WrestleMania III

The Can-Am Connection vs. The Magnificent Muraco and "Cowboy" Bob Orton = 2.5/5

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules = 2/5

Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver and The Haiti Kid vs. King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo = DUD

Loser Must Bow Match: The Junkyard Dog vs. "King" Harley Race = 0.5/5

The Rougeau Brothers vs. The Dream Team = 1.75/5

Hair vs. Hair Match: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. "Adorable" Adrian Adonis = 1.5/5

The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana vs. The Hart Foundation and "Dangerous" Danny Davis = 3/5

Koko B. Ware vs. "The Natural" Butch Reed = 0.5/5

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) = 5/5

Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. The Honky Tonk Man = 0.5/5

The Killer Bees vs. Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik = 1.5/5

WWF Championship: Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan (c) = 0.25/5

WrestleMania IV

20 Man Battle Royal = 2/5

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase = 0.75/5

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match: "The Rock" Don Muraco vs. Dino Bravo = 1.25/5

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine = 2.5/5

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Natural" Butch Reed = 0.5/5

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. One Man Gang = 0.25/5

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match: Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude = 1.25/5

The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules = 0.25/5

WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Final Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant = 0.25/5

WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Final Match: "The Rock" Don Muraco vs. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase = 1.25/5

WWF Championship Tournament Quarter-Final Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine = 1.5/5

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. The Honky Tonk Man (c) = 0.5/5

The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware vs. The Islanders and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan = 1.75/5

WWF Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. One Man Gang = 0.5/5

WWF Tag Team Championship: Demolition vs. Strike Force (c) = 2/5

WWF Championship Tournament Final Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase = 2.5/5

Wrestlemania III

Held in front of over 93,000 fans in the Pontiac Silver Dome and headlined by the most famous wrestling match of all time, Wrestlemania III was quite simply the biggest event in WWF history. Hulk Hogan had been WWF World Champion for 3 years at that time and was about to face his biggest challenge in the shape of his former best friend, Andre the Giant. The match itself wasn't great but it was as good as it could have been considering Andre was barely mobile at this point in his career. The fans, obviously, were really into it and that was the most important thing.

While Hulk and Andre's match was undoubtedly the biggest match and the one that drew the house, the best match on the card was Ricky Steamboat versus Randy Savage for the Intercontinental Title. This match is still looked back on today as one of the best in Wrestlemania history with the fans going crazy for all the near falls. Another match to look out for is the Hart Foundation and Danny Davis taking on the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana, although it still surprises me that heel referee-turned-wrestler Davis was allowed to recover from the pounding
he took to win the match for his team. The Can-Am Connection versus Bob Orton and Don Muraco is also a decent offering.

The rest of the card ranges from average to poor. Roddy Piper's so-called "retirement match" with Adrian Adonis is notable only for the beating Jimmy Hart took; Harley Race's match with the Junkyard Dog is pretty lousy; the six-man tag involving the midgets is embarrassing; and the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff versus the Killer Bees is a pointless match with an even more pointless finish. Jake "The Snake" Roberts did have a fair bout with the Honky Tonk Man, and while Billy Jack Haynes' match with Hercules isn't bad, the finish makes you wonder why they even bothered.


Wrestlemania IV

The big story going into Wrestlemania IV was that Hulk Hogan's 4 year reign as WWF World Champion had come to an end after being cheated out of the title by Ted Dibiase who paid off referee Earl Hebner in Hogan's title defence against Andre the Giant in February of the same year. Andre then immediately attempted to sell the title to Dibiase but as a result the championship was declared vacant and put up for grabs in a 14-man single elimination tournament at Wrestlemania. It sounded like a winning idea, but did they pull it off? Well, kind of.

Firstly, unlike the year before where over 93,000 screaming fans jam-packed the Pontiac Silver Dome, Wrestlemania IV was held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City in front of less than 20,000 fans. The number of fans wasn't really the problem; it was the severe lack of atmosphere. The other problem was that there were just too many matches and they were mostly short and forgettable. Wrestlemania IV still told an intriguing one night story though and achieved its goal of crowning a
new World Champion.

The show began with a lacklustre 20-man battle royal which would have been completely unmemorable if not for Bret Hart's babyface turn at the end. The first round of the championship tournament contained one good match (Valentine vs Steamboat), one awful match (One Man Gang vs Bam Bam Bigelow) and four average ones. The Ultimate Warrior then made his Wrestlemania debut as he defeated Hercules in a dreadful match before Hulk and Andre walked out to temporarily wake up the crowd in their 2nd round match-up. Of course it wasn't pretty but it was the rematch everyone came to see. The problem was the crowd was even more deflated
once Hogan was eliminated. Dibiase then got past Don Muraco and Randy Savage beat Greg Valentine in two decent efforts. We then took a short break from the tournament as the Honky Tonk Man fought Brutus Beefcake for the Intercontinental Title before The Islanders and Bobby Heenan bested the British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware. Next Savage completed his route to the final with a short disqualification victory over the One Man Gang which led to the penultimate, and probably best match of the evening as Demolition beat Strike Force for the WWF Tag Team Title. The tournament final completed the show as Randy Savage (with help from Hulk Hogan) defeated Ted Dibiase (along with Andre) to win the WWF World Title in a good match.

WrestleMania III is often regarded as one of WWE's finest events but, as ever, nostalgia always makes things seem better than they really were. As is the case with early WrestleManias, there are way too many matches which means that some are so short they are virtually pointless. The most memorable matches from the show are Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant and Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat. Hogan/Andre is one hell of a spectacle & the crowd are hot but the actual match hasn't aged well at all; it's actually quite dull in places and is pretty poor overall. Savage/Steamboat also hasn't aged well but is still a fine match. The undercard is a mish-mash of the good, the bad, and the pointless, meaning that WrestleMania III is a decent watch, but by no means essential.
WrestleMania IV is built around a one night tournament for the vacant WWE title. The match quality varies wildly but the final is pretty good by anyone's standards. The non-tournament matches are another mixed bag; the Battle Royal is a fun spectacle, Warrior vs Hercules is a basic 80's 'big man' match, the six man tag is enjoyable all thanks to Bobby Heenan's antics (and a bored bulldog that has no interest in chasing him!), Strike Force vs Demolition is the best match of the undercard and Honky vs Beefcake is nothing special at all. Once again, like the previous 2 WrestleManias, this suffers from having an overabundance of matches. Still, it was the first wrestling video I ever bought so I'm slightly biased in its favour!
Overall, these are worth a look but aren't 'must haves' by any means.