WrestleMania III

WrestleMania III
March 29, 1987
Pontiac Silverdome
Pontiac, Michigan

WrestleMania officially became a household name and international spectacle right here. They set an indoor attendance record of 93,173. Many have doubted that figure, and I really don’t know myself, but either way this was a sensational atmosphere and one way or another, there were a lot of people in the Silverdome on that day. It’s an event that hits on all cylinders and a lot of people argue it is the single most important show in pro wrestling history. I’m not sure about that, but if you call yourself a pro wrestling fan, then you should witness this show at least once.

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. They would be joined by Bob Uecker, Mary Hart, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan at various points in the show as well.

Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk) vs. “Magnificent” Don Muraco and “Cowboy” Bob Orton w/ Mr. Fuji
Good choice for an opener, as it got the huge crowd on their feet. Can’t argue with 4 good workers and true professionals. Martel and Zenk were the pretty boy babyfaces while Muraco and Orton were the devious heels with their devious manager Mr. Fuji. Just a fun simple tag team match which the Connection ultimately get the win with a little schoolboy trip double team move. Excellent way to open a big show like this. **3/4

Hercules w/ Bobby “The Brain Heenan” vs. Billy Jack Haynes
Before the match Gene Okerlund did an interview with Herc and Heenan. Heenan called Billy Jack Haynes, Billy Jerk Haynes. One of my favorite little verbal exchanges between Heenan and Okerlund. I do miss Heenan. The match told a nice story as this was billed as a battle of the Full Nelsons. Very nice psychology here as both guys tried to slap the full nelson on. The match ends in a double count out, but Hercules gets the last laugh by nailing Haynes with his steel chain. Haynes does a nice blade job for effect. I’ve always liked this match, as both guys worked hard to sell the story. **1/2

6 Man Mixed Tag Team Match with midgets
King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook, and Little Tokyo vs. Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid, and Little Beaver
I don’t find midget matches at all entertaining. I suppose that they have some fan base that has been carved out for them, but it has never been my cup of tea. This match was ok in the sense that they were telling a nice story about how midgets should not under any circumstances be in the ring with giants like Bundy or Hillbilly. That’s how the match ends, as King Kong Bundy ends up getting his team disqualified because he squashes Little Beaver, which is entertaining in a sick way. Ventura’s commentary also sells the sick comedy of it too. ½*

Crown Match
“King” Harley Race w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Fabulous Moolah vs. Junkyard Dog
JYD at this point in his career had definitely seen better days, but he was still insanely over. Harley is one of the best workers of all time. This match basically consisted of Race taking a bunch of insane bumps in a futile effort to get a good match out of the JYD. Race would win with a belly to belly suplex. The stipulation of the match was that the loser must bow to the king. JYD obliges and bows, and then nails Race with a chair. Not a very good match, but it was entertaining for what it was. *1/4 for Harley’s efforts here.

Dream Team (Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) w/ Johnny Valient and Dino Bravo vs. Rougeau Brothers (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau)
Strange booking here as this was the payoff for Beefcake and Valentine breaking up as a team and Beefcake turning face, but they end up winning the match. It was a decent little match, but wasn’t given much time. As expected, Valentine and company turn on Beefcake and Beefcake would turn baby face for the remainder of his time with the WWE. *3/4

Hair vs. Hair Match
Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. “Adorable” Adrian Adonis w/ “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart
This was a super white hot feud and the crowd was absolutely totally into. This was also Roddy Piper’s “last” match as he would go into retirement for a couple years. It really wasn’t his last match as he would return, but the 90,000 in the Silverdome didn’t know that. This is just a really super fun match. Not great, or even good from a technical standpoint, but for sheer entertainment value alone it is excellent. Piper puts Adonis to sleep, and Brutus Beefcake comes out and creates his barber gimmick here by getting revenge on Adonis by cutting his hair. ***

