Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Wrestlemania 4



Wrestlemania 4
Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, NJ)
Original Airdate: March 27, 1988



As I mentioned in the Macho Man tribute, the next few entries will have bit of an arc.



Some background to said arc: At Wrestlemania 4 the Macho Man won the WWF championship by winning several matches in a single elimination tournament (if you haven't caught this now 23 year old event yet, I wholeheartedly apologize for the spoiler). Hulk Hogan directly contributed to this win. Directly following this, Macho Man and Hogan formed a tag team known as the "Mega Powers". This lasted for awhile until Macho Man eventually turned heel and (unsuccessfully) attempted to defend his belt against Hogan the next year at Wrestlemania 5.



"Why are we going to devote several entries to this?", you may ask. Well, mostly because it is something that simply isn't done in the WWE anymore. The increase to monthly pay per views has made such a slow building story more or less impossible to pull off without people losing interest. In addition, in my humble opinion, the product has adapted to the times and become much to the point. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying pro wrestling was ever some sort of complex, layered brew. But as I'd like to think I'll prove in the next few entries, there was a lost subtlety to it that I didn't catch as a kid.



So first let's set the scene, then attempt to put it in a greater context. The WWF championship had been vacated. In storyline, Andre The Giant had been paid by the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase to beat Hulk Hogan for the belt and then give it to him. (a quick aside: I don't think I've mentioned Dibiase yet, but he is another one of the unsung heroes of this WWF era. His character, an egotistical billionaire, was totally cutting edge at the time, and he played it to perfection) With the help of an evil twin referee (honestly, it's tough to even explain. Download the appropriate episode of "The Main Event" if you want to see how it all went down) Andre did just that. But in storyline, due to all the confusion, the belt was held up. In order to crown a new champion, it was announced that a single elimination tournament would be held at Wrestlemania. This was a stroke of genius that made Wrestlemania 4 possibly the most engaging 'Mania to date. Hogan vs Andre was clearly the biggest marquee main event, but to have most of the matches on the show between guys in pursuit of the world title added high stakes and an element of intrigue that had previously been absent.



It was within this engaging premise where the first seeds of the Macho Man/Hulk Hogan rivalry were planted. The tournament featured 10 wrestlers. A few of which were clearly filler and never had a shot (Dino Bravo, Butch Reed, etc). Now, obviously I was little young to remember the buzz leading up the event and this was long before there were 100000000 internet wrestling "rumor" sites, but I have to think most people believed the winner would be Hogan, Andre, Macho Man, or MAYBE Dibiase. Maybe there was a dark horse, but from what I've seen and what I can tell, those were the guys who were over enough to pull off the title win at the time. But surely most didn't expect what ended up happening, which was (spoiler alert for a 23 year old show) Hogan and Andre eliminating each other in their match.



Well needless to say, Macho Man goes on to defy the odds and win several grueling matches (the last against Dibiase) to become the new WWF champion. However, Hulk Hogan comes out before the end of the Dibiase match to prevent outside interference against the Macho Man. At the time, surely in storyline, it seemed Hogan was performing a selfless act to protect his good friend from getting screwed. In fact, this gesture on the part of Hogan starts a tag team partnership with Savage. Known as the "Mega Powers", they would go on to a few months of high profile angles (more on that later).



This is where the all important psychology element of wrestling comes in. In storyline, we're led to believe Macho Man starts to feel his title reign in Hulk's shadow. After all, he needed Hulk's help to win the belt in the first place. After a time, an element of jealousy involving Macho Man's manager (and real life wife) Miss Elizabeth, also enters into the equation. But at the end of Wrestlemania 4, there is absolutely no sign of any of this. Not even a subtle dirty look shot toward Hogan. That is what I feel is missing from a lot of today's mainstream wrestling. If the writers want a guy to turn heel, they'll have him start scowling or hit one of his former friends with a chair or cut a promo denouncing the fans or something. While I can't know what went on in the creative meetings back then, I firmly believe going into Wrestlemania 4, they already knew their Wrestlemania 5 main event was going to be Hulk Hogan vs The Macho Man. But they knew they had a year to build it, so they did nothing but plant the first very vague seeds of discontent between the storyline best friends. It was a completely engaging angle, and still one of my personal favorites of all time. And it was just getting started.



Finally, while I try to make all of my entries in this blog have a pretty definitive arc, there ARE a couple of small random observations/asides I would like to add to this one before I move on:



-This event took place about 5 minutes from where I grew up, and I often which I'd been old enough to attend this or Wrestlemania 5, which took place in the same building. It'd be a cool story to tell other wrestling nerds.



-the first match on the card featured Bret "The Hitman" Hart, who was previously a hated heel tag team wrestler turning on another heel named Bad News Brown. This was basically his first exposure as a singles wrestler, and it is significant because he would go on to carry the company on his back for a few years following the departure of Hogan. but more on that later.









