Sunday, March 27th, 1988
Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Off The Grid, Volume 44:
With this review, I now have reviewed the first 11 WrestleMania's. The only negative is that I had to actually watch this show. This could very well be the last time I ever watch this show. Ah, who am I kidding? I'm sure I'll do some rewatch at some point again.
Gene Okerlund welcomes us to the show and introduces Gladys Knight to sing "America the Beautiful". We then go to Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura while they are setting up for the battle royal. Bob Uecker joins the booth, which is always fine by me.
Battle Royal
The competitors here are the Hart Foundation, Young Stallions, Sika, Danny Davis, Killer Bees, Bad News Brown, Sam Houston, Rougeau Brothers, Ken Patera, Ron Bass, Junkyard Dog, Bolsheviks, Hillbilly Jim, Harley Race and George Steele. That's quite a group of guys in the ring here. Steele is just hanging around outside the ring. He pulls Jim Neidhart out of the ring and he's eliminated. This feels like a dark match. The final four are Paul Roma, Bad News Brown, Bret Hart and Junkyard Dog. Roma is gone and JYD is on a roll. Bret and Bad News work together on JYD. They formulate a plan and dump JYD out of the ring. They celebrate together in the ring, but then Bad News turns on Bret. I didn't see that one coming. He dumps Bret over the top and we have a winner. He is presented with the giant trophy. In crawls Bret and he attacks Bad News from behind. He then takes the trophy and smashes it on the mat before chucking it out of the ring. Bad News heads to the back and the crowd cheers Bret. This was pointless until the end.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Fink brings out Robin Leach to read the rules regarding the tournament.
WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match
Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase
Andre The Giant is with DiBiase and Virgil. It's always weird to see Duggan in black rather than blue. Duggan hits his signature atomic drop and it sends DiBiase over the top rope. You have to love Gorilla getting on Duggan for wasting time. These two are having a match that would give you the impression that they never have wrestled before, which we know isn't true. Duggan hits a body slam to set up for his finisher, but Andre grabs his feet. Duggan turns around confronts him, but DiBiase hits him with a knee to the back and pins him. Andre also hit him with a right hand right in front of the referee. What a poorly executed finish.
Match Rating: *1/2
Brutus Beefcake is with Mean Gene and gives as cheesy of an interview as you will ever see. What else would you expect from Beefcake?
WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match
Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco
Not one person in the arena seems to care about Bravo. We get a bunch of moves and not much more. We get a weird ref bump where he gets sandwiched. Bravo hits his patented side suplex and the ref is up to tell Bravo that he is disqualified. In the replay, Bravo grabbed the referee and put him in harms way. What a convincing win for Muraco.
Match Rating: 3/4*
We go back to Uecker and he's still looking for Vanna White. In comes Jimmy Hart and Honky Tonk Man.
WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match
Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat
Ricky brings his son down to the ring. He was a staple of the early days of my blog in the first year of NXT. It only takes about 30 seconds for them to talk about how deep Steamboat's arm drag is and how it takes Valentine a long time to get warmed up. Man, Steamboat was just so good. He deserved better than what he got after WrestleMania III. They get quite a bit more time than the first two matches and deservingly so. Steamboat makes a comeback and hits Valentine with a chop off the top rope for a 2 count. The ref stands in between him during his 10 punches in the corner and he throws him out of the way, which should have been a disqualification. Steamboat goes off the top and hits a crossbody. Valentine rolls through, grabs the tights and picks up the victory. This was decent enough.
Match Rating: **1/4
Mean Gene is with Koko B. Ware and the British Bulldogs. Don't forget Matilda and Frankie.
WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match
Butch Reed vs. Randy Savage
Butch Reed is still one of those guys that just feels like he was never in WWF, even though he made WrestleMania twice. Butch gets in some offense, but this match feels rushed. Being the great recapper that I am, all I am going to type is that Reed goes up top and Savage throws him off. He hits the top rope elbow drop and that's all. There wasn't too much to it, but it was spirited.
Match Rating: *1/2
We go back to Uecker and in walks Bobby Heenan and the Islanders. I will say, I do really like the backdrop for the interview area.
WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match
One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Bam Bam is another one who just doesn't feel like he existed in WWF's universe in 1988. Bam Bam gets Gang down with a shoulder tackle and does the cartwheel. He hits a low crossbody and that's nowhere near enough for the win. Bam Bam runs the ropes and Slick pulls down the top rope, sending Bam Bam to the floor. I'm not really sure how the ref didn't see it. The refs in this era suck. He gets counted out and no one even knows why. This show is so stupid.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We go to Mean Gene and Hulk Hogan. We get the "Fee-fi-fo-fum" treatment here from Hogan. He then goes on some stupid rant about Donald Trump doing the doggy paddle. Hogan sucks. Trump sucks. This show sucks.
WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match
Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts
I get so depressed every time I have to listen to this second rate fake version of Rude's music. His real entrance theme is maybe the most underrated song in WWF history. I have such a vivid memory of watching this for the first time when I was like 6 or 7 and just being bored to tears by it. Many, many years later, I still feel the same. Jake does hit a nice leaping kneedrop, but Rude rolls out when he goes for the DDT. We get to the moment I remember, the chinlock.. This match has almost put me to sleep about 8 times. Jake finally makes a comeback that ends when they hit a double clothesline. Rude then goes for a pin with assistance from the middle rope, but the 15 minutes are finally over with.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mean Gene is here to go over the updated brackets. He brings in Vanna White, which in reality was a huge get for them in 1988.
Hercules vs. Ultimate Warrior
Apparently, this is a grudge match. It always just felt like a filler match to me. You could argue that almost everything on this show is filler. I hope you like watching punches with minimal selling because that's what we have here. Warrior misses a charge in the corner and that allows Hercules to slap on the Full Nelson. Gorilla calls out how the fingers aren't locked. Warrior uses the second turnbuckle to push himself back and pins Hercules. They say that he got the shoulder up and Herc did not. After the match, Herc chokes him out with the chain, but Warrior gets it away and swings it around. Next.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We get a recap of the Andre The Giant/Hulk Hogan story.
WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan
Andre attacks Hogan as he gets in the ring and we are underway. I will say that Andre looks motivated here. We quickly get a big spot where Virgil distracts the referee and it allows Ted DiBiase to hit Hogan in the back with a chair. We then get a classic double standard where Hogan grabs the chair away and hits Andre with it. That should be an automatic disqualification. Instead, the referee stands there like a goof and then watches Andre hit him with it. Hogan chases after them and hits a suplex on Virgil in the entrance ramp. Hogan goes back in the ring and hits a body slam on Andre before his music hits. Both men are disqualified and eliminated from the tournament. Whatever.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Mean Gene is with Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth.
WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Ted DiBiase vs. Don Muraco
Muraco brings DiBiase in by the hair and slams him in. He hits a clothesline and a scoop powerslam. Muraco tries to pull DiBiase up by his fee, but he holds onto the ropes and sends Muraco into the turnbuckle. DiBiase misses with a reverse elbow off the second turnbuckle. DiBiase catches him and hits the stun gun and that's enough for the victory. This one was a little better than I had remembered.
Match Rating: *1/2
Bob Uecker is still looking for Vanna White. Instead, Demolition and Mr. Fuji walk in.
One Man Gang and Slick are in the ring so that Fink can announce that they have the bye.
WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage
Savage is the aggresor early on, but Valentine shifts the momentum quickly. The crowd just seems exhausted at this point. I don't think you could have picked a worse venue to have a tournament at. Valentine hits a suplex, but then Savage gets a rush of adrenaline. He hits a double ax handle off the top for a 2 count. He knocks Jimmy Hart off the apron and Valentine hits him in the throat and with a reverse elbow. Savage reverses a suplex attempt. He goes up top for another double ax handle and this time Valentine hits him in the midsection. Valentine goes for the Figure Four, but Savage reverses into a small package and picks up the victory. This one felt rushed and a little disjointed.
Match Rating: *1/4
Vanna pretends to not know who Bob Uecker is. She still likes Hulk even though he isn't advancing in the tournament. She also loves the energy that Elizabeth gives Savage.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Honky Tonk Man vs. Brutus Beefcake
No music for Beefcake here, which is about the only thing worthwhile about him. He hits a big atomic drop and then Beefcake messes up his hair. Honky plays the cowardly heel, as you would expect and Beefcake is the cheesy "hero". He misses with an elbow drop and Honky is all over him now. He goes for the Shake, Rattle and Roll Neckbreaker, but Beefcake holds onto the top rope. He hits a back body drop and starts signaling for the haircut. He slaps on the sleeper in the middle of the ring. Jimmy Hart gets up on the apron and then hits the referee while Beefcake celebrates Honky being knocked out. He sees what happened and signals for some cutting. Hart grabs his haircut bag and tries going under the ring. He grabs him and starts trimming some of Jimmy's hair. Peggy Sue dumps some water on Honky to wake him up and a group of referees keep him away from Honky. He walks to the back and they announce a disqualification finish. What a stupid finish.
