WrestleMania VI Review

WrestleMania 38 is now 29 days away and I decided as a hype for the event why not review every WrestleMania to date. Next up is WrestleMania IV (4) which was held in the Boardwalk Hall (Or Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino as it was commonly referred to during the event) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. By the way Donald Trump is in attendance and we get a camera shot of him and his then wife Ivana many times throughout this pay per view. Fun Fact: This was the first time that the WWE Title was labeled as vacated since 1963. first time the WWE Title had been (officially) vacated since Buddy Rogers first won it in 1963.

Who Commentated the event?
Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

Bob Uecker also commentated part of the event but was mainly backstage giving interviews. Most famous was the Andre the Giant one where he was choking him at one point.

Match #1 – 20 Man Battle Royal
This is a 20 Man over the top battle royal. Participants of this battle royal are
1. Hillbilly Jim
2. Jim Brunzell
3. George Steele
4. Brian Blair 
5. Bad News Brown
6. Boris Zhukov
7.  Raymond Rougeau
8. Jacques Rougeau
9. Junkyard Dog
10. Danny Davis
11. Paul Roma
12. Bret Hart
13. Jim Neidhart 
14. Ken Patera
15. Jim Powers
16. Nikolai Volkoff
17. Sam Houston
18. Ron Bass
19. Sika
20. Harley Race

So the winner of this battle royal gets a gigantic trophy. This is a normal battle royal where many are just thrown in because they don’t have anything to do at WrestleMania. Especially as this event was just a tournament for the title. It has been a common thing that they also did in the 80’s as this match felt similar to what a modern day Andre The Giant memorial battle royal would look like. I am going to fast forward this to the final 4 as it was Paul Roma, Bret Hart, Bad News Brown and Junkyard Dog. Bret and Bad News Brown would team up and eliminate both Junkyard Dog and Paul Roma. So it was Bret Hart and Bad News Brown both heels. I love how commentary was saying that both could split the prize money and out of nowhere Bad News Brown hits his finisher called the “Ghetto Blaster” (Most commonly known as the Enzuigiri) and eliminated Brett winning the Battle Royal in 9:44. An Angry Bret Hart would then destroy the trophy as a result of Bad News Brown betrayal.

By the way this is George the Animal Steele’s final WWE match as he would be diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease before WrestleMania which is why he was mainly outside the ring in this match and never really got in the ring. That diagnosis which pretty much ended his career.

Overall this battle royal was simple and I don’t have any complaints about.

My 5 Star Rating: (2/5)

Background of the Tournament Existence:
Now I want to clear up the whole storyline to why there is a tournament for the title. So there was a rematch between Hulk Hogan and Andre for the title and Virgil (Ted Dibiase’s Bodyguard) got involved and then Andre took advantage pinned him and ref counted to three when Hogan’s shoulder’s clearly were not on the floor thus Andre wins the match and title. Then apparently another ref who was a twin wasn’t supposed to be the ref of the match. Dibiase payed of the ref and what Dibiase did was buy the championship from Andre the Giant. As a result then President Jack Tunney vacated the title and set a tournament at WrestleMania IV. I love that Tunney gave a bye to Hogan and Andre from the first round as both were in the controversial match and had a reason to gain claim to the title.

Match #2 Ted DiBiase w/Virgil and André the Giant vs Jim Duggan

Now we enter the 1st round of the tournament starting with this matchup and start with Ted Dibiase vs Jim Duggan. By the way I will get this out of the way now I love that Ted Dibiase has Andre with him as a bodyguard for this entire event. I just think the visual of him here looks awesome. Duggan when he entered the ring was super over by the crowd and they cheered for him.

So the match begins and Duggan immedietly takes over in the corner. Duggan hits an atomic drop and Ted Dibiase sells well for him. Bibiase they regroups but Duggan immediately takes over hits a few clotheslines and punches him in the corner. But Dibiase finally gets offense in this matchup. So Duggan tries to do a sloppy sunset flip to pin him and it was not meant to be. So finish of the match Duggan tries to finish him with the 3 point stance clothesline but Andre grabs his feet and Dibiase hits this knee strike that looked sloppy. Dibiase wins in 5:02.

