Greetings pilgrims and welcome to another weeks Wrestling Sandwich.

Before we take a walk down my memory lane I think it would be best if I serves up some quick current news grabs coming out of Florida as sit here now….

With Miz seemingly being contained to the 10 man tag, all talk seems to have dies down about him interfering in the Rock/Cena match but a returning Batista to feud with John post-Mania would be tremendous.

++++

This potentially is the best news coming into WM. It shows me that Cena is a realist about what will be going on out in the match and hopefully he will be smart enough o work heel side to make the match work better. Current word is the match is being structured as having neither man be a heel or face and if that’s the case it will certainly flatten the match some.

++++

I will be the first to admit that I didn’t know much about Bryan Danielson before he came to the WWE and while is ring work was great I never really got into him as a personality. I’m now on record saying he’s the best heel in years but this whole interview also shows was a naturally charismatic and cool guy he is. I will mark the fuck out if he does incorporate the fake-out lock-up and does a cartwheel.

++++

File this news under AWESOME! But the masochist in me really wants to have a WM in the pouring rain.

++++

Fair chop. If this is actually true then I applaud Cena for thinking on his feet and I applaud Rock for his awesome selling of the moment. Shit, I could care less if it was a set up I thought it was an interesting idea to get people talking.

++++

I went into the Wrestling Observer newsletter archives for the first edition after the original WrestleMania to see what reaction Dave Meltzer and his smark readers had to say about WM, the WWF and wrestling in general after the big event…

I’m going to bullet point Meltzer’s comments here for ease of reading and even easier eye rolling seeing how the comments come off in hindsight…

Meltzer on WrestleMania
– Total gate including those watching on CCTV was around $4,000,000 ($8,764,696.82 in today’s money adjusted for inflation) and was easily the most successful wrestling event of all time up to that point. Impressive since the WWF had to offer refund in some venues ($110,00 in Pittsburg which never got the show at all) and did not draw that big outside of its already key markets.
– Meltzer laments the “soft” crowd and the alienation of the “hardcore” audience and how it doesn’t bode well of the future unless Vince can constantly re-acquaint the soft audience.
– He also shuddered to think that kids will be Jimmy Snuka fans after the influx of interest coupled with great exposure on TV for the WWE as well as the cartoon show that was just about to air.
– Dave went on about the buzz that wrestling was “chic” and “yuppification” of the audience and the irony that Hulk Hogan was all of a sudden a great athlete yet 10 years ago truly great athletes like Jack Brisco were dismissed as fat-boy actors.
– Stated the hype job of the WWE and the manipulation of the media about wrestling in general and WrestleMania specifically was the most significant since WWII…yes WORLD WAR TWO!
– Believed the newfound attractiveness to advertisers would only be temporary and would die down after the WWF experience an inevitable ratings drop.
– Talked about payoffs and Paul Orndorff got $20,000, Mr. T got $100,000, Piper got a reported $75,000. Orndorff was supposedly unhappy (personally dude was WAY down on the totem pole in the match).
– Circled around to house shows prior to WM and the low crowd with 8,000 in Philly, 5,500 in Bloomington. Cleveland dropped from a 17,000 sell out in February to 2,000 in March, two California shows each getting around 3,000 and an MSG “sell-out” where scalpers could on get people to pay $5 for ringside seats.

The really interesting thing about most of these comments is that the general consensus was the Vince had popped the territory big for this one event be since they weren’t “real” wrestling fans they brought to the product they would fail to keep that audience since it didn’t represent “real” wrestling. Of course Meltzer (and most everyone else) shit the bed with their comments and during the intro to that edition he offered an insight into his state-of-mind and stated this would be the last Wrestling Observer. I quote….

So even back in 1984 Meltzer was getting sick of wrestling and was packing up the Observer. Keep in mind that still to this day the Observer has been running and STILL he’s sick of the state of wrestling. Hey, I actually respect Meltzer and his opinions and usually the guy is scarily spot on with his info but to admit to getting jaded nearly 30 years ago obviously shows just how much he couldn’t really give props to the WWF expansion and the outright success of WM and the explosion of popularity it created.

