‘WWE Vintage Collection: Wrestlemania Road Trip’ TV Report #91 – February 28th, 2010

Shown on Sky Sports in the U.K.

By Stephen Lyon.

This week: The Road to Wrestlemania continued this week, with a retrospective on Wrestlemanias 5 to 7. Matches featured were Mr Perfect vs the Blue Blazer (WM5), Jake Roberts vs Ted DiBiase (WM6), The Undertaker vs Superfly Jimmy Snuka (WM7), and Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude for the I.C. title (WM5).  

The Show:

1) Mr Perfect defeated The Blue Blazer (Owen Hart). This match was from the 'WWF Wrestlemania 5’ pay-per-view event, held at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on April 2nd, 1989. Announcers for this match were Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura. Perfect taunted Blazer at first, slapping and hiptossing him, before Blazer fought back, using a single leg takedown, countering a Perfect hiptoss attempt, dropkicking him out of the ring and baseball sliding him under the bottom rope and into the ringside barricades. Blazer went to school on Perfect, using a standing dropkick and a backbreaker, before attempting a big splash, only to be thwarted by Perfect bringing his knees up into Blazer's midsection. During this match, Ventura on commentary said 'hi to his biggest fans in Minnesota, Terry, Tyrell and Jade' (his real-life wife and two children). Perfect regained the momentum, pounding on Blazer's back and placing him in a reverse chinlock. After much struggle, Blazer managed to escape, using a belly-to-belly suplex on Perfect, followed by a crucifix attempt for a nearfall. Blazer queried the two count with the referee, allowing Perfect to nail him from behind, then give him the Perfect-plex out of nowhere for the pinfall win. This was a great match.

Next, they aired the Ted DiBiase Hall of Fame induction video. This was followed by a clip from a Wrestlemania 6 Report, previewing the Ted DiBiase vs Jake Roberts match. A DiBiase promo aired, in which he was absolutely furious at Roberts for stealing his prized Million Dollar belt, and being forced by Jack Tunney to wrestle Roberts for it in order to 'win it back'. He vowed to do so at Wrestlemania 6. Next came Jack Roberts pre-match promo from that event, which is one of my all-time favourite Jake Roberts promos, the famous 'muck of avarice' one. Here it is verbatim:

"Well, well - the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase. Here we are at Wrestlemania, and it's the biggest match of YOUR career. Why? Because everything YOU stand for is on the line. Namely the Million Dollar Belt. Oh, yeah, it can be yours once again. You see, all you have to do to get it back is go through Damian... and me. But, you see, Damian and I don't forget. We remember all the times you made people grovel for your money. These were people far less fortunate than you, people who could use your money for essentials. And what did you do? You made fun of them. You humbled them, and you humiliated them. Well, now it's my turn. I'm going to make you BEG, DiBiase! You are going to get down on your hands and knees. This time, YOU'LL be the one that's humbled. This time, YOU'LL be the one that's humiliated. And this time, you will be the one that grovels for the money. And how appropriate, that the money you grovel for is your very own. A victim of your own greed... wallowing in the muck of avarice."

This guy was so awesome on the mic.

Wrestlemania Moment Clip: Demolition win the WWF Tag Team titles from the Colossal Connection at Wrestlemania 6. This was followed by Andre the Giant's babyface turn on Bobby Heenan.

2) Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil in his corner) defeated Jake Roberts via count out. This was the aforementioned match, from the 'WWF Wrestlemania 6’ pay-per-view event, held at the Sky Dome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 1st, 1990. Announcers for this were Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura. Match was joined in progress, with DiBiase slapping a hammerlock on Roberts, but Roberts reversing it and sending DiBiase to the outside. Back inside, Roberts missed a running knee and crashed into the corner. DiBiase grounded Roberts with a front facelock. At this point, the 64,000+ crowd began doing the Mexican Wave, which Ventura drew attention to on commentary and they showed numerous close ups of the fans high up in the bleachers doing the wave. At one point there were two waves going on, one in the top tier and one at ringside. This looked extremely cool, but it was hard not to feel sorry for DiBiase and Roberts, trying to get the crowd back into their match. Hilariously, when a wave took place at ringside on the hard camera, just as DiBiase taunted Roberts, Ventura exclaimed, "Look at the reception the fans are giving Ted DiBiase!" After a commercial break, DiBiase slapped on the Million Dollar Dream on Roberts.

Jake barely survived, managing to place his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold, and also break a subsequent pinfall attempt. DiBiase came off the top rope, but Roberts caught him with a punch to the mid-section. This was followed by an atomic drop, several clotheslines and a backdrop, as the crowd screamed for the DDT. Roberts gave DiBiase a short-arm clothesline, then signalled for the DDT. Virgil pulled Roberts out of the ring, leading to Roberts punching him and then slamming him at ringside. DiBiase nailed Roberts from behind and placed him in the Million Dollar Dream at ringside, but Jake managed to break free and post DiBiase. All the while this was going on, the referee was counting both men. Virgil grabbed the groggy DiBiase and threw him back into the ring, beating the referee's count, resulting in DiBiase winning via count out in a cheap finish, regaining the Million Dollar belt in the process. As DiBiase posed with the belt and Virgil held up a wad of $100 bills, Roberts came back in and clotheslined both men. Virgil grabbed the belt and ran away down the aisle, as Roberts gave DiBiase a DDT, then gave away the $100 bills that Virgil had dropped to some lucky ringsiders.

