I lived for this stuff throughout my junior high and early high school years. I collected the magazines, videos, trading cards, action figures, and more. I watched the Saturday morning WWF shows and Saturday Night’s Main Event religiously. All the money earned from my newspaper route in junior high went straight to Hulk Hogan, British Bulldogs, and Ms. Elizabeth memorabilia. Of course now I’ve sold all of it through CraigsList, but that’s besides the point. It was fake, but entertaining; repetitive, but engaging; outrageous, yet hilarious. That’s why I think the match between Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Randy “The Macho Man”Savage was one of the best in wrestling entertainment.
As a kid watching Wrestlemania III in 1987, there were plenty of matches to be excited about: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana vs. The Hart Foundation and Danny Davis. or Rowdy Piper vs Adrian Adonis. But it was this match that was truly about entertaining the crowd with theatrics, high-flying acrobats, and more.
The match description that follows is taken from here.
What most people remember most from WrestleMania III is Hulk Hogan summoning up super human strength to bodyslam and defeat the previously undefeated Andre the Giant to retain the WWF Championship. According to some, however, it was Randy “Macho Man” Savage and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat who stole the show in their Intercontinental Championship matchup.
Savage was the Intercontinental Champion and defended his championship against Steamboat in November 1986. During the match Savage used the ring bell and seriously injured Steamboat, crushing his larynx with the foreign object. Steamboat put all of his focus and energy into rehabbing from the injury and the two met to settle score at WrestleMania III with the Intercontinental Championship on the line.
The end result was one of the greatest matches of all time, which in turn became the gold standard of WrestleMania matches. Savage looked like he had everything going for him for most of the match. At one point Savage had Steamboat down and landed the famous flying elbow drop, but referee Earl Hebner was knocked out. Frustrated with the turn of events, Savage went for his weapon of choice, the ring bell. George “The Animal” Steele, who was in Steamboat’s corner, cut him off and wouldn’t allow him to use the foreign object. Savage became frustrated and as the referee was coming back to his senses, Savage hit a bodyslam, but Steamboat turned it into a small package for the win, shocking Savage and sending the fans into a frenzy as they gave him a standing ovation.
This match was fast-paced with a good mix of brawling, technical and high-flying maneuvers. The action was absolutely seamless, and it’s no wonder that this match is still talked about today as perhaps the greatest ever in WWF and WrestleMania history.
Ricky Steamboat vs Randy Savage Wrestlemania III part 1
Ricky Steamboat vs Randy Savage Wrestlemania III part 2
Have a favorite Wrestlemania match? Are you an old school 80’s WWF fan? Let me know.
Note: This post is not endorsed by Laura. This is all Brett.