However, as I’m discovering with these old Observers, it’s the reader comments that provide the best stuff to read…

This guy just sounds like very smark ever, piss and moan about the WWE, they must turn this wrestler, these other feds are really frickin’ good, wrestling is fake.

However, the true reader gold comes with this letter. I’m only going to quote parts because it’s really quite long but you will get the idea…

Now to be fair, this letter was written by Ron Dobratz and I’m pretty sure most readers would have never heard of this man. The reality was he was the original newsletter writing “insider” wrestling saw. He was a highly respected opinion-ist and was pumping out copy about the behind the scenes working of wrestling as far back as the 60’s. This letter however showed the then mid-40s Dobratz was falling WAY behind the times.

The reason Vince is the last promoter standing from that era is that he saw the world was changing and he knew that wrestling had to follow suit or flounder. The horribly outdated thinking of guys like Dobratz has no place in that future. I’m not sure what he thought that writing a letter to Vince was going to do about him changing direction on an already turning ship but stuff like state champions and Brass Knux titles were not the things a national expanding company trying to draw in kids and families was ever going to do. The fact he actually used the word disturbed to described the lack of response was almost insane in of itself.

Two more quick reader comments….

and this…

These guys, man they took the expansion WAY to heart. I LOL’D at the last dude ever thought that pro-wrestling was taken seriously…EVER.

While WM is always built around the spectacle it has always thrived on the spectacular moments in matches. Below I have complied my absolute favorite Top 5 WrestleMania matches that I could watch all day long. Actually I should clarify that this is actually my picks 6-2 as the next section of the Sandwich focuses on my #1…

5. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin – This is perhaps the most perfect match ever. Some call it the greatest match in WM history and really, I could make a million points to back that up. For me it sits at number 5 but only just and on any given day it could be any place higher. What made this match, besides the historic double-turn, was the realism. You could feel an almost palpable hatred between the two wrestlers and it was boiling over right in front of our eyes. These guys just let it all hang out and everything they did seemed to have an extra edge to it. You hold it up against the build to the Rock/Cena match and be amazed at the difference these two grudge matches have played out.

The ending is one of the most famous ever and the iconic image of Austin bleeding like a stuck pig and passing out in a puddle of his own blood but never quitting became instant wrestling lore. No one single moment has ever captured the soul of a character that that ending did.

4. Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon – I could watch this match all day. I’m sure a couple of readers will baulk at its inclusion but really, this list is a subjective opinion and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been ridiculed. What makes this match work is that it’s entertaining and good wrestling has always been about entertainment first and foremost and this match was that in spades. It was Vince getting his ass handed to him from one of the greatest performers of all time. Sure there was over-booking to cover the weak spots but it was used to great effect in the context of the match.

While Vince the athlete is basically a retarded Giraffe, he is a master at ring psychology and used every ounce of it to make this match all the better. Spots like lying in the garbage can and not knowing when Shawn was going to drop the elbow made the match all the more exciting and it shows that you don’t have to be a great wrestler to be a great worker.

3. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit – I’ve always taken tremendous flack for my fandom of Chris Benoit since the murders and that’s largely because I’ve been able to separate the wrestler from the monster. As a dyed in the wool Benoit fan I took a large amount of satisfaction in seeing him win the title. Yes the emotion of the win is tainted now but I choose to approach it in a more holistic way these days…regardless of size, if you truly have the talent and drive you will almost always overcome the odds if you work hard enough.

The match itself had something rare for a triple threat – intensity. There was almost always something happening in the match and there was very little 3rd person lying about while the other two worked that can be the refuge of the lazy. They told the story of three men trying as hard as they could to get to get any advantage three distinct agenda – HHH wanted to retain the title at all cost, Shawn just wanted HHH beaten and Benoit just wanted to achieve his goal of becoming champion except Shawn’s ego would want that to happen either. Each level of this match worked and built upon the spot that came before until it became a classic.

