Wrestlemania’s Must-See Matches – Part 1

Since we all seem to have more free time on our hands for the next few weeks, and there’s a good chance there won’t be a Wrestlemania this year, I figured I could put together a history of Wrestlemania. If you have the WWE Network, the thought of watching 34 pay-per-view events could be daunting. But if you want to breeze through the years while watching the best that the Showcase of the Immortals has had to offer then this series is the one for you. This list is in now way definitive, as you and I may have different tastes in wrestling. However, I think I’ve assembled a pretty good list of matches to highlight everything the WWE’s premiere event of the year has to offer. So, here’s a quick list of the must-see matches in Wrestlemania history. Today, we look at the first decade of Mania, stretching from 1985 to 1994.

I – 1985

That magical night in March of 1985 where the face of professional wrestling was changed. This is the way we’ve been looking at the first Wrestlemania, through the lens of nostalgia, for the last 35 years. But we’re here to look at it from an in-ring standard and when examined in that light, this event was kinda terrible. So instead of being treated to a night of what we now think of as Wrestlemania-worthy matches and was more like an episode of Prime Time Wrestling. We had at least 3 or 4 squash matches including one (David Sammartino v. Brutus Beefcake) that ended up as a 12-minute double count out. I would point to the two moments that are constantly pointed to as historical moments as worth seeing here. 

MUST-SEE MATCHES:

1. Andre the Giant v. Big John Studd – $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge

• You have to mark out for The Boss. If you’re only context for Andre in the ring is from a few years later against Hogan, this will be a quick shock to see how he worked before the ravages of time and injuries took its toll. 

2. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T (w/Jimmy Snuka) v. Paul Orndorrf and Roddy Piper (w/Bob Orton)
   1. Check this out once to say you’ve seen the first Wrestlemania main event, then be thankful that the idea of what is worthy of the WM main event spot is very, very different now. To be fair to this match, the build was the biggest thing they’d ever done and there was a ton of heat for this. But it’s a pretty average tag match. 

II – 1986

The first and only Wrestlemania to be held on a Monday, Wrestlemania II emanated from three buildings across the country in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. It was an interesting concept that they were able to pull off from a technical standpoint, early audio issues in LA aside. Many of the critiques from the first edition of the event are still present, though there are fewer blatant squashes this year. I would still say that there’s still a couple of matches worth checking out. 

MUST-SEE MATCHES

1. Randy Savage (c) vs. George “The Animal” Steele – WWF Intercontinental Championship
   1. This is your historical moment pick. As a match, not the greatest. I mean Macho is bumping his ass off for Steele here. But it’s more for the moments here: George and Liz, the flowers, the turnbuckle pad. Besides, who would complain about more Macho Man.
2. The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine) (c) vs. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) – WWF World Tag Team Championships
   1. Probably the best match of the night, it probably deserved to go ten minutes longer than it did. A good, old school tag match where the Hammer and Davey Boy do the bulk of the work. Watch for one particularly nasty spot where the Hammer picks up Dynamite for a piledriver but instead of dropping to his butt, Hammer drops forward to his knees and it just looks nasty. It had to be only the strength of the Hammer that kept Dynamite from just getting spiked right on the top of his head. 

III – 1987

If you know anything about wrestling, you know about this event. Wrestlemania III came from the Pontiac Silverdome in front of something like 90,000 people. Regardless of where you stand on that debate, there can’t be much debate that the WWF figured out the big match formula for this year. This card felt so much bigger than the last 2 editions, the matches felt like they meant so much more all the way down the card. When you start the day off with Aretha Franklin, you know this is an occasion that means something.

