Elsalvajeloco

Also, I love how the airport test for wrestlers idea is getting tested. Based on the stories coming out from this past weekend, it sounds like wrestlers past and present were getting mobbed like the Beatles at Idlewild.

IIRC the same day Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the location, a story came out that the plan was the hold it in an alternate location in the United States.

The one thing I noticed from various footage at WrestleCon including the aforementioned Elayna Black video and all WrestleMania weekend long? Not enough zoot suits.

Apparently, I am the only one who didn't know Cab Calloway was still alive. Not only alive but groping people inappropriately.

I cannot speak for the R-Truth thing, but having known Andreas more for boxing and MMA for years prior to him mainly reporting on pro wrestling, he's probably one of the most reputable guys you find. When I saw that a reporter got denied credentials, he was probably the last guy I would come up with. He seemed to really love WWE specifically, which is why he made the jump to wrestling full time. I don't follow his wrestling writing so maybe something happened where he isn't feeling WWE as much under TKO. That said, he would be the guy to cover the Janel Grant case. When UFC or boxing had stuff going on years back, he covered it so this wouldn't be different.

I am sure that there are like 5-8 Puro/Joshi matches that may top it personally, but as far US related matches, Steamboat/Rude 30 minute Iron Man is in the my top 10. At worst, it's just on the outside of that top 10 just cause it happened almost 35 years ago now. Now that said, the Cactus Jack/Sting match on the same card along with War Games that same year are sentimental favorites cause they got me back into WCW.

In my mind, I would be fine with no star rating to be honest. There was nothing that Hogan and Andre could do in ring to match the level of hype nor would it have been needed in the first place to justify the match. The only way it would have fell short of realistic expectations is if Andre's back gave out and they had to go home a minute or so into the match. Otherwise, it was what it needed to be. Now juxtapose that against other marquee matches of Hogan like Warrior at WM VI (overachieved by every metric but they had planned every detail of the match meticulously beforehand) or Hogan vs. Sting at Starrcade 1997. Now if you want to give that latter match a negative star rating, be my guest. For a match where the leadup was booked as perfectly as it possibly could be and everything fell into place over a year and a half, they lost the crowd almost immediately and then somehow lost the crowd even more when Patrick made the non slow count pinfall, and only got it back when Sting "won". That whole match from beginning to end deserved as many negative stars into the infinite.

I wasn't going to belabor the point, but since we're in close proximity, I would like to say that Hogan/Andre worked because Heenan was absolutely phenomenal. Moreover, he was phenomenal at getting over the essentials of the feud including a long standing babyface (at least that portion of his career) in Andre being figuratively and literally the biggest heel in the business for as long as he needed to be. In my mind, what Heenan did on the mic is the equivalent of what Savage and Steamboat did in the ring at WrestleMania 3. He made it seem real and something that cannot be missed. Most people probably knew that match in terms of work would be below standard even for 1987. He still was able to sell you on it being the grandest event of all. If you replaced Andre with Bruno, I dunno if it would still be the exact same. However, Bobby Heenan could probably make it work if he is Bruno's mouthpiece.

Given how Savage put his matches together (and even specifically this one), he was definitely hoping you liked it. The level of choreography that went into this was probably above and beyond most matches today. As far as being underserved, based on how this match was received, are you "underserved" or what you're looking to be served a rarity or specialty item? It's one thing to be served rice and water all day, everyday. It's another be served filet mignon and the finest wine and then the next day be given rice and water when the routine starts all over again. That's not really being underserved. You can sustain life on what you're usually given, but once you have a different experience, the whole perspective changes. IMO the perfect storm of storyline and performers along with the scale of WrestleMania is something that put it over the top that make people feel a certain way. If they did that the Agricultural Hall in Allentown, I don't think it would mean the same. Plus, you still had Crockett and what was left of Memphis and other territories at the time. I don't think there was a shortage of great wrestling as much something Savage and Steamboat and the majestic nature could not be replicated on those scales. Putting it in present tense, there is no shortage of it now as much as 90% or 95% of what is put on the same stage (WWE) doesn't even come close. However, at the same time, why would someone try to replicate it? The variables no longer exist and at best, you will only be held as a replica and not the authentic, real thing.

I mean to be fair, on the same card, JYD and Harley (both much, much younger then would think given their physical condition) were out there having a terrible match on the same card. The very definition of past their prime. George was just out there as a background piece. I mean it's not like he scored a visual pinfall on Macho. He was just there to wrap up a storyline. Steamboat was going to be fine.

Here is where it's tough to draw a line in the sand: It's something that was largely created by carnival people. It's just that several decades later, you can have a Steamboat vs. Savage or Flair vs. Windham or anything we consider workrate related. It's extremely difficult to compare to music in that wrestling in the Frank Lucas "blue magic" of capitalist endeavors when it comes to sports or sports adjacent things. It was purely designed for spectacle. The "art" (as in just artistic aesthetics) side of it besides just how you work marks into believing it was real came much later. The music industry can survive on critically acclaimed albums that don't sell jack as long you had albums like Hotel California or Thriller that sold a bajillion copies.

Eh, I would say it's different in that 40 years ago, you could get away with that and not diminish anything especially if the heel was so effective in the feud. Plus, they had been telegraphing that some type of poetic justice/karma would happen to Macho Man at some point. You just didn't know when. Add in the fact, Macho Man was super protected (and the finish itself was designed to protect Macho more than push Steamboat) and also outgrown the IC title. The Poffo (Lanny to be specific since we got two members of POFFOMANIA here) thing is also different because Lanny was just some guy who beat up in a battle royale so Andre could prove a point. If it wasn't him, it would have been one of the Killer Bees or Corporal Kirchner or some guy you rarely saw and only appear randomly every now and again on Prime Time Wrestling. They had made Steele and Elizabeth being treated poorly (doesn't age well and nonsensical in hindsight but whatever) by Savage the crux of that feud. If anything, the injury angle was bit of a shoehorn. I am not sure all that was necessary when Randy was already excellent in that role. So Randy has two concurrent major feuds going on at the same time and was being portrayed as this comic book character villain/antagonist. Andre wasn't feuding with Lanny. Since Randy was on the path he was heading, they came up with that finish to wrap up both things at once, move Randy past the IC title, and have this major feelgood moment. If you look back at Mania III, outside of Piper and the main event obviously, that's the only match where the face wins and it's satisfying. I think people would feel some type of way if Ricky won and the reaction was mild. However, since that's a rare babyface win on a card where you saw heels win up and down the card or the babyface get messed up on a finish or the heels find a way to maintain their heat (minus Slick getting stripped of his clothes) and the roof blew off the place when the three count came, it's still remember fondly to this day. For 1987 at that moment in time, that was the right finish. Through the 2026 lens, it won't seem that way but it was.

That was like Melvin Manhoef vs. Robbie Lawler to the nth degree.

How did your mind go straight to the gutter?