This was not a great match here but I don’t have really bad things to say about it except for some of the sloppy moves. It was predictable that Dibiase was not going to get eliminated in the 1st round of this tournament. I do wish the finish was a little cleaner or that Dibiase pinned him using the tites but that is a nitpick.

My 5 Star Rating: (2/5)

Match #3 Don Muraco w/Superstar Billy Graham vs Dino Bravo w/Frenchy Martin)

So we get to this match in the ring for the next match in the tournament. I wanted to mention this but they called Don Muraco nickname as “The Rock” which is a name made more famous by Dwayne Johnson. Anyways the match starts and already we get many botches from the crew here. Don Muraco botches a Vader Bomb and arm drag on Dino. So Dino fights back hitting a gutwrench supex, and a piledriver on Muraco. So both men go down with a double clothesline. End of the match Muraco hits a running forearm on Bravo and tries to do it again but Dino Bravo decides to pull the ref into the running forearm. So Bravo hits his side slam finisher pins Muraco and Bravo thinks he wins but the Ref disqualifies Dino for pulling the ref into the move. So Muraco wins 4:53. This was not a good match at all. Too many botches from Muraco and Bravo was not the best as well in this match. The ending was alright and was the only saving thing for this match.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #4 Greg Valentine w/Jimmy Hart vs Ricky Steamboat

Next up in the tournament there is this match. Greg Valentine has no entrance but Ricky Steamboat entrance is cool because he has his baby son that he carries to the ring. Which is a cool moment for Ricky to have. So Ricky Steamboat gives the baby to his wife so the match can start

So the match starts off with a criss-cross spot which I am always not a fan of in the beginning of the match. But Steamboat hits a few armbars and chops to Valentine. Steamboat is fantastic every time I see him hit an arm drag. Ricky has plenty of offense on Valentine and he counters by trying to throw him out of the ring. Steamboat skins the cat and attempts a surprise pin which doesn’t get the three. Steamboat and Valentine have a great back and forth battle with chops. So end of the match Valentine tries a Figure Four but did not lock in so Steamboat tries a flying crossbody and it gets reversed into a piin by Valentine who grabbed the tights winning the match in 9:12. I thought this match was pretty good. great Physicality by both Valentine and Steamboat and I love the way this match ended as it was a great surprise. Great work by both men.

My 5 Star Rating: (3.5/5)

So we get this weird promo from the Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware where they are all petting Matilda calling here a weasel dog and they talk about going Weasel hunting because there facing against Bobby Heenan and the Islanders later tonight. It was just strange promo.

Match #5 Randy Savage w/Miss Elizabeth defeated Butch Reed w/Slick)

So Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth come into the ring wearing the color blue (They change attire many times in this matchup which is really Cool). So the Match begins and I am going to say this now but Butch Reed was awful in this match. He utilizes a lot of power against savage in this match and botches a back elbow. Reed taunts the crowd and he even keeps taunting Elizabeth the whole match. So at the end of the match Savage slams him to the mat from the top rope and his his flying elbow drop for the pin. This was a terrible match up, a throwaway one too, and a waste of 5 minutes.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #6 One Man Gang w/Slick vs Bam Bam Bigelow w/Oliver Humperdink

I am not going to go long here as this was a quick 3 minute match. So the match starts woth One Man Gang jumping Bam Bam before the match but misses a charge to the corner. Bam Bam then hits a cartwheel and there is a reason why Bam bam Bigelow is one of the most underrated wrestlers in history. The moves this man can do with his size are extremely impressive. So the end of the match happens when he goes to bounce off of the ropes for the move and Slick pulls the top rope with the Ref staring at him. While watchng I was like Uhhhh ref you going to call DQ?. He clearly saw what Slick did and there is no DQ or ejection of a manager. So they fight on the outside and One Man Gang is able to get in the ring but Bigelow gets counted out in the strnagest way ever. One Man Gang wins and this was a terrible match.

