WWF WrestleMania V 1989 Review

Hercules Vs King Haku

“This hasn't been a particularly good start...” - Jesse Ventura

We kick off a very long night with a match in the classic WWF big man mould. Both Hercules and Haku are decent enough, but I question having this open the card when there is a Rockers match coming up next. I certainly prefer Hercules as a face and the addition of Bobby Heenan at ringside is always welcome. The action is plodding and sloppy as you'd expect, but at least it doesn't last long.

Rating: 1.5 Stars


The Twin Towers Vs The Rockers

It's the WrestleMania début for The Rockers up next against a classic monster heel team in Akeem and the Big Boss Man. The Rockers are such a contrast with most of the WWF at this time – faster, smaller and more athletic than pretty much everyone else. I know I just called Hercules and Haku sloppy, but Akeem is the DEFINITION of the word. He makes walking look bad! The man is just in terrible shape, but he's carried by great selling from his opponents. The double-team moves by The Rockers are really exciting and Boss Man hits a fantastic powerbomb reversal, catching Michaels in mid-air with a rotation then tagging in Akeem for the win. It had it's moments, but still not anything special.

Rating: 2.5 Stars


Ted DiBiase Vs Brutus Beefcake

I love the Million Dollar Championship that makes its début here, but it's no substitute for DiBiase never having a run with the real world title. He was one of the best performers of this era - he deserves a better place on this card, and a better match to be in as well! Beefcake isn't bad and this one would have been boosted tremendously by something at stake and a proper finish. Monsoon and Ventura go on at length about how nothing is on the line, which just takes away from the match and even kills any value to be gained by the double count out. A waste of DiBiase's talent and time.

Rating: 2 Stars


The Bushwhackers Vs The Fabulous Rougeaus

A proper under-card match that has no place at a WrestleMania. The Rougeaus were an underused team but the Bushwhackers were pretty awful and this match just has nothing to carry them. It's played for laughs to start with, they tease some wrestling and then it ends out of nowhere. When you've got a card this long, you can't afford to waste time on dull matches with no one important involved, which is exactly what this is here.

Rating: 1.5 Stars


Mr. Perfect Vs The Blue Blazer

Finally something worth revisiting! Two of the best athletes of their era put on a great show in a very brief amount of time. Hennig does a good job of putting the young Owen Hart over with some legitimate near-falls, even though this is just both men's first year with the company. Owen won't really make an impact for a while as he goes in and out of the WWF, but Perfect is just getting better and better. The match needed to go a bit longer to move into a higher grading, but for what it was it's entertaining and the first match to fit that description tonight.

Rating: 3.5 Stars


WWF Tag Team Championship
Demolition Vs The Powers of Pain and Mr. Fuji

I'm not usually supportive of adding non-wrestlers into a match, or at least former wrestlers like Mr. Fuji. However it actually works well here as Fuji stays on the apron for the most part, a target for the champions but also a distraction. His presence gives the match greater focus which is a boost considering it's another slow, WWF big man encounter. The ending is a bit botched but crowd pleasing non-the-less. Forgettable if you're not a big Demolition fan.

Rating: 2.5 Stars


Dino Bravo Vs Ronnie Garvin

Here's ANOTHER big man match that means little. Garvin can't sell for love nor money, but he can execute some crisp moves when he's on the offensive. It's an odd encounter because Bravo wins with ease in such a way as you'd call it a squash, but Garvin actually starts to build some momentum so the finish is a surprise and, dare I say it, a bit of a shame. I'd rather seen this one get the extra time of the opener, but as it stands it was nothing.

Rating: 1.5 Stars


The Brain Busters Vs Strike Force

Not surprisingly the match of the night thus far, the first featuring nothing but great workers and given plenty of time. Fantastic grappling for the most part, very active and crisp. Tito is slowly isolated and when he tries to make a come back he hits Martel by mistake and knocks him down on the outside. Arn and Tully beat down Tito and he sells their offence really well. I love how Ventura refuses to call Tito anything but “Chico Santana”, even when he's praising him. Martel gets back on the apron but refuses the tag, turns heel and abandons the match, leading into an extended squash for the Busters. Normally that would hurt the match, and it does, but it's just so entertaining to watch the Brain Busters wrestle that it's easy to overlook. Their Spike Piledriver double-team finisher is devastating and rightly puts Tito down for the three.

Rating: 4 Stars


Jake Roberts Vs Andre the Giant
Special Guest Referee: Big John Studd

Both of these men are legends, but unfortunately this match isn't very good. The story going on around the match is Andre's phobia of snakes, including Damien who is in a bag at ringside. Andre is pretty much immobile at this time and Jake isn't making the athletic effort needed to quicken the tepid pace. Andre just ambles around, occasionally choking Roberts until finally The Snake makes a comeback. It doesn't last long and soon Andre throws Roberts to the outside and keeps him there with a headbutt. Jake goes for Damien, but as he does Ted DiBiase runs down and steals him. Andre attacks Studd for some reason and gets disqualified. Jake retrieves Damien and throws him in the ring, causing Andre to run as fast as he can to the back. Slow, pedestrian and nonsensical match, saved by a hot crowd and the star power involved.