6 Man Tag Team Match
Hart Foundation (Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) and “Dangerous” Danny Davis w/ Jimmy Hart vs. British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) and Tito Santana
*Rated #47 on my Top 50 WrestleMania Matches of all time*
This match came about mainly through Danny Davis. This was the first “evil referee” storyline. Davis screwed over Tito Santana in his match vs. Randy Savage a little over a year before this match and cost Tito the IC Title. A year later, he screwed the Bulldogs out of their Tag Titles vs. the Hart Foundation. You can tell that the crowd was very anxious to see Davis get a major ass kicking here, and he does. He takes a tombstone piledriver by Davey Boy and sells it like its death. This is an action-packed 6 man tag that I’m very fond of. The match ends when Davey Boy gets blasted by the megaphone and Davis getting the fluke pin. ***1/2

“The Natural” Butch Reed w/ Slick vs. Koko B. Ware
This was pretty much filler for the card and nicely placed on the card to bring the crowd down a little bit before some big matches to close the show. Reed was clearly going to go over here, and apparently Slick had some feud going on with Tito Santana. So after Reed won, Santana came out and beat up on Slick. Not much more to add here. *

WWE IC Championship
“Macho Man” Randy Savage (champion) w/ Miss Elizabeth vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat w/ George “The Animal” Steele
*Rated #4 on my Top 50 WrestleMania Matches of all time*
This match is universally loved and rightfully so. It might have been the most influential match of the 1980’s when you hear how much it is revered by the likes of Chris Jericho today. It’s a picture perfect match. Non-stop action from bell to bell. Two of the best of all time going at it for almost 15 minutes, not stopping for a moment. False finish after false finish until Steamboat reverses a slam into an inside cradle for the thrilling 3 count and title win. Add to that the picture of agony as Savage and Elizabeth ride away on the ring cart with Savage’s head buried in his arms in disbelief. A lot of people have rated this the greatest match of all time, and many more have rated it the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. I can’t argue. It is as close to a perfect match as you can come to. *****


Jake “The Snake” Roberts w/ Alice Cooper vs. Honky Tonk Man w/ “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart
I feel bad for anyone that has to follow that last match up, but if anyone can, it is two great pro’s like these two. A very simple storyline here. Honky blasted Jake with his guitar, and Jake wants revenge. Doesn’t get much simpler than that. Fun little match here as once again, the crowd is totally into it. The match ends with Honky cheating to win with his hand on the ropes. But you can’t send the fans home like that so Jimmy Hart gets the Damian snake treatment and the crowd is thrilled. Not a great match, but again, it told a story, it served its purpose. **

Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and “Jumping” Jim Brunzell) w/ “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff w/ Slick
I always get a kick out of “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan interrupting Volkoff’s singing of the Soviet national anthem because this is the land of the FREE. Just funny. This was another filler match to bring the crowd down a notch before the big main event. Decent match though as it is another quick standard formula tag match. The match ends when Iron Sheik has Blair in the camel clutch and Duggan comes in and nails him with his 2x4. Always one of my favorite spots, but here it gets the Bees disqualified. **

Main Event
WWE Championship
Hulk Hogan (champion) vs. Andre the Giant w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
This is the true meaning of main event. It is arguably the biggest match of all time. I wouldn’t argue with anyone that wanted to say that. Is the match a technical masterpiece like Steamboat-Savage? Absolutely not. But listen to the crowd when Hogan slams Andre. That’s what pro wrestling is about. That is the ultimate payoff. Not much more I can say here other than it’s a must see match on a must see show. **1/4

Final Analysis: As I said, this is a must-see show by any wrestling fan. There have been better shows and better WrestleMania’s in my opinion, but I’m hard pressed to find more important WrestleMania’s. The wrestling is brutal at times, but the storytelling is superb almost across the board. It’s a well booked show too as it blew off major storylines, and became the genesis of other storylines for the future, which is exactly what you want out of a super show like this. This gets my highest recommendation.