Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

In late 1986, the main event was already being set up for Wrestlemania III. I remember watching Superstars of Wrestling which was the main WWF program on broadcast television and they did an awards ceremony on the Piper's Pit. I had never seen this before so it looked like a big angle. And it was one of the biggest. Throughout Hogan's career on top in the WWF which started in late 1983, he was the guy, but there was always a certain respect that the big man, Andre the Giant was given. Hogan was the champ, but Andre was always seen as the guy who couldn't be beat. I honestly don't remember him losing by pinfall from the time I started watching. Even Hogan would constantly point to Andre as the man. From what I can remember, both Hogan and Andre received awards and while Hogan gave Andre a ringing endorsement for his, Andre just stood there with this weird look on his face for Hogan's. Later, Andre did the famous rippping of the cross off Hogan's chest that made viewers understand, Andre wasn't going to be so loveable anymore. The turn happened and Andre was now an unstoppable bad guy.

The turn was helped even more by Bobby Heenan who became Andre's manager. Heenen was always Hogan's greatest foil in my book. He managed King Kong Bundy, Paul Orndorff, and Andre, three of Hogans biggest money opponents. Heenan was masterful here basically painting the picture as to why Andre would want to wrestle Hogan. Heenan would go on to say that Hogan never offered Andre a shot at the title, Hogan never respected Andre, and Andre was sick of it. At the same time, Andre would just sit there with this careless look on his face as Hogan tried to convince Andre that Heenan was evil. Much of what Heenan said made sense though, and that made the angle for me. I could see why Andre wanted a shot at the title.

The other angle that had a huge affect on me as an 11 year old was Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage. Savage was tremendous in his portrayal as a win at all costs bad guy. They had a match where Savage draped Steamboats throat over the outside railing and jumped off the top rope and hit the back of his neck, thrusting Steamboats throat into the railing. He then used the ring bell to do the same thing. Steamboat sold it like a champ as they carried him to the back while he was grasping for air. Vince McMahon was screaming and saying that Steamboat had swallowed his tongue. I hated Savage with a passion at the time.

Those were the two big matches for Mania III, but what also made this event was the fact that most of the rest of the matches had a cause. The Honky Tonk Man vs. Jake The Snake Roberts wasn't a good match, but it ended with Honky cheating to win and Jake then getting his heat back by taking his Snake and along with rock star Alice Cooper, teased Jimmy Hart with it. Honky needed the win as he was being elevated, but Jake needed to make the fans happy by pulling out Damien. Simple, yet effective booking. Even the match between the Junkyard Dog and The King Harley Race was fun and ended perfectly. The loser was supposed to bow to the winner and when Race won, JYD didn't bow, and gave it to the King. The King needed to win, won, and the JYD got his heat back for the fans. Again, simple yet effective booking.

Let's talk about the fans. At the show, Mean Gene Okerlund announced that they had just broken the indoor record with over 93,000 fans. They never said how many tickets they sold, but they said there were that many people in the Pontiac Silverdome that night. This number has been questioned since Mean Gene uttered the words. Hogan is shown later doing a promo, which most likely was taped, talking about that many number of people. My guess is that it's a number the WWF had put out there, and heck, even if they didn't reach that many people, they were pretty close. The other number thrown out there is closer to 78,000 which is a terrific number. The crowd was hot for almost everything too, and this was definitely the top Wrestlemania for at least the first 9 years.

The card started fairly strongly as the Can-Am Connection defeated Don Muraco and Cowboy Bob Orton. It was funny watching Rick Martel and Tom Zenk because they totally playing it up for the women in the crowd. They were two guys who were pushed as a beefy team of young guys, but Zenk would soon leave and Martel would team with Tito Santana to make up Strike Force. Then Billy Jack Haynes (remember him?) took on Hercules in an angle that would be repeated the next year with the Ultimate Warrior over the finisher known as the full nelson. Billy Jack Haynes was ripped but just didn't have much charisma at all. The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake before he was "The Barber" and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine) broke up after losing a match against the Rougeau Brothers and the Hammer and Dino Bravo left Beefecake in the ring by himself after the loss. Beefecake would come back later to redeem himself.

The tag champs, the Hart Foundation teamed up with the evil referee, Danny Davis to take on the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana. Unbelievably, Davis got the pin. The hard thing to understand was why Davis and Santana were even in the match. But the reason was probably because the Dynamite Kid was on his last legs and they probably didn't want to do a match that would be seen as the second show stealer and then disappoint by having to cut it short because of Dynamite, so they added an angle in there.

Rowdy Roddy Piper had been haggling with Adorable Adrian Adonis and they had a match that was supposed to be Piper's retirement match. On the Saturday Night's Main Event before the big show, they even played a package with Frank Sinatra's version of My Way. Of course, Piper won the retirement match and of course, he didn't retire. He even had a horrible match with Mr. America (Hulk Hogan) last year. The thing to come out of the match was Brutus Beefecake becoming "The Barber" as he helped Piper cut Adonis' hair.

The show stealer was Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage. To call this match my favorite match of all time, wouldn't be inaccurate. It was back and forth and and you didn't want it to stop. They played the revenge card perfectly as Steamboat wanted to take the thing that Savage held closely to him, second only to Elizabeth his wife, and that was his IC title. Savage even teased injuring Steamboat's throat again, and when Steamboat pulled out the win, the crowd went wild. It was the perfect end to the angle. Both guys were elevated as Savage would be the real champ by the next year, even though Steamboat would lose the belt to the Honky Tonk Man in two months and be gone from the company a year later. The story supposedly goes that Steamboat wanted time off to spend with his wife and son, but as the IC champ, McMahon said he didn't want his number 2 guy going on a hiatus and subsequently took the belt off him. Politics getting the better of the product.

And finally, the main event. Hogan vs. Andre was not a pretty sight. In actuality, it was technically one of the worst matches on the card. But Hogan and Andre both played it up big time and it had a big time main event like atmosphere. They started off talking trash to each other. Hogan even probably threw a couple of F bombs in there. It almost ended before it started. Hogan went for an early body slam and didn't get it and Andre fell on top of him. Hogan barely got out of the three count. Very dramatic for Hulkster fans at the time. During this match, my dad said that he read that someone bet their house on Hogan, so Hogan had to win. Thanks for spoiling it dad. But still, I wasn't so sure. Throughout the match, whenever Hogan got the upper hand, Andre would get it back. Then Hogan would do something dumb like try a piledriver on the outside on the big man. Good luck with that one. Of course it didn't work. The sad part of this match was watching Andre. He was a shell of himself. He couldn't move around very well and that's from a guy who in his prime was a pretty decent athlete. At the end, Hogan finally got the big man up for the bodyslam, and yes, I know that Andre helped Hogan get him up, but 500 pounds is 500 pounds, and hit the leg drop for the pin. It was over. And I was exhausted.

Results
Rick Martel and Tom Zenk defeated Bob Orton & Don Muraco
Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules wrestled to a double-countout
Hillbilly Jim, Haiti Kid & Little Beaver defeated King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook via DQ
Harley Race defeated Junk Yard Dog via pinfall
Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake defeated the Rougeau Brothers via pinfall
Roddy Piper defeated Adrian Adonis
The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis defeated the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana via pinfall
Butch Reed defeated Koko B. Ware via pinfall
Ricky Steamboat defeated Randy Savage to capture the Intercontinental Championship
Honky Tonk Man defeated Jake the Snake" Roberts via pinfall
Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff defeated the Killer Bees via DQ
WWE Champion Hulk Hogan defeated Andre the Giant via pinfall

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older