Rating: 2 Stars


The Hart Foundation Vs The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine

A solid tag team outing, one of the better ones on a card full of them. The Hart Foundation are looking great and manage to carry two average workers to an above average match. It doesn't last too long, but it has fast action throughout and a well performed finish where Jim stops HTM grabbing Jimmy Hart's megaphone and throws it to Bret instead who clocks Honky for the win. Not much, but one of the better attractions for the evening.

Rating: 3 Stars


Intercontinental Championship
Rick Rude Vs The Ultimate Warrior

Speaking of attractions: Rick Rude. Simply Ravishing. Still the best man to ever use the narcissistic heel gimmick, and tonight he's wearing trunks with the title on his crotch and his opponent on his ass. Classic. This was the feud that really made the Ultimate Warrior and set up his huge win next year at WrestleMania VI. Warrior was never the most rounded performer, but he does what he does with huge charisma and energy. Rude meanwhile sells perfectly, keeping up the work-rate during the Warrior's bear hugs and staying on the attack in between them. Love the spot where he goes for his signature taunt, but his mid section is too beat up to move his hips around. Good finish too where Heenan on the outside trips Warrior mid suplex, causing Rude to land on top and get the three while Warrior is held down. As much as I love Rude, I might have had Warrior retain here just to send the crowd home happy – and if I did have Rude win I'd have at least let him celebrate rather than slink off into the night. But that's nitpicking, this is still one of the best matches of the evening.

Rating: 4 Stars


Jim Duggan Vs Bad News Brown

This match should have been on TV, and should have set up a No DQ match instead of this on the PPV. Of course this is an era before such a thing would happen, so instead we get a boring brawl for a few minutes then an admittedly cool double DQ when both men arm themselves and clash their weapons in the middle of the ring. Today this would be the beginning of a decent match, but in 1989 it's the ending of a bad one. You barely have time to come down from the IC title match before this one is over.

Rating: 1.5 Stars


The Red Rooster Vs Bobby Heenan

A complete waste of time in every way imaginable. I'm not opposed to the match in principle as it's always fun watching a great heel like Heenan get his ass kicked, but all they do is run the ropes, go into the corner and boom, Rooster gets the pin. If I'm Rooster, why would I want this match then just win it as soon as I can? Doesn't he want to have some fun at Heenan's expense? Doesn't he want to beat him up? I just don't get it. This match has almost no value whatsoever.

Rating: 0.5 Stars

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan Vs Randy Savage

“This is truly what the word 'Main-Event' was meant for. This is the main-event. It don't get no bigger.” - Jesse Ventura

There's no doubt that on paper this is the biggest main-event of the Rock 'n Wrestling era. Sure, Hogan/Andre was massive, but Andre was already a fading star of the past by 1987. Randy Savage is clearly the 2# guy behind Hogan as far as star power, not to mention clearly the 1# performer in the ring. The potential electricity for this contest is off the charts as you have two of the most charismatic athletes in history about to collide. It's a shame then that the match itself can't live up to the ridiculous hype. I'm not sure if they're just tired after such a long event, or if Trump Plaza is not quite full of the target audience of children, but the crowd is much more tepid than they really ought to be. It's not that they're quiet, but they never quite give it the atmosphere it deserves. To be fair, the match has a reasonably slow pace and even Hogan in his prime has a poor work-rate. He doesn't have the athletic abilities to really sell Savage's offence, even when the champion is doing all the hard work and flying around the ring. Once Elizabeth is removed from ring side the whole thing dissolves into the same old Hogan formula. Hogan gets beat down a little, no-sells the Savage elbow, Hulks up and gets the win without any drama at all. It's hard to review because the overall package is very misshapen. As a performance it is average at best, but the spectacle of watching “the Mega Powers explode” will last forever. This match is the reason anyone really remembers WrestleMania V after all, so despite it's flaws it still comes out as the match of the night.

Rating: 4 Stars



WWF WrestleMania V 1989 Final Score: 2 Stars

Well, I'm exhausted let me tell you. Fourteen matches is just too many for one night, especially when most of them are actively bad. The pageantry of WrestleMania keeps the show afloat, but it could have lost half of the matches without hurting the final product at all. The whole event is huge, but hollow - just as with Hulk Hogan himself. Too much filler drags out the card and really kills the energy by the time it's over. It's interesting to note that on this same night the other half of Savage's WrestleMania III classic; Ricky Steamboat, was fighting the other top champion in 80's wrestling; Ric Flair in the WCW main event. It's awesome to see how that Intercontinental Championship match effected the main-event scene across North America. WrestleMania V has all the spectacle and star power you'd expect, but for match quality WCW has the WWF soundly beat.