Ringside Review: Looking back at past ‘Manias
WrestleMania XX will be held on March 14, and is being billed as “The Showcase of the Immortals.”
Each one of the yearly events has had at least one great match. As we look forward to this year’s, I’d like to look back at some of the great matches of the past.
WM2: It was held at three different venues (Long Island N.Y., Chicago and L.A.) and on closed circuit big-screen movie houses. Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T in a boxing match, the British Bulldogs winning the tag team championship from the dream team of Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake were great matches.
The main event was Hulk Hogan overcoming bruised ribs to defeat King Kong Bundy in a cage match, but the best match of the night was Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, where there were almost 30 two-counts in a 30-minute match.
WM3: Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant was on the front page of most newspapers the next day.
Jack Tunney had given Andre a crappy little trophy, and Hogan a huge one, for their accomplishments in wrestling, helping set up one of the biggest moments in the sport ever.
WM4: Savage wins the tournament, even with Hogan in it. Bad News Brown turns on Bret Hart and costs hart the match. The “Ghetto Blaster” from Brown was one of the best finishers ever.
WMVI: It was not time for Hogan to pass the torch, as the Ultimate Warrior won their match.
WMVII: Shawn Michaels beats Bret Hart in the Iron Man match, the longest WrestleMania match at 68 minutes.
WMVIII: In a match that wasn’t supposed to happen, seven words uttered by Ric Flair to Randy Savage was all that was needed for a quick build-up: “She was mine before she was yours,” referring to Miss Elizabeth. Hogan-Sid was a big crowd draw, also.
WMXII: Cheese at its best!
The Hollywood Backlot Brawl between Goldust and Piper had it all. The extreme car chase, and the helicopter camera work, can you say O.J. car chase?
WMXIII: Bret Hart defeats Steve Austin in a submission match, only Steve never actually gives up, instead he passes out in a pool of his own blood., Hart is booed out of the ring, and Austin becomes the biggest star in the WWF.
WMXIV: Shawn Michaels gets double-crossed by Mike Tyson in his match with Steve Austin.
WMXVIII: Had to have one featuring the women. In this case, women were the best part of the show. Trish with the Canadian flag? That’s all that needs to be said!
As J.R. would say, WMXX promises to be a “slobber-knocker.”
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