April 2nd, 1989
Location: Atlantic City, New Jersey
Venue: Trump Plaza
Attendance: 18,946
Another year had come and gone in the WWF, and fans worldwide were in love with the team of Hulk Hogan and WWF Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage, AKA "The Mega Powers."
It was the fairytale tag team that was destined for immortality. Or, so we thought.
WrestleMania's destination happened to be at Trump Plaza yet again in Atlantic City as the relationship grew between Donald Trump and Vince McMahon. It is the only time in history that WrestleMania was hosted in the same city in back-to-back years.
In other words, for those that are complaining that the state of Florida recently receiving their 4th WrestleMania since 2008 for WrestleMania 36, saying "again?", please direct your frustration to Atlantic City instead. Moving forward.
Thankfully, unlike the year before, no tournament overshadowed the night, meaning that we can get not only have matches done properly but also in a decent amount of time with meaningful stories behind them.
For starters, back at Survivor Series in November of 1988, the team of Demolition (Ax and Smash) was crossed by their long time manager, Mr. Fuji, in the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match. Instead, Fuji joined forces with the Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian) and challenged Demolition for the Tag Team Championship.
Another example would be the beginning of the solo career of Rick Martel. Former tag team partner of Martel, Tito Santana, asked to reform their old team "Strike Force."
In their match against Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, Santana accidentally struck Martel with a flying elbow. In anger, Martel left the ring, leaving Santana out to dry. Soon after, he adopted the nickname "The Model" and established himself as an arrogant heel.
In saying that, since it resumed to a traditional wrestling card, rather than focusing on everything, I can continue focusing on three moments that stood out at this WrestleMania.
A hot return
At WrestleMania 3, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had his retirement match and said goodbye to the WWF, or so we thought.
Instead, it was announced that Piper would be coming out of retirement and returning to the ring. His return was scheduled at WrestleMania 5 with his famous talk show segment, Piper's Pit. Talk show host Morton Downey Jr. was scheduled to be Piper's guest.
When it was time for the segment, Piper's music did hit, but instead, Brother Love came out, impersonating the Hot Rod in the middle of the ring wearing a kilt.
Having enough of Brother Love going back and forth on stools, basically interviewing himself, the real Roddy Piper came out to the roar of the crowd, immediately going after Brother Love. Piper ripped the kilt off of Brother Love, who left the ring in embarrassment.
As Piper was focusing on interviewing Downey Jr., the talk show host was smoking and blowing the smoke in Roddy's face. Disturbed, Piper requested that he'd stop doing that to continue the segment.
After Downey Jr. continuously did it, Piper had enough. In response, he created yet another WrestleMania moment. Piper grabbed a fire extinguisher he had hidden and fired it towards Downey Jr.'s face.
The Hot Rod was right at home in the WWF and would continue to wrestle for many more years.
The ultimate robbery
At the Royal Rumble a few months prior, the Ultimate Warrior and "Ravishing" Rick Rude had a "pose off" with the winner being decided by the fans.
But with the arrogant personality that Rude developed over the years and obsessed with his looks, he attacked Warrior in jealousy. It was only the beginning as they continued to feud as the months went by and reached its climax at WrestleMania 5 as Warrior's Intercontinental Championship was on the line.
As both men went back and forth, it wasn't until the end of the match which Rude's manager, Bobby Heenan, had something to say about it.
After the Warrior flipped Rude over the top rope onto ringside, he tried lifting Rude for a suplex back into the ring. However, Heenan tripped up Warrior, Rude collapsed onto him, and as he went for the pinfall, Heenan held onto Warrior's leg and cost him the title.
Warrior left Atlantic City without gold, but it wouldn't be for long as the following year would have his career-defining moment.
The Mega Powers explode
We've reached the main event with two best friends turned bitter enemies in the "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.
It all started the year before as The Mega Powers were formed after Hogan helped Savage win the WWF Championship. As the year went by, their tag team dominated all around the WWF, winning match after match while Savage continued to retain his title.
