WrestleMania 30 for 30 – Part One

This week, the WWE published a new coffee table book titled the “30 Years of WrestleMania.” In honor of these thirty supercards, over the next few weeks, I will be looking back at thirty moments that shaped WrestleMania and WWE history.

WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA

“What Woodstock was to rock and roll, WrestleMania is to wrestling.” It was a simple quote spoken by Jesse Ventura during the first WrestleMania telecast. However, the point was clear. WrestleMania IS the Super Bowl, World Series, and Academy Awards combined for the wrestling industry. When he first spoke those words, it seemed like nothing more than hyperbole. However, thirty WrestleManias later, and that quote still holds true. The inaugural WrestleMania was filled with memorable moments. From King Kong Bundy beating SD Jones in nine seconds, to the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff capturing the WWF World Tag Team titles. From Andre the Giant bodyslamming “Big” John Studd to Wendi Richter regaining the WWF Women’s championship. Finally, there was Mr.T and Hulk Hogan defeating Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. As memorable as these moments were, to me, that small quote from Jesse Ventura stands out the most. WrestleMania is an institution in the world of professional wrestling. An institution that “The Body” correctly compared to the biggest musical festival in the history of that industry.

2
3 Venues, 1 Night
In the history of WrestleMania, the second installment is viewed as one of the weaker WrestleManias. Hulk Hogan beat King Kong Bundy in the first WrestleMania steel cage match. Andre the Giant won the battle royal that featured several NFL players in the match. The British Bulldogs finally captured the WWF World Tag Team championships from Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake. Mr. T beat Roddy Piper in a boxing match by disqualification in a bout that heard the crowd turn on Mr. T and start cheering the evil “Rowdy” one. However, I will remember this WrestleMania for two WrestleMania firsts and lasts. This was the first WrestleMania that aired on a Monday, and second this show was held in three different venues. They started the night at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY. After the Piper vs. T match, they moved the event to the Chicago Rosemont Horizon. Following the British Bulldogs title victory, the WWF concluded WrestleMania 2 by bringing the final third of the card from the Los Angeles Sports Arena. I understand the reasoning behind the WWF trying host the event from three different arenas. Starrcade was the biggest event of the year for the National Wrestling Alliance. For the past couple of years during this time, Jim Crockett Promotions was holding their premier event in two locations. They aired one part of the show in North Carolina, and the other part in Atlanta’s Omni. Beside trying to sell out three buildings, the WWF would get triple the money for the show, and also one up the NWA by holding the show in more venues than the NWA did for Starrcade. It wasn’t just about money. It was also about ego. Whatever the true reason, the three venue idea appeared to be a failure, as the WWF/E never tried it again.

III
WrestleMania III gave us the first truly great match in the supercard’s history. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat still holds up as one of WrestleMania’s best matches. However, while Savage/Steamboat drew the rave reviews, it was Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant that drew the house. Was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant a great match? Hardly. It wasn’t even a good match. However, the Hogan vs. Andre match provided us with the first WrestleMania moment in the company’s history. That moment was when Hulk Hogan slammed Andre the Giant. The video clip of Hogan bodyslamming the Giant is so iconic that it can still be seen in highlights during WWE programming today. Not only is it the first “WrestleMania moment,” but it can be argued that it’s the greatest moment in the company’s history.

IV
Randy Savage wins the title
WrestleMania IV was promoted as the crowning of a new WWF World champion. On the first Friday in February, the WWF presented a live national television event called The Main Event. The top match on the show was a WrestleMania III rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. On this night, Andre defeated Hogan for the title due to a three count when the Hulkster had his shoulder up before the three count. That count was delivered by Dave Hebner’s evil twin Earl. After Andre surrendered the title to Ted Dibiase moments later, WWF President Jack Tunney announced a sixteen man title tournament for WrestleMania IV. At the time, and for many years later, Randy Savage was my all-time favorite wrestler. For me, Randy Savage capturing the WWF belt was THE moment of WrestleMania IV. Nothing else even comes close.

V
MegaPowers explode
The day after WrestleMania IV, I read in the NY Daily News that the main event at the following year’s WrestleMania would be Randy Savage defending the WWF title against Hulk Hogan. What made Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage such a great feud was that the WWF really created a fantastic storyline with a slow year-long build. Due to the slow burn, by the time WrestleMania V took place, the fans were salivating over seeing the MegaPowers explode. The match did not disappoint. Was it Savage-Steamboat? No, but the Hogan-Savage match was arguably the second best WrestleMania match during the first five years of the supercard.