MUST-SEE MATCHES:

1. Roddy Piper v. Adrian Adonis – Hair v. Hair
   1. While not a technical masterpiece, this match was good for as short as it was (just under 7 minutes). This was billed as Piper’s retirement match (cough) and had some tremendous build up for it. The promos from both guys were gold. The match hit all the emotional high points, unfortunately a little too quickly for my taste. I would have loved to see these guys go twice as long. This one’s also noteworthy for giving genesis to Brutus Beefcake’s barber gimmick. Brother Bruti had turned face in the previous match after being left by Dream Team partner Greg Valentine and he was the one that ended up finishing off the haircut for this one. 
2. Macho Man Randy Savage (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat – WWF Intercontinental Champion
   1. What more can I say about this one that hasn’t already been written? It’s one of the best matches in the history of the event. Just go watch it. It’s a perfect contest wrapped up in a 15-minute package. Personal embarrassing story: when I won my first backyard title way back in high school, we tried to replicate this match move for move for my first defense. No spoiler alert – it did not go well. Actually, it didn’t come anywhere near a jobber match on Superstars, let alone this classic 
3. Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Andre the Giant – WWF Championship
   1. This is another one of those must-see historic moments. The match itself isn’t great. If you know the physical restrictions Andre was working with, it’s amazing that he got into the ring at all. But the moments in this one immortalized (pardon the pun) Hogan and cemented him as a real-life superhero. Hulkamania may have started back in 1984, but it became a worldwide phenomenon after this match. 

IV – 1988

The booking for this event revolved around a vacant world title. If you’re unfamiliar with all of the chicanery that surrounded the WWF title in early 1988, look that up on your own. It’s a long and convoluted explanation but we came into WM IV with a vacant championship and a 14-man, one-night tournament to crown an undisputed champion. Unfortunately, the format also did not lend itself to any mat classics.  Rick Rude and Jake Roberts in the first round was a solid match, and the longest of the evening after going to a 15-minute time limit draw. Catch a highlight video, see the moment of the night where Macho wins the world title and hoists Elizabeth on his shoulder and you’re good.

V – 1989

We go back to Atlantic City for the 2nd straight year, where Wrestlemania is hosted by the Trump Taj Mahal inside Boardwalk Hall which is next door to the former resort and didn’t have anything to do with the Trump organization. To continue with the repetitive theme, there’s a lot more meh here as well. I feel bad just ragging on the shows of this era but the in-ring product of the time… well, it isn’t the greatest. If you wanted the better wrestling action in the late 1980’s, for the most part, you were watching the NWA. If I had to pick the two best matches of the night, they were the Intercontinental title match between Rick Rude and the Ultimate Warrior and the main event world title match between Hogan and Savage. But if you can find the finishes, you can get the high points. 

VI – 1990

This show has been cited by a number of superstars who are around my age as the event that made them want to get into the business. However, when we look back at the action on display, there is a lot that we can pass over. I will say there are a number of decent matches with interesting stipulations. For example, the Million Dollar title match between DiBiase and Jake the Snake was pretty good with solid psychology, but the countout finish killed it for me. You had an intergender match between Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire and the Macho King and Queen Sherri. While an interesting concept, three great workers couldn’t make up for one barely trained participant. The best wrestling match on the undercard was probably the Orient Express and the Rockers in another chapter of their quietly good in-ring rivalry. Unfortunately, a crap count out finish takes it out of the must-see category for me. But is there something you need to see from this night? Yes there is. 

MUST-SEE MATCH

1. Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior vs. WWF Champion Hulk Hogan – Both Titles on the line
   1. This was the passing of the torch moment, or at least it was supposed to be. This match is on many countdowns of the best WM matches for a reason. Both men did great work and took more bumps than we’d been used to seeing them take. They told a great story and despite the fact that Hogan did steal some of the post-match spotlight, it was a great moment that completed Warrior’s ascension into the top spot in the company. 

VII – 1991

Well, the less said about the main storyline coming into this show the better. We go back to Los Angeles for the seventh edition of Mania although it wasn’t where it was originally announced to be. Wrestlemania VII was supposed to be bigger than Mania 3 and fill the Coliseum. That wasn’t the case and it was moved to the old Sports Arena. Now, whether you follow the company line that they got too many threats on Sgt. Slaughter to let the match happen outdoors or the simpler explanation of slow ticket sales figures is irrelevant. I think the best way to describe this show is peaks and valleys. There are some good matches here. The Rockers and Haku and The Barbarian are a good opener. The Tag Title match is a fun swerve. You also have the pedestrian Undertaker/Snuka match, Tenryu and Kitao finishing off the mystique of Demolition in a sub-five minute squash and the Legion of Doom decapitating Power and Glory in under a minute. 