Shawn Michaels face covered in blood and calling out HHH almost in defiance to his physical state remains an iconic imagine in my mind to this day. The pinfall finish of Benoit winning was an emotional night for most wrestling faces and the culmination of my fandom. It felt good to be a fan of someone for so long finally earning the right to call themselves the best. It’s one of the top highlights I have as a 29 year fan of the sport and refuse to give it up over actions that happened outside of the ring.

2. Edge vs. Mick Foley – This match could never happen in this form today. With the current WWE product slanted towards kids a match with this sort of violence and flaming tables would never see the light of day. Perhaps the great thing about this match was Foley managing to re-invent the wheel again and recycle old and sometimes tired spots and make them seem fresh again. However the true star of the match was definitely Edge who’s selling of the beating he took was epic. He literally looked like a guy going into shock by the end and the post match image of him blankly starring ahead with blood coming down over his face while shaking was truly a memorable sight. Couple that with the fact the Foley was getting extremely broken down by that time and Edge was constantly having to feed himself to Foley for a large portion of the spots showed just how an accomplished worker Edge had become.

1. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – WM27 – Most people pick the rematch as the better quality bout but I like this one much better. The overall package, build and execution of this match was far superior and sticks in my mind more. The thing I liked the most about version one was the play up of the good vs. evil aspect but using the dichotomy of the dark Undertaker actually being “good” and the white knight espousing Michaels actually being more “bad” added tremendous depth. If you wanted no better example of how great Shawn Michaels is you need look no further when he had UT immobile on the floor and Shawn is imploring the ref to count him out in a great shit-heel way and the crowd really started to turn on him. As much as Michaels talks about not doing anything that’s against his faith he’s still not above his the image of his beliefs to enhance a story or match.

The run down the stretch with each man kicking out of finishers and then timing the eventual pinfall to peak with the crowd was a breathless example of two master workers working a masterful match. Easily one of the best matches of all time and one of Shawn’s best ever…think about that for a while!

As I said above, that list was my favourite WM match six through two. The match below is the one that sits as my all time greatest. Last year while doing the annual Road to WrestleMania series here at 411 I contributed a column titled The Paradigm Shift which focused on a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions as it pertained to the wrestling industry as a whole. I received a bucket load of feedback on that piece and I thought I would include my favorite excerpt from that column today since it focuses on my favorite WM match of all time.

Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat -WrestleMania 3 IC Title Match

Back in 1987 two men went out in front of the largest indoor wrestling crowd ever and completely stole the limelight from the biggest money match ever in Hulk Hogan & Andre The Giant. One was a relative newcomer to the WWE who had mainly plied his trade in Memphis as the son of an outlaw promoter Angelo Poffo. The other was considered one of the greatest workers ever and was much respected by his peers for making other less talented wrestlers look credible.

The Set Up:
One day late in 1986 we had the rare occasion to have a televised Intercontinental Title match on Superstars of Wrestling. In this day and age title matches are on every other week, this however was a true treat. What was even better was this was a match between the most hated Randy Savage and the second biggest face in the promotion Ricky Steamboat. Little did we know that it was going to have one of the most shockingly realistic moments in wrestling history.

Towards the end of the match Steamboat was getting on top of Savage and look set to dethrone the long time champion, in desperation Savage laid Steamboat out and then came off the top rope with the timekeepers bell and crushed Steamboat’s larynx. The match was over in that instant as medics took the obviously distressed Steamboat away as it appeared that he could barely breath.

This was a new way to shock audiences that were used to the more cartoon-style WWF product of the time. Mind you, full credit needs to be given to Ricky Steamboat who basically sold everything as if he was near death and the key…we all believed it. After a few months of non-activity from Steamboat and Randy Savage running away from Bruno Summation who was looking to set Savage straight, Steamboat showed up on TV causing the audience to wet themselves and Randy Savage to shit himself.