Card:
Bad News Brown won a 20 man battle royal (other participants: Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Boris Zhukov, B. Brian Blair, "Dangerous" Danny Davis, George "The Animal" Steele, Harley Race, Hillbilly Jim, Jacques Rougeau, Jumpin Jim Brunzell, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Jim Powers, Junkyard Dog, Ken Patera, Nikolai Volkoff, Paul Roma, Raymond Rougeau, "The Outlaw" Ron Bass, Sam Houston, Sika)



First round tournament matches:
"The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase (w/Virgil and Andre The Giant) def. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
"The Rock" Don Muraco (w/"Superstar" Billy Graham) def. Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin)by disqualification
Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) def. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) def. "The Natural" Butch Reed (w/Slick)
One Man Gang (w/Slick) def. Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) by countout
"Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) fought Jake "The Snake" Roberts to a time limit draw


The Ultimate Warrior def. Hercules (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan)


Quarter Final tournament matches:
Hulk Hogan fought Andre The Giant (w/Ted Dibiase and Virgil) to a double disqualification
Ted Dibiase def. Don Muraco
Randy Savage def. Greg Valentine


Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def. Intercontinental champion The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue)by disqualification
The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan def. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and "The Birdman" Koko B Ware



Semi-Final Tournament match:
Randy Savage def. One Man Gang



Demolition (Ax and Smash)(w/Mr. Fuji) def. Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) to win the WWF Tag Team Championships



Tournament Final:
Randy Savage def. Ted Dibiase to win the WWF Heavyweight Championship



Next up: (THE FIRST) Summerslam

Friday, May 20, 2011

RIP "Macho Man" Randy Savage



After I finished my last entry in this blog, I had the next few mapped out in my head. For the first time, a few of them were going to have a general arc. And that arc would be very much about the Macho Man. I am getting to the point in my pay per view journey where Macho Man became a HUGE part of the success of WWF. At least for a couple of years. Well, I still plan on writing those entries, but the sad news of "Macho Man" Randy Savage's passing earlier today makes me feel as if I have to derail a bit and write a general reflection/tribute on one of the true greats of the business.



I don't get phased easily by "celebrity" deaths. But when I was walking to lunch today and got the text that the Macho Man had died, I have to say I was stunned. I've stated over and over again here that I have been a WWF/E fan basically my entire life. I probably saw Macho Man on my TV once a week for at least 5-6 years. With the absolutely absurd amount of wrestlers passing at a too young age, it SHOULDN'T have come as a surprise. But it did. And as silly as it sounds, I felt like a piece of my childhood had just been yanked from me.





I'm sure a ton will be written about Randy Savage in the wake of his death, so I will try not to delve too far into the realm of cliche here. That having been said, it's interesting to consider what made Macho Man one of the all time greats. It is probably fair to say that he faltered for the last few years of his career (look, we're being honest here), but man...for a period of maybe 2-4 years, there was arguably no one better.





His in ring work was certainly a part of it. He was a fine mat based wrestler but was also decidly more aerial than a lot of the musclebound bodybuilder types in WWF at the time. I remember one spot in particular that he did nearly every match. He would have his opponent's neck draped across the top rope, and then hit the ropes and do a running leap over the top rope to the floor, thereby creating the effect of crushing his opponent's throat across the rope. I remember thinking then (and now while I rewatch these shows) that this was an incredibly agile move compared to the standard punch/kick stuff a lot of the matches on those cards had to offer. Basically, while he may not have been revolutionary in the ring, he was just very very good, and different enough to really stand out at the right time. According to written accounts, he also developed a reputation at this time for being a relentless perfectionist. He wanted to choreograph all of his big matches thoroughly and completely. Legend has it that before his match with Ricky Steamboat, which I discuss in an earlier entry, he had Steamboat down to his house in Florida several weeks before the match to begin preparing. I'm not sure if this was a huge factor in his success, but I'm quite sure it probably didn't hurt. Ultimately (at least to me), none of his great matches during the peak of his success looked OVERLY prepared. Just well written and tight.





Everyone who is REALLY familiar with the Macho Man knows it was his charisma that sky rocketed him to the top though. He was loud, wore bright outfits, entered the ring to the strains of the graduation anthem "Pomp and Circumstance" and when Macho Man spoke YOU LISTENED. Even though, as a couple of the promos I've posted prove, sometimes it wasn't clear what on Earth he was talking about. But I guess that's what people talk about when they say someone has "it". You can't turn away even if you don't quite understand what is going on. They have far too much charisma. That was Randy Savage to a tee.





Of course, like a lot of professional wrestlers, he also had some epic flameouts. When he came on the scene in the WWF, he was managed by his real life wife, Miss Elizabeth. Elizabeth was also an important figure in wrestling, being easily the most popular female in the business up to that time, and arguably still one of the most popular of all time. But that's a topic for another entry. Eventually, Randy and Elizabeth got divorced, and it seemed to really signal a fork for them both. He landed in WCW after his amazing WWF run, but its' kind of tough to pinpoint many great Macho Man WCW matches. He still cut some great, whacky promos, but (to me at least) the fire seemed to go out a bit at that point in terms of his matches and work. And then of course, as anyone who follows ironic internet trends knows, he decided to record an ill advised rap album in 2003. But once again, even though it was certainly about as far from good as a rap album can be, it was still entertaining in a (VERY) weird sort of way. That was just the Macho Man. not everything he did was "good", per se, but he was never ever boring. He will be sorely missed by all true wrestling fans. Rest in Peace Brother. OHHHHHHH YEAAHHHHH. BOW TO THE KINGDOM OF THE MADNESSSSS.