Chris Cooley Presents The WWE Vintage Collection: WrestleMania Road Trip Edition - Greg Valentine vs. JYD, Curt Hennig vs. Blue Blazer, DiBiase vs. Roberts, Warrior vs. Rude, and MOre

Chris Cooley Presents The WWE Vintage Collection: WrestleMania Road Trip Edition - Greg Valentine vs. JYD, Curt Hennig vs. Blue Blazer, DiBiase vs. Roberts, Warrior vs. Rude, and MOre

Welcome to the Vintage Collection. This edition is special, as we begin our WrestleMania Road Trip, starting at WrestleMania I, and our first match.

Episode#90

MATCH#1: Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat vs. Matt Borne
DATE OF MATCH: March 31, 1985

Steamboat gets a win, against a guy who would make a name for himself, later on in his career, as being a clown. ‘the Dragon’ on the other hand, would become an Intercontinental Champion in one of the best matches in WM history. An NWA Champion, beating Ric Flair, and a WWE Hall of Famer. I wonder which one had the better career?

We now head to WrestleMania II, and a special kind of match.

MATCH#2: BOXING MATCH
Mr. T vs. ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper
DATE OF MATCH: April 7, 1986

This match, in all honesty, bored me. Maybe it’s because I’m just not a fan of boxing. Maybe it’s because I’m not a fan of Mr. T outside of the A-Team? Maybe it’s a bit of both. Either way, I was not a fan, and to make matters worse. It showed the match, in its entirety. Good thing for fast forward. Mr. T got the win by DQ, adding to the fact that T and Piper are not the best friends outside the squared circle.

WrestleMania Moment: WrestleMania III and Piper’s retirement match. Hair vs. Hair against Adrian Adonis.

The road trip, takes a stop at the Pontiac Silverdome, and WrestleMania III, for a little (pun intended), six-man tag team match.

MATCH#3: Hillbilly Jim/The Haiti Kid/Little Beaver vs. King Kong Bundy/Little Tokyo/Lord Littlebrook
DATE OF MATCH: March 29, 1987

For those who didn’t get my ‘little’ reference earlier, Hillbilly Jim and Bundy’s partners in this match are midgets. Slightly taller, than Joey Styles, and towering over Rey Mysterio. I’m surprised King Kong Bundy wasn’t licking his lips, at the sight of his lunch getting exercise in the ring to be honest with you. Jim’s team got the DQ victory after King Kong started beating up the midgets, leaving all the midgets to join with the Hillbilly.

Let’s head in reverse and head to back to the first WrestleMania, for our Main Event of the show.

MAIN EVENT: WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Greg ‘the Hammer’ Valentine (c) w/Jimmy Hart vs. Junkyard Dog
DATE OF MATCH: March 31, 1985

Jimmy Hart tried to interfere on behalf of the champion, but that backfired. However, the Hammer pinned JYD with his feet on the ropes. So Tito Santana comes down and tells on Valentine to the referee, and the match is restarted. Junkyard Dog eventually wins the match by CountOut, proving that dobbing in another superstar, doesn’t necessarily mean it makes a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzwWGPDkSqw

Episode#91

We begin this show, with a match from WrestleMania V

MATCH#1: Mr. Perfect vs. Blue Blazer
DATE OF MATCH: April 2, 1989

The WM debuts of both Perfect and Blazer, ended with a victory for Hennig. Both Perfect and Owen Hart would not become a World Champion in the WWF. Owen tragically passed away in 1999 at an WWF Pay-Per-View event, and Henning passed away in 2003.

Match number two, and the next WrestleMania. WrestleMania VI from the Skydome in Toronto, Canada.

MATCH#2: MILLION DOLLAR CHAMPIONSHIP
'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase (c) w/Virgil vs. Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts
DATE OF MATCH: April 1, 1990

DiBiase wins the title via countout, thus regaining the title that Roberts had previously stolen off him. Jake repays the favour, by chasing away both the Million Dollar Man and Virgil with Damien, his pet snake.

WrestleMania moment: Jake Roberts and Rick Martel in the first ever Blindfold match.

WrestleMania VII...the streak begins.

MATCH#3: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer vs. Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka
DATE OF MATCH: March 24, 1991

Undertaker currently holds an impressive 17-0 record at WrestleMania, defeating such superstars as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Ric Flair and Kane.

WrestleMania moment: Undertaker vs. Jake Roberts at WrestleMania VIII

Our final match in this edition, takes us back to WrestleMania V.

MAIN EVENT: WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIIONSHIP
Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude w/Bobby Heenan
DATE OF MATCH: April 2, 1989

This match would go down as a piece of history, as the result of this match, meant the first pinfall loss of the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF. It occurred, after Rude’s manager, Bobby Heenan, held the leg of Warrior, whilst the Ravishing One was making the successful pinfall. As punishment for Heenan, the former Champion gave him a Gorilla Press Slam.

That’s it for this edition of the Vintage Collection. Stay tuned, as we continue our WrestleMania Road Trip.