The stage was set for the big blow-off at WM3. Savage and Steamboat had been having clandestine meetings on the road about this match for months. While they knew that Hulk & Andre was the reason everyone was showing up, they planned on being the match everyone talked about. Over the course of the proceeding weeks Steamboat and Savage planned every step of the match from bell-to-bell in order to make sure they were going to get the most out of their 10 minutes in the ring.

Add to this George “The Animal” Steele as Steamboats corner man who was still harboring ill feelings towards Savage for his treatment of manager Elizabeth. The stage was set for an epic blow-off!

The Match
This match is widely considered one of the best matches of all time and in fact, it held the best match ever crown until the Steamboat/Flair series of 1989 moved it back a notch. This was, to put it simply, a glorious match. With the emotional set-up leading in these two athletes went out and tore the house down. With the intense prior planning, they know exactly what was going on at all times and the pace of the match was breathtaking (even today’s cruisers would have a hard time keeping up). In the era of the original Hogan title reign, we were used to seeing slower paced, deliberate and unrealistic style of fighting, these two showed you could get people excited about what was happening in the ring with actual wrestling.

The action was never ending and there is something like 15 near-pinfalls in a 10-odd minute match. They showed us some great hold/counter-hold sequences and while they weren’t new, we hadn’t seen them at this pace and type of execution.

The ending came when after literally running themselves ragged, Randy tries to re-live the bell spot form their earlier match, George Steele trips him off the top rope and Steamboat small packages Savage for the three count and the title to one of the biggest pops you’ll every hear. Steele carries out Steamboat, barely able to stand and Savage, distraught leaves the ring with Elizabeth steadfastly by his side, loyal to the end.

The Paradigm Shift
As mentioned in the match breakdown, WWF fans weren’t used to seeing this kind of non-stop action. It really was ten minutes of full throttle wrestling that would put every other match to shame in that year and it was voted Match of the Year in the annual PWI awards. People talked about it in such glowing terms that in many ways it did what it set out to achieve…steal the show from Hulk and Andre.

But there’s more to why this match changed the landscape of wrestling.

For starters, it showed that matches with smaller wrestlers could and did sell tickets. You didn’t need goliaths to make people come and watch and in fact people would actually like their blow-off matches entertaining AND good. This was such a foreign concept in the Hogan era where he had his style of match and followed it to the end. It worked for a while but ultimately it started to get old and that’s when Vince turned to workers that could create interest in just the wrestling alone, the storylines was just the icing on top.

Secondly it was the match that made the IC title the “workers” title. While a few talented guys had held it in the past, Savage and Steamboat elevated it in the fans eyes. While it took a while to solidify the title in that regard (thanks to Curt Hennig, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels) it truly was the title you gave to people that knew how to create a match. It was an instance of the wrestlers making the title and not the title making the wrestler.

Thirdly, it gave fans that taste of something different. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Randy Savage was world champion a year later. Unlike Hogan, he could create storyline drama AND deliver great matches with just about anyone. It showed Vince that there would be life beyond Hulk Hogan if and when he retired and he wouldn’t need a clone of Hogan to continue. And in fact, in the years that followed we saw guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels become the benchmark for what you needed to be champion.

Lastly, it was the second to last piece in the puzzle that created Randy Savage the babyface. While it took the rub form Hogan to cement it, thanks to this match it’s what got the fans feeling sympathy for him. This is one of the first instances of a character being so entertaining that even though he was a heel the fans desperately wanted to cheer for him and one year later, they got to cheer him as world champion. It proved there was a world beyond Hulk Hogan, something that few people realized at the time.

Here’s the breakdown on my thoughts on this years card…

The Rock vs. John Cena
So much has been made of this match and while the build has been good I don’t think it’s been anywhere near what it could have been. The lack of physicality and friction has hurt the build and while in the long run I don’t think it was cost the WWE any buys I do think it may have not captured enough interest to get the casual or uninterested fan to buy the PPV. The main point of contention is that the whole build has been about getting the two men over and not the match. Weak.