MUST SEE MATCH:

1. The Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho King Randy Savage – retirement match
   1. The stipulation of the loser retiring almost demands an all out story and these two told a great one. Savage tried to unlock the secret to keeping the Warrior down what with his power from the gods unknown. Warrior tried to overcome Savage’s ability to absorb punishment. Both got their heat, both looked vulnerable and overall it was a very compelling story. They then finished off the longest match of the night with an emotional reunion that helps us all forget the main event to come. 

VIII – 1992

This year returned to a large venue, emanating from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. The build to the main event/double main event was rather convoluted and changed quite a bit. Originally, it was going to be Flair defending the title against Hogan. But things changed in the weeks before, Hogan was moved into a program with Sid Justice and Flair started the infamous angle with Savage over Elizabeth. This included the repeated line “before she was yours, she was mine.” A little cringeworthy now, but very effective heat at the time. This was an end of an era event because it marked a clear break in the styles of the guys at the top of the card. Instead of the main events being filled with the massive guys like Hogan, Andre, Bundy et. al., we see the move towards smaller, more agile main eventers like Flair, Savage and Hart. Granted, the steroid trial probably has a ton to do with this but this is the start of the demarcation. 

MUST SEE MATCHES:

1. Roddy Piper (c) vs. Bret Hart – WWF Intercontinental Championship
   1. A physical, technical old school battle. Hart infamously bled during a time where blood was not allowed on camera, but they were rather clever about the blade job and Hart escaped discipline for the blade job since it looked like an accident. The finish has also become famous, being replicated and built upon time and time again. 
2. Ric Flair (c) vs. Randy Savage – WWF Championship
   1. Remember what I said about Bret Hart circumventing the ban on blading by making it look like an accident? Well the Nature Boy did not as he was caught on camera performing his blade job. Juicing aside, these two had tremendous chemistry and it shows here. They put together a classic match that they wouldn’t be able to quite match in future encounters down south. 

IX – 1993

Wrestlemania IX turned an outdoor tennis stadium at Caesar’s Palace into the Roman Colosseum, complete with Caesar himself, Cleopatra, Bobby Heenan on a camel and Jim Ross in a toga. Unfortunately, most of the in-ring action was not as exciting as the presentation. This show features the one match in the Undertaker’s Mania streak that never gets mentioned in the retrospective pieces: the dud against Giant Gonzales. Outside of the Tatanka/Shawn Michaels I-C Title match and the Steiners/Headshrinkers matchers, you can pretty much take the rest of the show in via highlight reel. Plus, that way it might slide past the end of the show where Hulk Hogan clearly played the creative control card and helped kneecap Bret Hart’s first title run. There’s a reason this is cited as one of the worst Manias in the show’s history. Luckily there are far better days ahead.

X – 1994

Where it all began again, the tenth edition returned to Madison Square Garden. I wrote the Wrestlemania 8 was the beginning of the switch in in-ring style and this is the end of the turn. That being said, this card is sandwiched by two all-time great matches with a good amount of meh in the middle and two pretty disappointing world title matches in the mix. The moment of the main event was the post-match celebration. Bret Hart gets the passing of the torch moment as this is clearly Bret’s spotlight from here forward. It also cements the main storyline for most of the rest of the year, as Owen would chase the belt through at least Summerslam. 

MUST SEE MATCHES:

1. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
   1. A hands down, five-star sibling brawl, this is one of the best pure wrestling matches in years. The brothers spent several minutes in the beginning of the match with rapid fire chair wrestling. Then Owen hauled off and slapped the hell out of Bret and the intensity jumps to another level. 

2. Razor Ramon (c) vs. Shawn Michaels – Ladder Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
   1. Another match where there’s not much that needs to be said. This is the standard by which all other ladder matches have been measured. 

I’ll stop here for now, which gives me a chance to give you a quick recap. 

• I. Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd
• I. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
• II. Randy Savage vs. George “The Animal” Steele
• II. The Dream Team vs. The British Bulldogs
• III. Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis
• III. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat
• III. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
• VI. Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior
• VII. Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior
• VIII. Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart
• VIII. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage
• X. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
• X. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels

That’s a nice little playlist so far, but there’s plenty more to come. Next time, we look at another decade as the WWF goes through some major changes, welcomes an entire new generation of starts and starts to show off its attitude.