Wrestlemania Moment Clip: Jake Roberts defeated Rick 'the Model' Martel in a Blindfold match at Wrestlemania 7, in one of the worst Wrestlemania matches ever.

Next came an Undertaker & Paul Bearer taped promo from a Wrestlemania 7 Report. Bearer said, "Jimmy Snuka, we want you to jump off the top rope..." and Undertaker, taking off the top of the urn and pointing inside it continued, "... but you're not going to like where you land!"

3) The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer in his corner) defeated Superfly Jimmy Snuka. This was the start of the Undertaker's famed streak, occurring at the 'WWF Wrestlemania 7’ pay-per-view event held in Los Angeles, California on March 24th, 1991. Announcers for this match were Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan. Match was joined in progress, with Taker suplexing Snuka, but missing an elbow drop. Snuka had some offence, delivering headbutts and chops, but missing with a splash when Taker dodged him, and Snuka bounced off the top rope and ended up at ringside. Snuka tried to come back in with a springboard clothesline off the top rope, but Taker caught him, then put him away with a tombstone piledriver.

Wrestlemania Moment Clip: The Undertaker defeated Jake Roberts at Wrestlemania 8.

Next came a Ravishing Rick Rude taped promo from a Wrestlemania 5 Report from WWF tv on the weekend of Wrestlemania 5. Rude vowed to win the Intercontinental title. This was followed by an Ultimate Warrior promo, in which he rambled about preparing for this match by jumping off a building, being run over by lawn mowers and being trampled by elephants in an jungle. You know, the usual wacky, barely-coherent stuff from Warrior.

4) Ravishing Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan in his corner) defeated the Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Intercontinental title. This match was from the 'WWF Wrestlemania 5’ pay-per-view event, held at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on April 2nd, 1989. Announcers for this match were Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura. Warrior man-handled Rude, throwing him into the corner several times, then locking on a lengthy bearhug, broken briefly by a Rude dropkick. Warrior bit Rude on the face, then delivered a big splash on Rude, landing on Rude's raised knees. After a commercial break, Warrior powered up by shaking the ropes, then rammed Rude's face into the mat several times. He then nearly killed Rude by attempting an unfathomable move in the corner. I've watched this moment several times now and still can't work out what he was trying to do. Poor Rude nearly got garrotted in between the middle and bottom ropes. Next came the finish. Rude went for the Rude Awakening, but Warrior powered out and clotheslined Rude over the top rope to ringside. Warrior then tried to suplex Rude back into the ring, but Bobby Heenan held on to Warrior's leg, causing Rude to fall on top of Warrior, pinning him for the title win. Afterwards, Warrior stalked Heenan around ringside, before finally press-slamming him in the ring.

Closing thoughts: Overall, a good show this week. Perfect vs Blazer was a great match, and the promos building up the DiBiase vs Roberts match were excellent, even if the finish of the match left something to be desired. Taker vs Snuka was historic, and Rude vs Warrior, well... the finish was good, if little else was.

Interesting to see that Jake Roberts was all over this show, with his appearances at Wrestlemanias 6, 7 and 8 all featured, plus his great Wrestlemania 6 promo airing. I'm sure he'll be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame one day, but I wonder if it will be this year? I think he definitely belongs, especially considering the existing HOF members. His performances in the ring and on the mic during his first WWF run, 1986-1992 were fantastic.

Match Results:

1) Mr Perfect defeated The Blue Blazer ('WWF Wrestlemania 5’ pay-per-view event – Atlantic City, New Jersey: 02/04/89). 

2) Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil in his corner) defeated Jake Roberts via count out ('WWF Wrestlemania 6’ pay-per-view event – Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 01/04/90). 

3) The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer in his corner) defeated Superfly Jimmy Snuka ('WWF Wrestlemania 7’ pay-per-view event – Los Angeles, California: 24/03/91). 

4) Ravishing Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan in his corner) defeated the Ultimate Warrior to win the WWF Intercontinental title ('WWF Wrestlemania 5’ pay-per-view event – Atlantic City, New Jersey: 02/04/89). 

Please note: I DO NOT sell DVDs or tapes of any of these shows. Sorry!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s report. For other reports like this one, be sure to check it out my website archive at http://www.classicwrestlingreports.com .

It’s no longer updated, but this website carries all of my previous WWE Classics tv reports that have been featured on the old WrestlingObserver.com website.

As always your questions, comments and thoughts are always welcomed, and you can contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Until next week, have a good week.

Stephen Lyon,
St Helens, England, U.K.