The promo’s, while being entertaining, have been fairly staid with one guy talking for 10 minutes and the other guy patiently waiting to rebuke. Its felt clean and really creative should have been able to get some dirt under their fingernails. While I understand the wisdom of separating them, having NO contact at all has proven to be anti-climatic. Really, if they want Cena to be the face in this match The Rock needed to ambush him and lay him out the day after Royal Rumble. The next week Johnny Ace declares they cannot touch until WM and security surrounds The Rock at all times and we see Cena the predator hunting for revenge at all time. Rocky can be his cocky, insulting self and John would be justified in his bitching about Dwayne.

I’m really looking forward to the match itself and while the WWE has gone all out to make Cena the face, in Miami the Rock will be the most over face in history and Cena will be booed out of the stadium. I hope John plays the heel here (really, really, really, REALLY, REALLY unlikely) and incites the crowd because to ignore the molten heat he will get would be to the detriment of the match.

Obviously I will pick Cena here for the win, as having him lose will be counter-productive to everything at this point. Though, if Rock walked into Vince’s office an hour before bell time and demanded he went over or he walks, Vince would literally shit his pants and that would be piss funny.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as special referee
The addition of the cell will help this match and hopefully the no-blood rule will be thrown out the window, as this match desperately needs it. If the rule stays in place do you think UT and Trips will actually not blade? Do you actually think there would be ANY repercussions if they did?

This has certainly been the best-built match of the card with everyone hitting their beats perfectly in promos and the right amount of intrigue to throw a little doubt if UT will actually win. By little I mean REALLY little because ending the streak right now would be shitty and it now seems the prevailing wisdom that UT will never lose.

These guys know how to work and last year saw them work the slowest match of the year and still get the biggest reaction. The crowd and the viewers at home ate it all up with a big spoon and are waiting for more of the same this year. Luckily we have a super-hot main event as this rematch would have dominated the card and everything else would have been an afterthought.

I give the match to the UT despite Shawn’s best effort to give HHH the win.

C.M. Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship
The two title matches will offer perhaps the best quality wrestling on the card as the two other main event matches will be more about the spectacle. This title match in particular has been made personal by Jericho in the past couple of weeks and seeing C.M Punk get his dander up has added a nice twist to the feud.

My big fear for this match is that it will not be given a tremendous amount of time but looking at how few matches there are on this card I’m hoping both title matches get at least 20 minutes because they deserve it as all the wrestlers involved have worked hard to get to this point.

I think this match will have a high level of intensity and I have this funny feeling the C.M Punk may start getting a heel reaction from the crowd thanks to his comments about the Rock and being one the few visible Rock detractors on record. I’m sure it will start slow and build up and Jericho and Punk are shrewd enough to follow the mood of the crowd and adapt the match accordingly.

Regardless of who the fans cheer I see Punk winning in a high quality match with a bunch of interesting spots.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus for the World Hvt. Championship
Sheamus HAS to go over hear and not doing so would hurt him long term. He’s been built up since the Royal Rumble as a steamrolling babyface and Daniel Bryan has set himself up as the slimy heel just waiting to have his face re-arranged to the joy of the fans. While these guys don’t have the personal issue Punk/Jericho have, the individuals themselves have been built up well and when mixed together should have quite the encounter.

I stand by my comment the Bryan is the best heel in years in the WWE and with the amount of promo and match time he’s been given in the last month it’s pretty obvious that the office sees him in much the same way. He’s a guy you can plug into a program with anyone and he’ll make it work for you. He’s been the best thing on Smackdown for a while and deserves a WM headline spot and pay-off.

The match itself should be a technically good match and I see this one starting a little slow with fans and if it’s give enough time I bet dollars to cents they will have the match of the night quality wise and Sheamus will walk out the new champ and his reputation enhanced massively.

Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show for the Intercontinental Title
Cody has made huge strides over the last year, especially after ditching the mask and the paper bag gimmick. He’s had some good matches and has managed to stay a solid heel even though he’s not had any great feuds to sink his teeth into. While the Big Show and Cody haven’t set the world alight, it’s been a long while since the IC title was given such a high profile airing and it’s nice to see it get a WM slot for once.

