding up the belt. The year long reign of Macho Man is over as Ricky The Dragon is the new Intercontinental Champion in one of the best matches of the 80's. To this day people still sing the praises of this match and it lives up to its billing. Savage and Elizabeth leave dejected as Monsoon speculates that Andre could win later too.


Time of match: 14:46

Winner: Ricky Steamboat by pinfall


Back to Mean Gean who's with Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Alice Cooper. Gene brings up Honky attacking Jake in The Snake Pit with the legitimate guitar. Nowadays guitars are gimmicked to explode on impact but Honky apparently used a real acoustic guitar which didn't break when he hit Roberts with it. Roberts says Jimmy Hart planned this out because Honky didn't have the guts. Jake says Honky took his shot but failed because he's still standing. Roberts says he's going to have his way with Honky and Gene turns to Alice and asks him about Jimmy Hart. Alice says this will be Jimmy's nightmare (nice) and Detroit is his hometown. To recap the feud, Honky Tonk Man came to WWF as a babyface but was getting booed out of every building. Honky then turned heel after a vote of "no confidence" and took Jimmy Hart as his manager. Then Jake (who was also a heel) had him on The Snake Pit and Jake thought he still looked stupid, so Honky hit him with a guitar, turning Jake face. Jimmy Hart was the lead singer of The Gentrys, a 60's garage band that had the top 40 hit Keep On Dancing. To counter Jimmy, Jake enlisted the aid of Detroit rock singer Alice Cooper (who had released Constrictor the year prior) to watch his back against Jimmy. Jake & Alice enter first to a chorus of cheers and we cut to Mean Gene with Honky & Jimmy. Honky says 90,000 people want to see Honky sing and dance and denounces Alice Cooper. Honky says he's gonna take care of Jake The Snake and we cut mid-promo. On to the match.



Match 10

Jake "The Snake" Roberts (with Alice Cooper) vs The Honky Tonk Man (with Jimmy Hart)

Rock vs...Rock I guess as Roberts and Honky finally go at it after The Snake Pit incident on February 21st. Jake doesn't wait and attacks Honky on the ring apron while he's still in the Elvis jumpsuit. Jake snaps him inside and rallies with left hands. The bell rings as Jake unloads with right hands and a kneelift. Honky sheds the suit outside and Jake continues to punch him on the floor. Jake rolls Honky back inside and HTM leaves on the other side. Jake scoop slams Honky on the floor as Monsoon says Alice is good with snakes. Jake rolls Honky inside and whips him in the corner. A charge eats knee and HTM kicks away at Jake's ribs. Honky swings and misses and Jake hits the left arm clothesline. The camera picks up Damien moving inside the sack as Honky slips out of the DDT and bails to the floor. Jake catches him and punches Honky on the floor. Honky whips Jake into the ringpost and dances in the ring. Cooper helps up Jake but Honky knees him back down. Honky again nails him off the apron into the barricade. Cooper again helps Jake up and Honky pulls him inside. Honky scoop slams Jake and goes to the second rope. He hits the fistdrop and Ventura says to go for Shake, Rattle & Roll. Honky kicks at the shoulder to soften him up. Honky rallies with right hands and drops an axehandle on him. Honky hits a back elbow smash then drops another axehandle on him. Honky goes for SR&R but Jake backdrops him. Honky quickly gets up and shoulderblocks Jake into the corner but punching him. Jake hits the inverted atomic drop but Honky recovers. Jake rallies with punches and Honky begs off. Jake sends Honky off and hits a back drop. A big right hand sends Honky to the apron and he does the Harley Race rocking spot in between the ropes. Jake calls for the DDT but Hart grabs the leg from the outside. Honky rolls up Jake and holds onto the ropes for 1...2....3 to win the match. Ventura says this is a major upset as Honky wasn't seen as anything more than a sideshow at the time. Jake smashes the guitar full force against the ring post to chase Honky away. Jimmy is still in the ring as Alice Cooper and Jake has Jimmy cornered. Jake catches Jimmy with a full nelson and Alice unleashes Damien. Alice coils Damien up and taunts Hart with it. Jake and Alice throw Damien on Hart before Honky pulls Jimmy out. Ventura says Jake should have stayed out of it so we could have seen Alice and Jimmy one on one. He's got a point there. Jake and Alice get the moral victory and babyface pop but Honky wins the match. The match itself was okay but the end was the real attraction. Fans wanted to see Alice humiliate Jimmy and he did.


Time of match: 7:04

Winner: Honky Tonk Man by pinfall


We go to The Fink for a very special announcement. Gene Okerlund gets in to announce the new indoor attendance record of 93,173....which is complete BS. Apparently 78,000 people passed through the turnstiles but Vince for whatever reason decided to inflate the number. Ventura says they should add two more to the number if he and Monsoon don't count. Monsoon goes back to Howard for the next match. The Unamericanz make their entrance with Sheik wearing the groin covers. Slick actually is still wearing his torn clothes from before and Nikolai starts singing the Soviet National Anthem. Suddenly "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan hits the ring and chases the heels out of the ring. Duggan gets on the mic and says as long as he's around, Nikolai will never sing again. The Bee's make their entrance and Duggan sticks around to watch their backs.