My 5 Star Rating: (0.5/5)

Match #7 Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude w/Bobby Heenan

When I first saw the brackets this was a Match in the 1st round that I was very excited to see. Especially as Jake the Snake Roberts is one of my favorites of all time and Rick Rude is a fantastic wrestler plus ha an awesome gimmick as well. They did not dissapoint and I love the tights that Rick Rude is wearing in this match

So the match starts and Jake Roberts is super over with the crowd as they chant DDT. So both fight back and forth and Rude has a scared bump as he is tossed by the corner were the Snake is. So Jake works on him in this match and tries for a DDT but Rick Rude escapes. Rude then takes control and he just stalls with a long headlock. So Then Jake comes back and tries again for the DDT but it does not work as he is rammed to the corner. Back and forth moves between the tw andd Rude hits a suplex where Jake took a scarry bump and I legit thought he broke his neck as he landed ackwardly. Luckily he is okay and the Finish of the match is here as both goes down and Rude tries to pin with his feet on the ropes and well they both did not win as they lost due to a Time Limit Draw. I thought this match was pretty good but I would have loved for Jake to hit a DDT a go for the pin and then have the Time Limit Draw but that is a nitpick.

My 5 Star Rating: (3.5/5)

Match #8 The Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules w/Bobby Heenan

So the match starts between the two powerhouses with sholderblocks and then they both were flexing. Hercules then hits multiple clotheslines to take the Warrior down. Both are on the outside of the ring and they brawl. When both go back in the ring and Hercules hits an atomic drop. So next they go into a surprise pin with both men’s shoulders on the floor and ref counts to 3 but Warrior gets his shoulder up last second and wins the match in 4:29. Hecules thinks he win but when told he did not he attacks Warrior with his chain and Warrior counters and he swings the chain around thus resulting in Hercules and Bobby Heenan leaving the ring. This match sucked. In my opinion this match was unnecessary to have at WrestleMania and If it was cut not much would have changed. Too many botches and the ending was just weird. This match also felt like a bathroom break match as well.

My 5 Star Rating: (0.5/5)

Match #9 Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant w/Virgil and Ted DiBiase

This was the starting match of the Quarterfinals in the tournament for the WWE title. This is the rematch between Andre and Hulk as they had an excellent match last season and were a part of the contraversial match that made this tournament happen. So Hulk enters the ring and Andre immediately goes to work attacking Hogan. Hogan than counters and gives Dibiase and Higab a double noggin’ knocker. Andre is tied up in the ropes and Hogan takes the oppertunity to punh him. Virgil and Dibiase free Andre but he gets hit by Hogan with an elbow. Andre then chokes Hulk for a few minutes. Andre gingerly gets up for the next spot and man it is obvious that Andre is in a lot of pain in this match. Especially as there are a ton of rest spots that follow. So we get to the end of the match where Virgil distracts the ref and Ted Dibiase hits Hogan with a chair. What I hate about this spot is that Hogan no sells this chair shot. Which is absolutley ridiculous. What else is ridiculous is Hogan grabs the chair tries chasing Dibiase and hits Andre with it the ref fully sees it and then Andre hits Hogan with the chair and it results in a DQ at 5:52 where both men are eliminated. This match was not good and I hated the finish. I know why they did it the DQ finish but I don’t understand why Hogan was not DQ when he used the chair in front of the ref but yet when Andre uses it there both disqualified. The double DQ could have been a lot better. Post match Hogan chases Dibiase and catches Virgil and Hogan suplexed him to the floor and yikes Virgil took a nasty bump. I don’t know if it was a botch or not. Hogan then slams Andre in the ring and that does it

My 5 Star Rating: (1.5/5)

Match #10 Ted DiBiase defeated Don Muraco w/Superstar Billy Graham

So when I heard commentary say that whoever wins this match will get a bye for the next round. It was obvious who was going to win this match. I love how in this match both Virgil and Andre were not with him for this match as a result of what happened in the last match. So the match starts and Don Muraco pulling DiBiase in and giving him powerslams. Dibiase tries to retreat and regroups but Superstar Billy Graham does not allow him too. Back and forth between the two and then out of knowhere Dibiase hits Don Muraco with a stun gun and pins him for the win at 5:52. Not a bad match and I liked how he finished with the stun gun putting the move over. I do think it was a little too predictable which did effect the match but it was pretty fun to watch.