Match Rating: *
We go to Uecker again and now he has Andre. He claims that Hulkamania is over. Don't we all wish. He then gives the famous choke on Uecker.
Islanders & Bobby Heenan vs. British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware
This is the match where Heenan wears the stupid attack dog jacket. Dynamite Kid hits a catapult on Tama and into the ring post. Davey Boy hits a press slam, but Tama rakes the eye after and tags in Haku. Koko gets in and hits a big dropkick. He then hits a leg scissors/headlock combo on both members of the Islanders. Dynamite runs into a boot and then they tag in Heenan, who stomps away on him. As soon as Dynamite shows signs of life, he tags out. Heenan comes in again, this time with Koko down. Koko gets a couple of right hands in before Heenan rakes the eye. He gets sent into the turnbuckle and gets hit with a dropkick to the back. You know when the crowd isn't cheering for Heenan getting beat up, you have a terrible crowd. The Islanders slam Heenan on Koko and they pick up the win. After the match, Davey Boy grabs Matilda and they chase after Heenan. He trips and he puts Matilda on top of him. The crowd just sits in silence. The match was fine, but with so many quick matches, it all just means nothing.
Match Rating: *3/4
Fink then announces Jesse Ventura and he stands and poses. Sure.
Fink then announces that Ted DiBiase will be in the finals of the tournament as a result of the Andre/Hogan draw.
WWF Championship Tournament Semifinal Match
One Man Gang vs. Randy Savage
Savage snaps Gang's neck on the top rope, but Gang is able to drive him into the turnbuckle. We get usual big man stuff here from Gang. Savage uses his quickness to regain the advantage. Gang ends up outside the ring and hits the double ax handle to the floor. Savage goes for a bodyslam and it backfires of course. Slick starts going after Elizabeth and the referee is distracted. This allows Gang to hit him in the back with the cane. The referee finally sees it and Gang is disqualified. The booking on this show is just absolutely horrible. After the match, Gang hugs Slick and Savage hits them with a double ax handle to knock them both down. It's a good thing they were standing there forever so he could do that.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Back to Gene and Vanna, but Vanna quickly dismisses herself to go to ringside. Gene then runs over the bracket. Uecker then comes in and Gene lets him know that Vanna left.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Demolition vs. Strike Force
Jesse claims that he always gets Ax and Smash confused. I guess this should have been my first clue that there were some idiots running the company. I really have grown to like Demolition while writing reviews that no one reads. I like all four of these guys, so naturally they get the death spot here. Smash catches Tito and holds him up for Ax to illegally clothesline him. Tito hits a desperation flying forearm and both men are down. Both men make tags and Martel slaps on the Boston Crab. There's shenanigans involving Mr. Fuji and it leads to Ax hitting Martel in the back with his cane. Smash covers him and we have new champions. This was the match of the night so far, which isn't saying much.
Match Rating: **1/4
It's time to bring out the celebrities because this show hasn't dragged on forever or anything. Uecker gets to introduce Vanna and then walks her around the ring.
WWF Championship Tournament Finals
Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Savage
We are finally here. Andre is quickly involved and the crowd starts chanting for Hogan. Andre trips him up while running the ropes and he isn't happy about it. Savage still has a lot of pep in his step, which is not surprising at all, but worth noting. He snaps DiBiase's neck on the top rope and DiBiase sells it perfectly. He knees DiBiase out of the ring, but when he goes for the top rope double ax handle, Andre steps in the way. He instead goes and talks to Elizabeth and she heads to the back. I can't believe it. She is coming back and is bringing out Hulk Hogan. I definitely did not expect that to be the case. We quickly get another Andre interference and Hogan is over there to get it to stop. DiBiase goes up top, but Savage gets there first and slams him off. Savage quickly jumps up to the top rope, but DiBiase moves out of the way of the elbow drop. DiBiase slaps on the Million Dollar Dream. The referee gets distracted and Hogan runs in and hits DiBiase in the back with a chair. Savage hits the top rope elbow this time and that's all. The terrible booking continues here. Jesse calls out Hogan and rightfully so. Savage deserved a better match and moment than what he was given here.
Match Rating: **
Even when I was a kid and liked any WWF video that I rented, I never liked this show. It just always felt like it never ends and it still feels that way decades later. This is a bottom 5 WrestleMania and will likely stay that way for a long time.
Overall Rating: 30%
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