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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
What The World Was Watching..., 31 Jul 2004
Wrestlemania 3 & 4 took place in 1987 and 1988 respectively and further endeared U.S. fans to the product, as well as capturing a world-wide audience as well (although this didn't include the UK; WWF TV coverage didn't begin here until Sky TV launched in 1989). Wrestlemania 3 was a more "regular" Wrestlemania (it was 3 hours, nowadays WM is 4 or even 5 hours long), but is one of the most groundbreaking. It set an indoor attendance record in the Pondiac Silverdome in Michigan by seating around 93,000 fans and featured the highly anticipated "dream match" between Hulk Hogan and the late Andre The Giant. Obviously, this is the biggest match on the card, but the a few of the remaining matches also provide plenty of entertainment. For example, Hulk VS Andre may be the main event, but Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat steal the show with their excellent IC Title Match that was probably one of the most exciting and fast-paced matches from that era. Elsewhere, The Hart Foundation and former Referee Danny Davis have an exciting 6-Man Tag with The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana, Jake "The Snake" (accompanied by singer Alice Cooper) has an enjoyable bout with The Honky Tonk Man, The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk) have a good opening tag match with Bob Orton and Don Muraco and Hercules and Billy Jack Haynes have a surprisingly fair battle to determine who is the true master of the Full Nelson. However, the card does have its shortcomings. The midget match featuring King Kong Bundy and Hillbilly Jim as the team captains is atrocious, Harley Race VS JYD is a waste of time, Roddy Piper's "retirement" match against Adrian Adonis is a bore and Iron Shiek and Volkoff VS The Killer Bees isn't much better. The main event (Hogan VS Andre) is good and features the history-making body-slam from "The Hulkster" that no fan from any generation will forget. Main event-wise, the match isn't amazing, but considering the limitations of Andre (who was in poor health at the time and close to ending his career), it's as good as can be. Wrestlemania 4 took place at the Trump Plaza and was a somewhat of a disaster. Most of the crowd was made up of Donald Trump (who's not a wrestling fan) and his cronies, which meant the atmosphere for the matches was virtually non-existent. However, the card itself was somewhat of a farce itself. Most of it is made up of overlong and rushed 14-man tournament to determine the new WWF Champion. Most of the matches are worthless; the only one that truly stands out is the genuinely exciting final match. The more traditional matches (Honky Tonk Man VS Brutus, Strike Force VS Demolition, Bobby Heenan & The Islanders VS The British Bulldogs and Koko B Ware) are actually allot better and suggest that WM 4 would have been allot better if it had featured less matches. Overall, this is a less spectacular "Tagged Classics" release than usual. WM 3 provides enough entertainment, but WM 4 is a bit of a drag. However, even that contains JUST enough to make it worth having as part of a double DVD set. WM 3 & 4 may not be as impressive as their predecessors, but they're still worthy of a place on any wrestling fan's shelf.
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