Cody is also getting quite the longevity streak happening so a strong win over Show here would be perfect to help roll that on post Mania but it’s tough to see who they’ll find to feud him with afterwards. A guy like Kofi would be obvious and the matches they’ll have would be good but Kofi is such a mid-card geek these days besting him in a feud means nothing.

Randy Orton vs. Kane
This match defines underwhelming, as Kane is just the kiss of death to feud with these days. I don’t so much mind that he’s back in the mask and the “embrace the hate” stuff really could have had legs with the right person but feuding with a guy known as the “Apex Predator” seems superfluous since I’m guessing hate isn’t a new emotion for him.

Randy himself should not be anywhere near a ring with the injuries he’s had in the past few months and the latest concussion should’ve had alarm bell ringing. The man needs long-term rest. Granted Kane is a super safe worker and if you need a big monster to take care of Randall, Kane’s you guy.

I pick Randy to win in a super crappy match and then get laid out by Lord Tensai at the end.

Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve

Don’t care.

Team Johnny: David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Miz, Jack Swagger, and Drew McIntyre vs. Team Teddy: Santino Marella, R-Truth, The Great Khali, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, and Booker T.

This is my big sleeper match of the night. This card currently has only 8 matches on it and there has been no talk or plans for any additional matches (although I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Brodus Clay match appear). Even if all four of the main event matches get 30 minutes each they still have 4 other matches to fill up 2 hours. Cut about 45 minutes out for dorky backstage stuff and I would be surprised if they gave the woman’s match more than 5 minutes and that still leave another hour of wrestling to be filled by three matches.

I don’t know if anyone noticed but half the participants can put on fairly decent match and a guy like Santino is one of the most over guys on the roster these days. There is a real strong chance that given some smart booking and 15 minutes ring time this match could be quite the barnburner. I’m not looking for the second coming of the spectacular RAW 10-Man tag from 2000, but the pieces are there to entertain the hell out of the crowd and the audience at home.

My biggest fear is that over-booking will ruin any chance this match has to be the match it could be.

In an obvious nod to this being a WrestleMania Special it was only logical that this weeks Legends of Wrestling roundtable recap look at their WrestleMania show. Gene Okerlund hosts this week that also includes Mick Foley, Pat Patterson, Michaels Hayes and Dusty Rhodes. This aired prior to WM24.

Foley talks about being a college student and not having the ability to see the show because of the lack of CCTV and only got to see it the next week. Pat talks about how exciting the original show was and how amazing it was that arenas sold out just so crowds could watch the show on a single screen. Hayes talks about screwing up the Freebirds chance to be on that card. Dusty bring up Starcade and believes Vince didn’t get the idea from the NWA but people were really hoping that WrestleMania was going to fail.

Talk quickly moves to how Vince rolled the dice with this show. Hayes says that he thought the show was going to fall on its ass since Vince was doing everything that wrestling convention said you shouldn’t. Gene talks about going to the show with Jesse Ventura and not being sure what was going to happen but when they arrived they knew it was going to work.

Foley asks if the talk about the inside rumor of sabotage had any legs and Hayes said there was always talk about bombs scares and the like but nothing happened. He said talk like that always happened and related how people said they were going to kill the Brisco Brothers for selling to Vince. That didn’t happen either.

Gene talks about marrying wrestling with music and MTV but Pat starts on about Muhammad Ali and how he was supposed to be the actual ref for the match but after talking to him for 15 minutes, Pat went to Vince and said Ali wasn’t capable to ref. Sop they made him the 2nd ref and Pat worked the match. Foley and Hayes rib him about going for the bigger payday. Pat talks about working with Mr T. in the months leading up to the match and thought he would be the better choice of ref incase T got lost in the ring.

Talks about during the match that he had to hold Ali back because he was getting into the match a bit too much. Piper and Ordorff were screaming to get him out of the ring and guest announcer Billy Martin was taking his jacket off to get him some action. Liberace was just happy to rig his bell.