Match 11

The Killer Bees ("Jumping" Jim Brunzell and B Brian Blair) with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs The Un-Americanz (Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik) with Slick

Nothing like a good ol fashioned transition match to calm the crowd down before the main event. Sheik & Volkoff were sold to Slick by the retired "Classy" Freddie Blassie so they're with the Slickster now. Duggan had made his WWF debut in January and having him back up the Bees was to get him exposure. The bell rings with Sheik & Volkoff attacking immediately. The heels corner the Bees and go to whip them together, but the Bees reverse it and whip the heels in the corner. Ventura asks what Duggan is doing there and Duggan marches around with the 2X4 causing Monsoon to say he's on guard duty. The Bees whip the heels into a do-se-do and the ring is full of trash from the fans throwing it at the heels earlier. Blair sends Volkoff over the top and out as Brunzell hits an atomic drop on Sheik. Blair hits a bell ringer on Sheik and tags Brunzell in for the legal tag. A double elbow is followed by Blair coming off the top with a second rope shot to the left arm. The Bees make frequent tags and a double hiptoss Sheik. Brunzell and Blair continue to work over the left arm and Brunzell hits a dropkick. He covers but Nikolai made the save. The referee clears Blair out but the heels doubleteam Brunzell. The crowd chants USA as Nikolai gets a knee to the ribs. Sheik tags in and does a double chop to the throat. He covers for a deuce and tags out to Nikolai. Brunzell ducks the line but runs right into a bearhug. A bellringer breaks the hold but Sheik tags in. Sheik delivers a gut-wrench suplex and covers for a two count. Sheik hits a vertical suplex and covers for another two count but Brunzell hits a high knee. They do the "face makes the tag but the ref doesn't see it" routine as Sheik & Volkoff hit a double back elbow smash. Nikolai goes outside to celebrate but Duggan starts chasing him. Inside the ring Sheik slaps on the camel clutch but Duggan chases Nikolai into the ring. Duggan waffles Sheik with the 2X4 and the ref calls for the bell....what a dope. Ventura and Monsoon agrees Duggan cost the Bees the match. Fink announces the heels the victors but Duggan grabs the mic and gets the crowd to chant USA. The Bees cheer him on....why? He just cost you the match. The match was pretty much designed to get Duggan over but it was good until the end.


Time of match: 5:46

Winners: The Un-Americanz by DQ


We go back to Mean Gene with Andre and Heenan. Mean Gene asks Andre his thoughts and Andre says it won't take him long to come back through the curtain with the world championship around his waist. Heenan says he can feel it! Heenan says Andre is going to make him famous by becoming the heavyweight champion. We go to the recap of how this happened including all the way back to 1984 when Andre congratulates Hogan for winning the title in 1984. Then Hogan saves Andre from King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd from a two on one attack on Saturday Night's Main Event. Then Hogan and Andre beat Bundy & Studd in another SNME match and finally we go to earlier this year when Andre & Hogan received their appreciation trophies. Ventura says he'll produce Andre and Piper will produce Hogan. Andre challenges Hogan for a title match at Wrestlemania 3 with Heenan in tow to officially turn heel. Piper asks if Hogan will give him the shot and Hogan says "YESSSSSSSSSS." Now we get one final interview with Mean Gene and Hogan. Hulk says the Silverdome is in danger from 90,000 outside as the earth is gonna shake when he beats Andre. Final count: Man -1, Brother - 1 so if you had the under, you win. Finkel announces Mary Hart the guest timekeeper and Bob Uecker the guest ring announcer. Andre is carted to the ring and gets absolutely pelted with garbage despite waiving to the crowd. Hogan walks to the ring and here we go, the biggest match in history is on.



Match 12

Andre The Giant (with Bobby Heenan) vs Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship

THIS is what drew 90,000 people to the Silverdome, THIS is what 10.2 million people paid money to see, THIS was the monster matchup of wrestling. Fans didn't know if Andre would reign supreme as an unstoppable monster or if Hogan's reign would continue. Andre vs Hogan and here we go, Bob Uecker is the guest ring announcer and Mary Hart is the guest time keeper (like it matters). Andre and Bobby enter on the cart as Andre waves to the fans only to be pelted with garbage. Monsoon and Ventura debate about Andre never receiving a title shot before. Monsoon "This is all because of the guy with the white waiter's jacket on, Bobby Heenan." Hogan enters walking (no cart) to Real American as Monsoon says Hulkamania is alive and well. Ventura states "This is the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling." He ain't kidding. As the bell rings Andre stands in the center of the ring as Hogan psyches himself up by staring at him. They motion one step toward each other as Monsoon says "The irresistible force meeting the immovable object." Andre towers over Hogan as Ventura says "What's Hogan saying to him, I wonder. What could Hogan possibly be saying to him?" In real life Hogan was terrified that Andre would shoot on him and take the belt which is why he looks scared out of his mind when the camera closes in on Hogan's face. They trade shoves before Hogan blocks a right hand before landing 3 of his own. Hogan goes for a slam but can't lift him, Andre falls on him for 1....2...THR...nope. In what would turn into an angle onto itself, Hogan kicked out at the last second but both Andre and Heenan would later claim victory because Hogan's shoulder stayed down. Andre holds up 3 fingers as Ventura says "That was CLOSE Gorilla." Hogan sells the back as Andre kicks him in it. Andre clubs Hogan in the back and tells Hulk to get up. Andre clubs Hogan in the back again as Ventura says Andre is making it look easy. Another shot to the back is followed by a kneelift. Andre scoop slams Hogan and tells him to get up. Andre scoop slams him and walks right over Hulk. Andre picks Hulk up by the tights and whips him in the corner. Andre whips him in the other corner and says "Whos your champion now?" Andre chokes him in the corner and shoulderblocks Hulk in the chest. Andre ass bumps Hogan in the corner and delivers a big headbutt. Ventura asks how much more Hogan can take as Andre headbutts the buckle when Hogan moved. Hulk rallies with right hands and a big elbow. Hogan chops Andre in the corner and rams his head in the buckle ten times. Hulk charges but eats boot in the corner. Heenan asks if Andre is alright and Andre nods his head. Andre chops Hogan and locks in a bearhug. Monsoon says he'd be shocked if Hogan submitted but Ventura counters that he's never been manhandled by someone THIS size before. Hogan fades but revives by landing right hands to break the hold. Hogan tries two shoulderblocks but Andre goes nowhere. Hogan tries for a third but runs into a big chop. Andre sends Hogan off the ropes and delivers a big boot to the bread basket that sends Hogan through the ropes to the outside. Ventura hopes the match doesn't end in a count out (imagine if that happened) as Andre chops Hogan into the ring post. Andre goes for a headbutt but misses Hogan and rams himself into the post. Hogan crawls away and tears away the mats exposing the concrete floor. Hulk goes for a piledriver but Andre hits the most painfully slow, fake backdrop ever seen in wrestling. Fabulous Moolah wouldn't have been hurt by that. Heenan distracted the referee as Ventura scoffs at Hogan's poor sportsmanship. Andre rolls Hogan back in and rolls in himself to break the count. Andre sends Hogan off but Hulk ducks under a big boot, bounces off the ropes and drops Andre with a clothesline. The crowd erupts as Hogan does a Hulk Up. Andre staggers to his feet as Hogan picks him up and body slams him. Ventura can't believe it as Hogan bounces off the ropes and hits the big leg. The cover 1......2.....THREEE as the 90,000 in attendance go crazy. Hogan is still the champ in the most important match in wrestling history. Ventura "I never thought it could be done, Gorilla!" Uecker announces Hulk the victor as Real American starts playing. Hogan lays the belt down and wants more of Andre & Heenan. Andre and Heenan get on the cart and leave with Andre pointing at Hogan. Heenan facepalms on the cart as they get pelted with garbage on the way out. A sign in the crowd says Hulkamania Lives as he poses....and poses....and poses. The camera shows Ventura and Gorilla in the booth and Ventura says he didn't think Hogan could win, but he did. Hogan gets on the cart and poses with the belt as he leaves. The match itself wasn't a mat classic but it was about the tickets sold and realism.


Time of match: 12:08

Winner: Hulk Hogan by pinfall (Still WWF Champion)


We go to the final thoughts of Monsoon and Ventura. Ventura thinks Macho Man got screwed as Monsoon signs off with a photo montage of tonight's events with Aretha Franklin singing America The Beautiful as the outro song. Wrestlemania 3 happened almost 40 years ago and is still the highest grossing pay-per-view of all time. I've already mentioned how many people it drew to the arena and how much money it made on Closed Circuit Televison and Pay-Per-View, but the aftermath was incredible. Andre was now the company's top heel and a lucrative re-match was definitely in order, so his plans to retire went by the wayside and he valiantly fought his disease for as long as he could. Speaking of retirement, Roddy Piper did in fact retire to become an actor but only one of his movies "They Live" made any sort of impact. Billy Jack Haynes, the midgets and Tom Zenk made their only ppv appearance to date (not counting Haiti Kid being in Mr T's corner the previous year) while "Cowboy" Bob Orton didn't make another ppv appearance for another 18 YEARS. The WWF had overtaken the NWA in popularity so Wrestlemania became the grand spectacle of wrestling that Starrcade had been, and many months down the road, Vince would openly challenge Starrcade with his newest creation, Survivor Series...but that's a story for another day. As for the ppv.....from an in-ring standpoint only Savage/Steamboat stands out but nearly every match had a storyline or an incident which made it memorable, including Andre/Hogan.  Its a must-see of how to make characters and guys no one in their right mind would make stars out of, and turn them into legends. How do you top a show like that? You don't, but nine days later the WWF had a special house show planned in Granby, Quebec. I'll see you there.