My 5 Star Rating: (2/5)

Match #11 Randy Savage w/Miss Elizabeth vs Greg Valentine w/Jimmy Hart

Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth are coming to the ring and this time he is wearing pink. So the two men immediately go back and forth. Savage hits a knee drop for a quick 2 count. Valentine then goes to work on Macho hitting a forearm from the top turnbuckle. Valentine then throws Savage to the outside and hits him with an elbow. Valentine does a lot of offense and even hits him in the guard rail. Valentine then works the leg and tries to go for a figure four but Savage counters. In his comeback Savage hits a few axhandles to Valentine. Valentine counters one and tries the figure four leg lock again until a surprise counter rollup pin and Savage gets the victory. Not a bad match but it was pretty forgettable.

My 5 Star Rating: (2.5/5)

Match #12 Brutus Beefcake vs The Honky Tonk Man w/Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue for the Intercontinental Championship.

The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time the Honky Tonk Man makes his entrance with Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue. By the way If Peggy Sue looks familiar it is because she actually was Sensational Sherri Martel in a disguise. No joke. So with both in the ring they lockup and have a back and forth leading to Brutus atomic dropping Honky. I love how Brutus just messes with Honky’s hair throughout the match. So here comes a scenario where the both miss there moves and Honky tries to hit the Shake Rattle & Roll. Beefcake then counters into a sleeper hold So Jimmy Hart decides to hit the ref with the Microphone so Honky would not be seen submitting. So Beefcake lets go and grabs clippers to cut Jimmy Hart’s hair and succeeds. Peggy Sue wakes Honky up and the Heels leave the ring. Brutus wins by disqualification but Honky retains his belt. Not a great match but the post match kind of saved it.

My 5 Star Rating: (1.5/5)

Match #13 – The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and Bobby Heenan vs The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware

So the reason for this match existing was in the middle of a match the Islanders and Bobby Heenan stole Matilda from the Bulldogs. They later gave the dog back and the bulldogs as if they did not then they would have gotten kayfabe suspended. So the Bulldogs wanted revenge so we got a match. So the Islanders entered the ring and Bobby Heenan is wearing a dog attack protector gear and I think it was funny.

So if you wondered Why Koko in this match well honestly they needed someone to take the pin and make the Bulldogs look strong why they lost the match. So the match starts with Dynamite and Tama. Dynamite throws Tama around the ring. Now they both tag in and it is Haku and Davey in the ring and they hit some solid moves including a crossbody and crucefix pin. So they fight back and forth until Davey tags in Koko B. Ware. Koko actually looks solid in this match and even at one point takes down both the Islanders. So later in the match Bobby Heenan gets tagged in and goes to work on Koko. The finish of the match is when the Islanders come in and press slam Bobby Heenan onto Koko for the win.

So post match Davey Boy Smith brings Matilda to the ring and Heenan runs away. But both Matildsa and Davey Boy catch up to him and they attack him. Well Davey lifts Matilda onto Bobby Heenan and they attack him.

Kind of a disappointing one as I thought the Bulldog would have won this one. but I guess at least this puts over the Islanders. Then I did research and soon after the PPV Tama would be released from his contract and Haku would go on a singles run. This made this finish a bit more confusing. But at least the post match was fun to watch.

My 5 Star Rating: (1.5/5)

For some reason Jesse Ventura decides to pose

Match #14 Randy Savage w/Miss Elizabeth vs One Man Gang w/Slick

So entrances One Man Ganeg was already in the ring and Macho and Elizabeth entered wearing black attire. The match begins with the both of them fighting and Savage gets advantage by grabbing the beard. Gang gets him to a corner and has his way with him. One Man Gang squashes him in the corner many times. One Man Gang so slams him and almost gets the pin but puts his leg on the ropes. One Man Gang tries to do his splash finisher but Savage counters. He then hits an axhandle to One Man Gang outside of the ring. Slick then goes after Elizabeth threatening her and the ref goes to her telling her to get off the apron. Slick gives One Man Gang his cane and tries to use it on Macho but he doesn’t connect. Ref however sees him doing it and gets disqualified. So Macho then Axhandle’s One Man Gang and he falls on Slick and he and Elizabeth go to the back. This was a nothing match and it was not that good.

