recommended

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Something unthinkable happened in the lead up to this show: The Mega Powes, Hulk Hogan and WWE Champion Randy Savage, imploded. Savage's ego, believing that people were cheering for Hogan and not him, and jealousy over the amount of time Hogan was spending with their manager Miss Elizabeth finally got the best of him and he turned on Hogan. And at this event the former friends would collide in the ultimate Wrestlemania Main Event.But before we get there, there is an undercard, and despite the large number of matches, this one delivered some cool stuff.The night started off with Hercules pulling out a victory over Haku, despite the presence of his former manager Bobby Heenan at ring side. Good fun, with Heenan interfering. "The Brain" was one of the finest wrestling personality of the late eighties and could sell any match. He was fun whether he won and bragged obnoxiously about it, or lost and whined like a baby.Our next match was again a lot of fun as the Twin Towers Akeem and the Big Bossman, who had been such a formidable rival for the Mega Powers in late 1988, defeated The Rockers Shawn Micheals and Marty Janetty, making their first Wrestlemania appearance.Ted Dibiase and Brutus Beefcake fought to a double count out in their match despite the interference of DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil. The Bushwackers, making their first Wrestlemania appearance then defeated the Fabulous Rougeaus Jacques and Raymond after they wasted valuable time celebrating a nice move. And next up Mr Perfect Curt Hennig defeated the Blue Blazer Owen Hart in a short match which was also an absolute scorcher. Perfect remained undefeated as a result of the win.Next match was a big man handicap tag match between Demolition Ax and Smash and The Powers of Pain and Mr Fuji. Managers are always fun in handicap matches and Fuji cost his boys the tag team championship here, getting destroyed by Smash and then pinned by Ax to win the match for Demolition. Demolition are considered by many to be a rip off of popular NWA Tag Team the Road Warriors. If that's the case they were one of the finest rip offs in wrestling history. Fun match.Next up we had a match borne out of the Royal Rumble two months before as Jake Roberts took on Andre the Giant with Big John Studd, who'd won the Rumble match, as the guest referee. Andre had eliminated himself from that match after Roberts had bought his pet snake Damien to the ring. But Andre had it covered this time, enlisting the help of Ted DiBiase and Virgil to grab the snake. Chaos ensues and Andre head butts our guest ref Studd. Can't do that son. Roberts by DQ.The Hart Foundation Bret hart and Jim Neidhart defeated Rhythm and Blues Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine, Bret Hart using R&B manager Jimmy Hart's megaphone to knock out Tonky and get the win. A sweet moment for the Harts as Jimmy Hart had been their manager a year earlier.Next up comes a major upset as Rick Rude ends the undefeated streak of the Ultimate Warrior, winning the Intercontinental Championship with the help of his manager Bobby Heenan who held Warrior's feet down so he couldn't kick out of the pin attempt.Incredibly we have two more matches before the main event. Bad News Brown and Hacksaw Jim Duggan fight to a double DQ and in one of the few wrestling matches I've ever given five and a half stars, Red Rooster defeated Bobby Heenan in about half a minute.This, at long last, following a dozen matches, brings us to the main event with the Mega Powers colliding. Savage looked like he had the match as he hit the flying elbow, but, inspired by the power of Hulkamania, Hogan hulks up, hits the leg drop and gets the win and the WWE Championship. That'll teach ya Randy Savage! Despite having far too many matches, this was a ridiculously entertaining show. The Ultimate Warrior had his winning streak ended, Heenan got his comeuppance. Hulkamania returned with a Vegeance, Owen Hart made his Wrestlemania debut and had a screamer. A great night, never to be forgotten, and just about the gold standard in how to build a PPV. Few have ever been done better.

Wrestlemania V (1989) was the biggest P.P.V. the W.W.F. had. Many wanted to see Hulk Hogan and another one of his former friend's fight for the undisputed W.W.F. World heavyweight title. This time Hogan's ego and the Macho Man's jealousy and paranoia over his valet/manager Miss Elizabeth caused the greatest face tag team to explode. Hogan looked naked without the gold and wanted it badly and Macho Man was none to pleased with the way Hogan and Miss Elizabeth were becoming too chummy with each other.This one took place in the same building as the bloated and boring Wrestlemania IV. Trump smelled money and made a small fortune off of this one. The Macho Man carried Hogan through a watchable match. But one of the best things about this event was the Piper's Pit with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Brother Love and Morton Downey Jr. Classic stuff and I highly recommend the main event match (that's how you end a feud) and the Piper's Pit segment.B+

*SPOILERS*Looking at this card, it appears to be great. But all the matches were just a little on the unspectacular side.Most WrestleManias were filled with mismatches, but not this one. All of the competitors were well-matched, making for unpredictable outcomes. This also made for some upsets, like Rick Rude beating the Ultimate Warrior, and the Bushwhackers stampeding over the Rougeaus. The talented tag team, fresh out of a feud with the Hart Foundation, really did the job to Luke and Butch.Speaking of the Harts, it's hard to believe there were so many years between their title reigns. They destroyed Honky Tonk Man and Valentine, in the best match of the night. Pretty much all the tag team matches were better than the one-on-one encounters. The Rockers were totally overpowered, but they really gave Bossman and Akeem a run for their money. This was the first in a long string of high-profile losses for Marty and Shawn, who are now inexplicably remembered as one of the most successful tag teams ever. The Strike Force-Brain Busters match could have been a Match of the Year candidate, if not for Martel leaving so quickly.And let's not forget the last tag team match in a pay-per-view we saw the Powers of Pain in. Do you realize they only won one of their feuds (against the Rockers, of course)?The biggest mismatch was Jake vs. Andre, but it was done well. And it sparked what could have been a great feud between Jake and Ted DiBiase, if not for the neck injury.While it was obvious Hogan would beat Savage, Savage was really impressive and dominant, especially considering the fact that he was under a lot of pressure, including dangerous surgery and steroid allegations.Worth a look, but not one of the great WrestleManias. Those were still years away.

Not the best WrestleMania, but the card did have its high points. Doesn't seem to outshine I, III, or IV, but probably II. Shawn Michaels makes his WrestleMania debut here, and it's hard to believe he'd be in the main event 6 years later, but then again, everyone starts somewhere. Worth the view.