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Fink’s Wrestlemania Memories Part I (1:08:03)
I caught this on WWE.COM Legacy, which I ordered a year of in lieu of having WWE 24/7. It’s basically Howard Finkel introducing us to some more obscure matches from the annals of Wrestlemania. This one in particular looks at 5 matches from the first five Wrestlemania’s. I have included the list here, as well as the reviews from those shows of the matches.
From Wrestlemania I:
-Tito Santana vs. Executioner-
This was the first-ever Wrestlemania match. Criss-cross to start, followed by a back body drop by Tito and he dropkicks Executioner to the outside. Executioner comes back in and we go to the first side headlock of the evening. Tito takes control until Executioner boots Tito in the gut. Executioner with a weak running knee, and he kicks Tito in the abs. He finally starts working on Tito’s leg, as he promised, but Tito rolls him up for two. Tito stomps on Executioner in the corner, but Executioner comes back with a back body drop and a bodyslam. Executioner goes upstairs but Tito catches him and throws him off. He tries for a splash but Executioner lifts his knees and he stomps on Tito’s leg on the ropes. Tito pushes Executioner over the top rope (where he lands in a chair), then bodyslams Executioner from the apron back into the ring. Tito with a flying forearm leads to a figure-four, which ends things at 4:49. That was quite the energetic opener. **1/2.
From Wrestlemania II:
-Hercules Hernandez vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat-
Neither guy gets an introduction. Hernandez attacks from behind, but after the bell rang, so he’s not a cheater for those who keep track of these things. Steamboat slides between the legs of Hercules, chops him down, then armdrags him down right into an armbar. Hercules tries for a backbreaker of some sort but Steamboat twirls out of it (which was almost blown) and Steamboat heel kicks Hercules in the chest and goes right back to the arm. Hercules comes back with some rights as Ventura and Elvira call Steamboat wimpy for having something tied above his knee. Steamboat with a spinning elbow, then a suplex and we’re back to the arm. Hercules comes back with a big clothesline. Hercules drops Steamboat on the ropes. Steamboat tries for a slam but Hercules falls on top of him for two. Hercules gets a back elbow, then a pair of elbow drops. He poses, then covers, but Steamboat kicks out. Steamboat comes back with vicious chops, but Hercules ducks one and comes back with a clothesline for two. Hercules press slams Steamboat, then does it again. Hercules heads to the top rope, but a splash hits Steamboat’s knees. Steamboat recovers, goes to the top and hits a crossbody of his own for the pin at 7:34. This was a decent match. **.
From Wrestlemania III:
-King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook vs. Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid & Little Beaver-
There are special rules to this match, only big guys vs. big guys and little guys vs. little guys. Uecker joins on commentary, and the midgets start with a quadruple criss-cross. Lord Littlebrook has on an outfit similar to Bundy, Little Beaver is an Indian and really that’s all I have to say. Bundy comes in and the two midgets try to fight him off but can’t Jim comes in and he knocks down Bundy with a clothesline. He drops an elbow then he and the two midgets cover Bundy for two. Bundy comes back, Uecker makes Beaver jokes, Bundy hits Jim with an Avalanche, then bodyslams Beaver, drawing a DQ at 4:26. Bundy goes splash the midget but the other three midgets save him and Bundy leaves. As a comedy match, it wasn’t even funny. DUD.
From Wrestlemania IV:
-Invitational Battle Royale,-
There are 20 guys involved in this. Huge clusterfuck to start, as all 20 guys are in the ring. Ueucker jokes that it looks like cut day in Spring Training, which is funny. Sam Houston is out first, at :45, followed by Sika at :56. Animal is standing on the outside of the ring for some reason. This is just punching and kicking. More punching than kicking. Neidhart is pulled out at 2:32 by the Animal. Raymond Rougeau is tossed by Blair at 3:14 who is then tossed by Jacques a second later. Somehow Brunzell is tossed, too. Ron Bass is backdropped out at 3:41. Hillbilly is tossed at 4:26 by one of the Russians, Davis is dumped at 4:47 by one of the Young Stallions, then Powers goes out at 4:58 (he was one of the Young Stallions). Race and JYD have a mini-match in the ring, a rematch of last year’s match. Nikolai is backdropped out by Patera at 5:41and he goes after Zhukov, Bad News Brown dumps both at 5:42. Brown sends out some more dead weight (Romo at 6:00 and someone else at 6:11). JYD takes out Race at 6:24 (where someone in the booth goes, WHOOOO), leaving Bret Hart and Bad News Brown to double-team JYD. They toss him at 8:45 and both celebrate in the ring. Hart turns his back on Bad News Brown and Brown kicks him from behind and sends him hard into the corner. Brown tosses him at 9:44 to huge heal heat. Bret attacks Brown with the trophy after the match to kick start his first singles push. Wasn’t a great Battle Royale, and a bad choice to start a WM with it. ½*.
From Wrestlemania V:
-Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji vs. Demolition(c) for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
Warlord starts with Ax with Warlord getting some quick forearms Ax comes back with some of his own and Smash is tagged in. The PoP come back and triple team Smash until Barbarian misses a blind charge in his own corner. Ax comes in and bodyslams Barbarian. Double elbow leads to a snapmare and a headwringer. The PoP comes back when Fuji interjects and soon its Fuju coming in with chops on Ax. The PoP triple team leading to Fuji ascending the top rope and missing a legdrop. Ax can’t make the tag though, and Warlord comes in. Ax ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own and makes the hot tag to Smash. Smash bodyslams the Powers, clotheslines them down, then drops Warlord over the top rope. He covers but Barbarian makes the save. Ax comes in and we have all four guys in the ring. The ref is distracted leading to Fuji trying to throw salt in the eyes of Smash. Smash ducks and it hits Warlord instead. Ax comes back into the ring and the Demo’s hit their finisher (Smash holds Fuji over his knee while Ax hits a legdrop from the top rope) for the pin and the win to retain at 8:54. Fuji wasn’t the legal man but oh well. This was fun for what it was, though the crowd was dead throughout. **.
Also from Wrestlemania V, we’re treated to what should be Piper’s Pit but instead it’s Brother Love coming out and interviewing Piper (as he does his Piper imitation). Morton Downey Jr. comes out and is interviewed by Brother Love. Piper makes fun of him, then turns his attention to Morton Downey. Piper blows a fire extinguisher at him to end that dreadfully long sequence.
Overall Review
This was certainly interesting. If I were to pick some lesser known matches from the five shows I definitely would’ve picked a couple of different ones. The Tito/Executioner match was a good pick, but some of the others were just odd. Why put the Piper’s Pit from V on there? It was just way too long and boring, even in a context like this. There were certainly better matches to choose from, but I guess some of these guys need some love, too. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this if I were you.
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