My 5 Star Rating: (1/5)

Match #15 Demolition (Ax and Smash) w/Mr. Fuji vs Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) for the Tag Team Championships

Both Teams make their entrance and I got to say this now Demolition is one of my favorite Tag Teams ever. I love everything about them with there theme, attire, face-paint, and finisher. Also I don’t know why but I love that Mr. Fuji as well also wears face paint as well. It is something not a lot of managers do in current wrestling and I would love to see it again. So this match starts with Rick Martel and Smash and they pull great moves as Smash well smashes Martel in the corner and then Rick Martel hits a cross body. The crowd is obviously very tired and are not energetic in this match. So Strike Force works on smash focusing on the arm and then we get a lot of double tag team moves from both teams. Strike Force is also a very underrated tag team as well. So end of the match comes and Tito hits the flying forearm and makes the hot tag to Rick Martel. Martel then goes crazy and drop kicks each member of Demoltion. Martel eventually hits the Boston Crab on Smash. Ax then tries to break the submission until Tito comes in to stop Ax. The ref is distracted and Mr. Fuji then gives Ax the cane and hits Martel with it. Demolition pins and wins the tag team championships. I mean its a basic match. I don’t have a problem with it but the finish was cheap and I just wish it was a cleaner finish. The fans could not care and clearly were tired.

My 5 Star Rating: (2/5)

Match #16 Randy Savage w/Miss Elizabeth vs Ted DiBiase w/André the Giant for the WWE Championship

Ted DiBiase enters the ring first with Andre the Giant. Obviously Virgil is not out of the ring and I don’t know if it is due to a Kayfabe or realife injury. If I were to guess it is probably a real life injury due to how badly botched that suplex by Hogan was but I am not sure. Macho and Elizabeth enter the ring and the are wearing white which was fantastic.

Now the match begins with both Dibiase and Savage going in the corner of the ring. Immedietly Andre trips Macho Man Randy savage 2 times. Dibiase takes advantage and attacks Savage many times. He tries to pin Macho he kicks out than Randy Savage hits his own clothesline and he regroups on the outside until Savage once again elbows him out of the ring. So Savage tries to do his flying axhandle and Andre steps in the way. So he steps down goes to Miss Elizabeth. She goes to the backstage area and guess who she brings out. Well its obviously Hulk Hogan. Dibiase has Savage go to the corner and tries to distract the red so Andre could attack him but Hogan goes immedietly after Andre. DiBiase then goes to the top and tries to hit a move but Randy Savage counters. Savage tires the flying elbow but misses. So Dibiase gets the Million Dollar Dream locked in and Savage goes for the Robes but Andre pushes away. Uhhhh ref are you going to DQ Dibiase or throw Andre out. No your going to be distracted so Hogan can hit Dibiase with a chair. Ok so that happens Randy Savage then connects with the Flying Elbow and gets the win at 9:27. Randy Savage is the new WWE Champion. I thought this match was dissapointing and too quick. First off the right guy won but I hated how Hogan hit Ted Dibiase with the Chair. Honestly I hate how they used Hogan here as I would have had him get the chair and chase Andre to the back of the lockeroom so Dibiase had to go it alone. It is not abysmal but I wish there was more that happened.

By the way this match was not the origional plan for Mania as the main event was going to be Hulk Hogan vs Ted Dibiase where Dibiase was going to win the whole Tournament thanks to Andre. But plans changes as Randy Savage was supposed to be Intercontinental Champion at this point but Honky Tonk Man refused to drop the title to Randy Savage earlier in the year.

My 5 Star Rating: (2/5)

This WrestleMania was not that great and the crowd was especially tired at the end of the event. The postives of the show was Valentine-Steamboat, Jake Roberts-Ric Rude, and Savage’s story was good (Attire color change was bonus points). But there was a lot to not like including the Hercules-Warrior, Bigelow-One Man Gang, Dino Bravo-Muraco, and etc. I also think 16 matches is way too many to have for one night at WrestleMania. A lot of the finishes to the matches were not good.

I am going to give Wrestlemania VI a D+