The tag team reached its conclusion on an episode of "The Main Event." When The Mega Powers were facing the Twin Towers (Akeem and the Big Boss Man), Savage was thrown out of the ring and landed hard onto Elizabeth.
Hogan, in desperation, picked Elizabeth up to take her to the back for medical attention. Savage, on the other hand, was getting frustrated as it seemed as if Hogan left him alone to deal with the Twin Towers.
Once Hogan returned to the ring, "Macho Man" slapped him across the face and abandoned him, running to the back to deal with Elizabeth.
Savage vented his frustration onto Hogan, attacked him, and sealed the championship match at WrestleMania 5.
At the start of the match, Elizabeth was ringside but declared herself as neutral as she cared and looked out for both individuals. Savage and Hogan exchanged blows and pinfall attempts, hoping to weaken the other.
The match turned rough as Savage cut Hogan above his eye, cause the Hulkster to bleed as the match went on. Savage started to choke out Hogan and began to attack the throat using elbows and the ropes as it progressed further.
Savage eventually found the opportunity to hit his signature elbow to try and seal the deal. However, as usual, Hogan kicked out, bulked up, and saw his opportunity to hit the "Macho Man" with the big boot and leg drop.
Hogan once again was on top of the mountain and reclaimed his WWF Championship.
Final thoughts
After watching the first five WrestleManias, I'm noticing a bit of a trend in which once a bad one happens, the next one turns out to be great, and that's what this was.
WrestleMania 5 rebounded from its predecessor and gave Atlantic City a great show. When it comes to these events, as long as a WrestleMania is not doing too much (like a tournament) and focus on what the show really is about, wrestling, it's golden.
14 matches were presented at this Mania, and everything flowed without anything feeling unnecessary. If there had to be a moment in which that was the case, it's easily the Bobby Heenan match with a wrestler named "The Red Rooster." It only lasted 31 seconds and was the match before the main event. Does anybody need to see Heenan wrestle? No. Absolutely not.
As for the location, once again, it's the only time that a WrestleMania went back-to-back on venues. Did it make sense? Probably not. Was it a great host? Yes, it was. The only complaint that one would have would be on how narrow the aisle was, feeling a bit tight as the wrestlers were coming down.
Finally, I need to tackle the main event. As I was looking up information on WrestleMania 5, I found that numerous reviewers complained about how WrestleMania 4 was useless. Its only purpose was for the following year for Hogan and Savage.
In the world of sports entertainment, storylines are planned out months and, at times, a year in advance. In today's WWE, it absolutely needs to be the case due to how frequent shows are. Personally, I think it was a smart idea to start the storyline at WrestleMania 4.
Throughout the year, you saw the rise and fall of a tag team reaching its bitter end. Savage and Hogan are realistically two prominent egotistical characters that eventually want to be on top alone.
Hogan was the big name in the '80s and early '90s. The fans loved seeing a man who loved the fans back be a champion. Hogan left Atlantic City a winner and would continue his championship ways.
That was until an ultimate challenge was proposed to him.
Results:
- Hercules def. King Haku
- The Twin Towers (Akeem and Big Boss Man) def. The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)
- Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase ended in a double countout
- The Bushwhackers (Butch and Luke) def. The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau)
- Mr. Perfect def. The Blue Blazer
- Demolition (Ax and Smash) (c) def. The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) - WWF Tag Team Championship
- Dino Bravo def. Ronnie Garvin
- The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard def. Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana)
- Jake Roberts def. Andre the Giant via disqualification
- The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) def. Greg Valentine and The Honky Tonk Man
- Rick Rude def. The Ultimate Warrior (c) - WWF Intercontinental Championship
- Bad News Brown and Jim Duggan ended in a double disqualification
- The Red Rooster def. Bobby Heenan
- Hulk Hogan def. Randy Savage (c) - WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Rating: B
Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 6.
30 days away until WrestleMania 35
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