Last night FS1 aired Wrestlemania III. It brought back such fun memories. My Dad knew how much I was into wrestling and took me to see the closed circuit TV event at the Oakland coliseum so I could watch it. I loved it. I was only gonna check it out last night and I ended up watching all 3 hours! I was a little bummed they cut a couple of matches for time. The Billy Jack Haynes match was cut, which sucked because he was one of my favorites back then. But re-watching the Randy Savage-Ricky Steamboat match was amazing. I didn't realize how bad Savage got screwed in that match. He had pinned Steamboat when the ref was down and then George the Animal Steele pushed Savage off the top rope to cost him the win, I was stunned. Then the Hogan-Andre match wasn't a techinal classic but the build up and the story was awesome. I really enjoyed it. It did have me thinking about how many great wrestlers never got a run with the world title back then. Hogan was such big business, they never took the title off him. But some greats deserved it. Here is my Top 5 mid 80s wrestlers that deserved a run with the belt...
- Roddy Piper - One of the greatest heels ever. Should have been Hogan's ultimate foil. They should have traded the belt back and forth.
- Ricky Steamboat - He won the IC title but that was it. Never the WWF title. He was amazing and deserved it.
- Jake the Snake Roberts - Was there a cooler wrestler than Jake? Would have been cool to see him with the belt.
- Junkyard Dog - Love this guy! He was such a fan favorite but never won a belt in the WWF. JYD should have been the champ.
- Mr. Perfect - he came a little later than the mid 80s but felt like I needed to mention him. A true shame he never got the belt. Such a great talent.
There you go. There are plenty more guys that could have had a run but never did. Either way, Wrestlemania III was the greatest Mania ever.