Turnbuckle Thursday: Wrestlemania Three, A Macho Man and A Dragon

 

One could say that I was first suspected to professional wrestling from my friend Jimmy Dormandy. He loves wrestling and he also had a satellite dish. He had a copy of the original Wrestlemania and kept telling me about the Hulkster and his amazing ability to win no matter what the situation was. I saw what he saw when I watched Hulk Hogan and Mr. T take on Piper.

Ultimately though I wondered one thing. In this world of professional wrestling... did they ever actually wrestle?

Sure, Hulk has to pose but was that all there was to WWF and their champion? Did anyone on the roster even know how to do a simple move? Was the most devastating move in wrestling the slower than molasses Hogan leg drop?

I went to Jimmy’s house one night and he bought Wrestlemania 3. Again, Hulk was the main event, this time against the biggest dude I have ever seen, Andre The Giant. Was this going to be the match that made me finally fall in love with this male equivalent of a soap opera?

Rough answer was no. The match that sold me forever was in fact what should have been the main event in my mind. It was Ricky the Dragon Steamboat against Macho Man Randy Savage.

Here were two men that put on a clinic. Move set for move set, they were equals to each other. Back and forth, these two men allowed me to follow a story without saying a word. I didn’t even see the build up that went on for weeks prior to this match. From how they moved in the ring, like a skilled dance team, they told a story. I knew who was the heel and who was the blue eyed good guy.

I was slack-jawed as I sat on the floor in front of this rickety old television set as each guy peeled off move after move after move. There was no downtime. No slow parts. It was peddle to the metal, high octane movements and above all, there was real wrestling. Macho Man’s deviating punches. Steamboat’s reversals and counters. It was mind blowing. I don’t even remember to this day anything that happened other than I was focused on this match.

This did it for me. This broke my cherry and forever etched in my mind my love of pro wrestling. From then on out, I consumed wrestling and any form I could get it. From NWA to tape trading for NJPW and ECW, it was Steamboat and Macho’s match that not only stole that show but stole my heart.

By James Falcon