Welcome to the latest edition of our WrestleMania Rewind series, written by yours truly, exclusively for everyone here at SLTD Wrestling. The aim of WrestleMania Rewind is to review every WrestleMania in roughly 2,000 words. Click here to read the series so far.
WrestleMania 3 came from the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan, where (depending on whether you believe them or not) the WWF drew their largest ever crowd, claiming that 93,173 fans packed into the Silverdome on March 29, 1987. Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura took care of commentating duties, as they did for most of the early ‘Manias, leaving Howard Finkel to handle ring announcing and Mean Gene to deal with most backstage interviews.
Let’s get cracking!
Match 1: Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel & Tom Zenk) vs Don Muraco & Cowboy Bob Orton (w/Mr Fuji)
Muraco looks massive. There’s a couple of double-team moves from the Can-Am Connection early and, aside from a couple of flurries from Muraco/Orton, the babyfaces dominate and pick up the win thanks to a crossbody from Martel on Muraco.
Opinion: A decent little tag-match to open the show. There wasn’t a lot of offense from the heels though. A bit of competitiveness is a good thing!
Match 2: Billy-Jack Haynes vs Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan)
Never heard of this Haynes chap, and I’m guessing that most of you haven’t either, but I’m familiar with Herc’s work.
Decent heat on Herc and Heenan. It starts fairly evenly until Haynes hits a press slam. Herc rocks Haynes with a thunderous clothesline to gain control. He works Haynes’ back. Haynes comes back with an atomic drop, clotheslines and leg drops, and locks in a Full Nelson but they fall outside. Haynes keeps the Full Nelson locked in and there’s a double count-out finish.
Opinion: A decent match again. Herc’s a big lad, but he’s pretty agile for his size. I don’t know who Haynes was/is, and he did nothing to make me want to search him out after watching this.
Match 3: King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook vs Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver & Haiti Kid
Dear oh dear, how the mighty have fallen. Bundy main-evented WM2 and he’s now in a 6-person tag with midgets.
It’s a comedy filler match that ends in a DQ win for Hillbilly Jim’s team, thanks to Bundy splashing one of the little people.
Opinion: It was there to fill time. There’s not a lot else to say really.
Match 4: Harley Race (w/Moolah & Bobby Heenan) vs Junkyard Dog
Decent heat on Race and, as ever, JYD was ridiculously over. Dog gets the best of it early, but pretty soon after, Heenan distracts him and Race gets the win off a belly-to-belly suplex.
Opinion: Given how great Harley Race and JYD were, it’s a shame this didn’t last longer because I think it could’ve been even better. Good stuff from 2 guys who were extremely over.
Match 5: The Rougeau Brothers vs The Dream Team (Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake, w/Johnny Valiant & Dino Bravo)
Good babyface fire from the Rougeau’s early on until Valentine gets control for his team. Jacques Rougeau gets to the ropes to break a figure-four. Tag to Raymond, who locks in a sleeper on Valentine. There’s a miscommunication and Brutus comes off the top rope, hitting Valentine by mistake. The Rougeaus hit a double-team move, but after a ref distraction, Bravo comes off the top rope and nails Raymond, allowing Valentine to pick up the win for his team.
Opinion: This was the first time I’d seen the Rougeaus working babyface and they did well, especially early on. The numbers game caught up with them though, and the Dream Team looked strong.
Match 6: Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Rowdy Roddy Piper
Yes folks, the creepy manchild/bad drag act is back. For the third ‘Mania in a row, Piper’s over like crazy. He gets the biggest pop of the night.
Piper whips the crowd into a frenzy early, using Jimmy Hart as part of his offence until Adonis controls things. Adonis locks in a sleeper, but Piper’s arm doesn’t drop for a third time. Beefcake comes out and revives Piper, who wins with a sleeper of his own.
Opinion: After this match, Piper was off to Hollywood and he got a tremendous send-off. Literally a standing ovation. It’s just a shame that it wasn’t a more meaningful match.
Match 7: Hart Foundation & Danny Davis vs The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana
The Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation are so crisp. There’s no wasted motion. It settles down to Bret and Dynamite Kid, who’s isolated by the heels. There’s a hot-tag to Tito, who unloads on Davis, but Anvil cuts him off. Davey Boy gets the tag and the faces isolate Davis, who gets suplexed and powerslammed for his troubles. There’s a melee and Davis gets the win courtesy of a megaphone shot to Davey Boy.
