Tito Santana

[PPV Recap] ‘WWF WrestleMania III’ – The Irresistible Force Meets the Immovable Object

Date: March 29, 1987
Venue: Pontiac Silverdome (Pontiac, MI)
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura

Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

Champion Roll-Call

  • WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan
  • WWF Intercontinental Champion: ‘The Macho Man’ Randy Savage
  • WWF Women’s Champion: The Fabulous Moolah
  • WWF World Tag Team Champions: The Hart Foundation (Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart & Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart)

The Lineup

  • The Can-Am Connection vs. ‘Magnificent’ Don Muraco & Bob Orton Jr. (**1/2)
  • Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules (***)
  • Hillbilly Jim, Little Beaver, & The Haiti Kid vs. King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo, & Lord Littlebrook (3/4*)
  • Loser Must Bow: The Junkyard Dog vs. Harley Race (*1/2)
  • The Rougeau Brothers vs. The Dream Team (*3/4)
  • Hair vs. Hair: Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis (**3/4)
  • Tito Santana & The British Bulldogs vs. Danny Davis & The Hart Foundation (**1/2)
  • Koko B. Ware vs. Butch Reed (*1/2)
  • Randy Savage [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat for the WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP (****3/4)
  • Jake Roberts vs. The Honky Tonk Man (*3/4)
  • The Killer Bees vs. The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff (*1/2)
  • Hulk Hogan [c] vs. Andre The Giant for the WWF CHAMPIONSHIP (****)

(more…)

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[PPV Recap] ‘WWF WrestleMania’ – It All Begins Here

Date: March 31, 1985
Venue: Madison Square Garden (Manhattan, NY)
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura

Every wrestling fan worth their weight in salt (or have watched any WWE Network doc about it) already know the story so I’ll just keep it brief: this event was a make it or break situation for the WWF at the time, with Vince McMahon leveraging his entire business on the success of this show. Luckily he already had a winning formula at the time with then-World Champion Hulk Hogan and their partnership with MTV so even though there was a chance for failure I don’t think it was as big of a deal as they make it out to be. I could be wrong though, I’m one of them there internet nerds writing compendium books. Whatever. Also if you can’t tell I’m stalling for time because oh boy has this show not aged well but I’ll shut up now and get to it.

Champion Roll-Call

  • WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan
  • WWF Intercontinental Champion: Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine
  • WWF Tag Team Champions: The U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo)

The Lineup

  • Tito Santana vs. The Executioner (*3/4)
  • Special Delivery Jones vs. King Kong Bundy (SQUASH)
  • Ricky Steamboat vs. Matt Borne (**)
  • David Sammartino vs. Brutus Beefcake (*)
  • Greg Valentine [c] vs. The Junkyard Dog for the WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP (*)
  • The U.S. Express [c] vs. The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff for the WWF WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (**1/2)
  • $15,000 Body Slam Challenge: Andre The Giant vs. Big John Studd (DUD)
  • Leilani Kai [c] vs. Wendi Richter for the WWF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP (**1/4)
  • Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (***)

(more…)