VI

Hogan passes the torch

WrestleMaina VI featured a very rare match for the WWF during their first twenty-seven years. The WWF hardly ever featured a babyface vs. babyface match on their cards. At WrestleMania VI, the WWF featured the biggest babyface vs, babyface match in the company’s history up until that point. The WWF pitted the WWF World champion Hulk Hogan against the WWF Intercontinental champion the Ultimate Warrior in a title vs. title match. The Ultimate Warrior was supposed to be the heir apparent to Hulk Hogan. The match was probably the best bout of the Ultimate Warrior’s career by 1990. Unfortunately, whether by design or as a spontaneous moment, Hulk Hogan went back into the ring following his loss to the Ultimate Warrior to hand him the belt. While this small act seemed like nothing at the time, in hind sight it may have been much more. Hogan handing the belt to the Warrior took most of the focus off of the Ultimate Warrior, and made people focus on Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster believes this act helped sabotage the Ultimate Warrior’s title reign. That makes Hogan vs. Warrior even more iconic than it already was.

VII
Savage and Elizabeth reunite
In 1985, when the WWF signed Randy Savage, they brought in the “Macho Man’s” real life wife to be his manager. The pairing of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth was pure magic right from the beginning. The couple was like nothing ever seen before in wrestling. Normally when a heel brings on a female valet, the woman is a rulebreaking bitch, just like her man. However, the Miss Elizabeth character was different. She was class personified. The couple truly was Beauty and the Beast. Miss Elizabeth always stood by her man, regardless of how dastardly Savage acted. However, after Savage turned on Hulk Hogan due to the Hulkster apparently having “lust for Elizabeth,” Miss Elizabeth started to distance herself from Savage. At WrestleMania VII, Randy Savage lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior. Following the match, Sensational Sherri turned on Randy Savage. Before she could inflict any real damage to the “Macho Man,” Miss Elizabeth, who was in the stands, ran to the ring, and attacked Sherri. Afterwards, Elizabeth and Savage embraced, and the fans finally saw the real life couple become a couple in the world of the WWF.

VIII
Shawn Michaels singles debut at WrestleMania

Shawn Michaels is known as Mr. WrestleMania. Before he was the standard bearer of WrestleMania matches, Shawn Michaels was one half of the Rockers tag team with Marty Jannety. A few months before WrestleMania VIII, Shawn Michaels superkicked Marty, and then threw him through a plate glass window on the set of the “Barber Shop.” It was one of the greatest turns in the company’s history. Shawn breaking away from the Rockers was the beginning of what turned out to be a Hall of Fame career. At WrestleMania VIII, Michaels fought long time WWF star Tito Santana. While the match wasn’t on par of what would become a staple of future WrestleManias, a four plus star match, Shawn’s first singles match at WrestleMania was a solid match. His road to being a singles star was about to begin, and WrestleMania VIII was the start of it.

IX
Jim Ross debuts
When you think of legendary announcers, the first two names that you think of are Gordie Solie and Jim Ross. By the time Jim Ross signed with the WWF, JR was already widely considered the best in the business. Once he joined the WWF, Ross went from being a great announcer to being a legendary one. His first show for the company was at WrestleMania IX. While the show was one of the lower level WrestleManias, the ninth WrestleMania was important due to Jim Ross’s debut. When you look at the signings that the WWE inked in the mid-nineties, it can be argued that the signing of Jim Ross was the second most important signing of the decade next to Steve Austin. Besides being the lead announcer for the WWF, Jim Ross later became the architect of the Attitude Era as he became the Head of Talent Relations during that time. Part of his responsibilities including signing the talent that would help the WWF over take WCW during the Monday Night Wars. Who knew how important Jim Ross would become to the WWF when he showed up at WrestleMania IX in a toga?

TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING

Bret vs. Owen. The Ladder Match. Bret vs. Owen. The Ladder Match. This is a tough choice. WrestleMania X was the first WrestleMania that I attended in person. I had second row opposite the hard camera right where the wrestlers came out to the ring. WrestleMania X was one of the greatest shows that I ever attended. There were two matches that were near five star affairs. The show opened with the greatest opening contest in WrestleMania history. Later, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon delivered a fantastic performance in the Intercontinental championship ladder match. Both matches were so great that its hard to pick one great moment between the two. I am going to go with the Ladder Match because it was extremely innovative, and paved the way for other matches, like the TLC contests, and the Money in the Bank wars. Man, was this a great show.