Opinion: I love watching the Bulldogs. I’d forgotten how good they were. 5 of the 6 men are tremendous workers. And then there’s Danny Davis. Sigh… Forgetting him, this was a really fun match.
Match 8: Butch Reed (w/Slick) vs Koko B Ware
They jockey early. Reed uses his power to get the advantage and Koko uses his speed to make a comeback. Reed rolls through a crossbody and uses a handful of tights to get the win.
Opinion: Another quick, but fun match. Completely harmless.
Match 9: WWF Intercontinental Championship Match – Randy Savage (c) vs Ricky Steamboat
I’m not even going to try to describe this match. If you call yourself a wrestling fan, you’ll know about this majestic bout. A wrestling masterpiece created by 2 of the best ever. Do yourselves a favour. Go and find this match on YouTube (other video streaming sites are available) and remind yourselves about just how good this match was. The best in Mania history? There are better qualified people than me to answer that, but it’s definitely up there.
Match 10: Jake Roberts (w/Alice Cooper) vs Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart)
Jake peppers Honky Tonk with lefts from the get-go, both in and out of the ring. Honky Tonk tries to slow the pace, but can’t until Jake crashes and burns at ringside. Honky controls things. Jake makes a comeback and it looks like he’s going to win, but Jimmy Hart distracts him and Honky Tonk rolls Jake up, using the ropes to win.
Opinion: I always enjoy watching Honky Tonk Man, especially cos his theme music is epic – “I got long sideburns and my hair slicked back, I’m comin’ to your town in ma’ pink Cadillac cos I’m the Honky Tonk Man (He’s the Honky Tonk Man), I’m the Honky Tonk Man (He’s the Honky Tonk Man), I’m the Honky Tonk Man, I’m cool…I’m cocky…I’m bad”. Bet that’s stuck in your head for the rest of the day now! The match was pretty good and the finish made sense. It didn’t hurt either man.
Match 11: Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (w/Slick) vs Killer Bees (w/Hacksaw Jim Duggan)
It kicks off with a brawl until the Sheik’s isolated by the Bees. Volkoff then gets control for his team and isolates Brunzell. Sheikie baby has Brunzell in the Camel Clutch, but Duggan wallops him with his 2-by-4 to earn the heels a win via DQ.
Opinion: This was probably the best-placed match on the card. WWE needed to build up the crowd for the main-event and this did the job. It was quick, but good stuff.
Match 12: WWF Championship Match – Hulk Hogan (c) vs Andre The Giant
There’s huge heat on Andre and the place comes unglued for Hogan. This is where Monsoon coined his immortal “the irresistible force meeting the immovable object” line.
Hogan tries to slam Andre early, but he collapses under his weight and Andre gets a 2-count. Andre utterly dominates. So much so that Hogan even tries selling it! Hogan eventually knocks Andre down with a clothesline, slams him, hits the legdrop and gets the 3-count.
Opinion: It’s one of the most recognisable matches in wrestling history and for good reason. A technical masterpiece it was not, but it told the classic David vs Goliath story really well. It was enjoyable for what it was.
Summary: What a difference between this and WM2. Honestly, it’s like chalk and cheese. This was the second year in a row where we got 12 matches at WrestleMania. There was something for everyone on the card, and everyone got something to make them happy. Obviously the highlight was the Savage/Steamboat encounter, but the 6-man tag involving the Harts and the Bulldogs was good too, if not excellent.
One thing I’ve noticed when reviewing these 80s PPVs is that you see a lot of guys using what we’d call “normal” moves as their finishers – back/side suplexes, sleeper holds etc. Because we’ve been conditioned over the years to view these moves as just “the norm”, it comes as a surprise when a match ends as a result of one – like Harley Race vs JYD here. It makes the matches more unpredictable because you’re not waiting for a guy to get motoring towards hitting his finisher. Just an observation…
WrestleMania 3 was the first time where we got a glimpse of what WrestleMania could be, and what it’s since turned into. This was the first time I’d seen it from start-to-finish in one sitting, and I came away having really enjoyed the show, which was a massive surprise to me.
Hopefully you enjoyed that quick look back at WrestleMania 3. Leave your comments/feedback via the usual channels, and join me again tomorrow to revisit WrestleMania 4!
SLTD Wrestling's resident Scottish Nightmare. Some of my content may not be suitable for younger readers or those who are easily offended!
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