Pat talks about how backstage there was a good feeling about the show. Gene talks about doing press and promos prior to the event and tells a story about going to interview Billy Martin and finding him smashed at a bar. So Gene made him use baseball stories and equate it to wrestling to bluff their way though.

Gene jumps to WM3 and talks about the big crowd in Detroit. Dusty talks about being at a party in Aspen and seeing the highlight on ESPN and smiled because it was the proof that wrestling will never die. They talk about the Savage/Steamboat classic about how it started the sea change on how people worked matches and that they really did matter and it wasn’t just about the moments like Hogan slamming Andre. Hayes said that match meant that only did the WWF have the glitz but now they had the great matches as well. He also remembers that CCN (a sister station in the Turner organization) actually read the results as part of a sports cast.

They talk about the financial benefits to having a WM event in your city and talk about Detroit earning over $30 million from hosting WM23 and now cities bid for the right to host the event. Pat talks about going to Detroit airport after WM3 and how it was packed with wrestling fans all dressed in merchandise and never seeing anything like it before. Pat also lets on that Vince had just as much riding on WM 3 as he did the original and was rolling the dice once more financially.

Hayes talks about how wrestling should be proud of itself for being able to elevate the industry and create a hug event like WM. He goes on about how much work goes on backstage to get the matches in the ring and Pat agrees telling a story about Randy Savage being so possessive of Elizabeth and Pat being worried about her safety while walking to the ring at WM5 and personally walking her down with security and then later regretting it because if something did happen to her Randy would have killed him.

They talk about how the wrestlers clamored be on the card or at the very least liked to just be in the audience. Dusty puts over how Vince includes the families of the wrestlers WM making it just that more special. He also talks about having WrestleMania moments and that turns to Mick believing he was put on the level with guys that had had them but he had never really had the one great match to justify that association. Talks about how he used this as fuel for his match with Edge and Michael Hayes saying post-match that he finally had that moment he needed.

Pat turns things towards Warrior/Hogan and going out into the crowd to watch the match because he knew Hogan was going to drop the title and suddenly Vince joins him. Pat talks about having tears in his eyes and Vince getting annoyed because he started doing the same. Gene talks about riding in the limo with Hogan afterwards and Hogan not saying a word for three hours. Pat tells a cool story about Warrior disappearing after the match and Pat searching high and low for him and finally finding him secluded away crying a river of tears saying he couldn’t believe everything that had happened. Gene said the match was way better than all expectations said it should have been.

They talk a little about celebrities and they immediately talk about Mike Tyson and Hayes said he wasn’t that bad and that Shawn Michaels was much worse. Pat and Hayes agree that dealing with celebs was a hassle. Pat talks about warning Burt Reynolds and Donald Trump about getting their toupees ripped off. Having issue getting Pamela Anderson out of the limo with Tommy Lee and more. Mick said the best celebs were always the ones that were the ones that were into wrestling like Pete Rose and Mike Tyson.

Favorite WM moments for everyone…Hayes picks the WM23 match-up of Undertaker vs. Batista title match being the making of Dave. Foley picks the whole WM17 event from the matches to the atmosphere and the Hall of Fame induction of Bret Hart. Dusty picks Steamboat/Savage as the ultimate match. Pat picks Shawn and Bret at WM12. Gene talks about him and Bobby Heenan commentating the Gimmick battle Royal at WM17.

Wrap Up: This is one of the weaker RT’s this show has put on. It was interesting in places but there was no real meat to the stories and no real insight to the events as a whole. Don’t forget this was pre-WrestleMania DVD documentary from a year or so ago so this was really a subject that had little or no play I a wider forum. Usually I’m going hell for leather recapping but this time it was almost a little to easy to keep up because of the fluff. Personally I would have loved a little more about the original event, the financial peril the company would have been in if it failed and more about guys like Hogan, Savage and Warrior and their general mindsets about the whole first years of the event.

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