Wrestlemania 2

[Senser81]

Best ever?

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Best ever?

20 man Battle Royal and Hogan vs King Kong Bundy in a Steel cage. Sure Wrestlemania 3 Hogan vs Giant , Savage vs Steamboat, George Steel vs the turnbuckle will win the debate but man Wrestlmania 2 was awesome. Refrigerator Perry and British Bulldogs alone made it worth the closed circuit tv admission.

Stupid fun fact I was lined up at club that did closed circuit and PPV repeats during the day and I was convinced it was a live performance.




WM3 and WM7 are my top 3. Wrestlemania 2 was my nostalgic choice though it really got me into loving wrastling.

[EmpireWF]

Best ever?

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

For me im only picking from a pool of like 8 or 10. Before WWE app anyways. With out nostalgia you'd have to get into w2b levels of analysis to pick from the modern batches IMO.

[Warner2BruceTD]

In the hardcore nerd wrestling circles, II is considered one of, if not THE worst, of all time.

It had plenty of memorable moments. Fridge, Andre, Hogan & Bundy in the cage, Dynamite Kid's ridiculous bump, George Wells foaming from the mouth when Jake puts the snake on him, Piper/Mr.T boxing match, etc.

Historical in many ways, but aesthetically considered pretty bad, and business wise the three separate locations was a flop.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

In the hardcore nerd wrestling circles, II is considered one of, if not THE worst, of all time.

It had plenty of memorable moments. Fridge, Andre, Hogan & Bundy in the cage, Dynamite Kid's ridiculous bump, George Wells foaming from the mouth when Jake puts the snake on him, Piper/Mr.T boxing match, etc.

Historical in many ways, but aesthetically considered pretty bad, and business wise the three separate locations was a flop.

lol no idea it was considered so terrible. Were the Bulldogs a big name before that ?

[Warner2BruceTD]

lol no idea it was considered so terrible. Were the Bulldogs a big name before that ?

Dynamite Kid was considered one of the best workers in the business for about 5 years by that point. He made his name in Calgary and then really broke through in New Japan with his still legendary series of matches with Tiger Mask, which are considered classics and at least 20 years ahead of their time.

The Bulldogs were arguably the top working team in the world around '86, and were the only WWF act at that time that were also doing Japan tours while working for WWF. Vince didn't like that, but Dynamite wasn't going to give that up (he was the brains, Davey Boy was along for the ride).

So yeah, to answer your question, yes the Bulldogs were definitely a thing by then, and big international stars. Dynamite injured his back not long after the WMII match, effectively ending his career, and eventually sending him to a wheelchair by 40. He lives alone in England now, and is pretty much universally hated in wrestling circles because he was a terrible, miserable, selfish human being. Davey Boy obviously went on to a long, successful singles career, until he too injured his back in WCW when he took a bump on a trap door that was installed on the mat for a gimmick later in the show (one of the few Ultimate Warrior WCW appearances). Davey died a few years later, and many believe that the back injury sped up the process because he ended up back hooked on pain killers, but the reality is he was a guy with plenty of demons who abused steroids for decades, so his heart was likely to explode at some point anyway.

I do think it is fair to say that the WMII title win was probably the peak of the Bulldogs as an act. Dynamite got hurt, they dropped the titles to the Hart Foundation (in a match where Dynamite never tagged in because he couldn't walk), and Dynamite was never the same. They left in 1988, and did some random shots together (like the famous AWA match vs Rock & Roll Express which wasn't good but historical due to it being two iconic teams from the same era wrestling for the only time) until they split up, with Dynamite teaming with Davey's (kayfabe) brother Johnny Smith as the New British Bulldogs in Japan. Dynamite wrestled until he was literally crippled. His final match is incredibly sad to watch, from a human perspective of a guy who just couldn't let go because he didn't know how to do anything else and this was the only world he knew:

Read the YouTube description. His final match was opposite his biggest rival, Tiger Mask, some 13 years after they were having the best matches on the planet. Here, Dynamite can barely walk. Tiger Mask still wrestles to this day, and is still competent even pushing 60.

[Bigpapa42]

Those matches between Dynamite and Tiger Mask still hold up pretty well today. They were key in the evolution of the super junior style, which helped create the faster-paced cruiserweight style.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Some good footage here of Dynamite's stuff with Tiger Mask.

Both guys were doing stuff that is still considered state of the art 30, 35 years later which is really amazing when you look at other wrestling from 1981, 1982 and how archaic & slow it looks. Dynamite & TM are two of the most influential wrestlers of all time. I'd put them right up there with Gorgeous George, Buddy Rogers, Fred Blassie, or anybody else in terms of influence, especially when it came to in ring. Tiger Mask truly changed the game in Japan, and his fingerprints are on every junior heavyweight match in the world to this day. Dynamite has been emulated by tons of big stars, most notably Chris Benoit, Daniel Bryan, & Davey Richards, and is STILL being emulated by guys breaking in today. Simply put, nobody was doing the things they were doing at the time. Watching their matches, it's hard to believe it was taking place in 1981. It's as if they stepped out of a time machine.

Dynamite worked a ridiculously hard pace, and took INSANE bumps. Like many from the era he was hopped up on coke, pain killers, steroids (the dangerous stuff like Winstrol V, horse steroids, etc that nobody fucks with today), and whatever else, and as a result he was crippled by 40. Look at the size differences in the WWF clips compared to the Japan clips. There was a ton of pressure during Hulkamania to keep the pace with the monsters, especially if you were a natural 5'8" 175 lbs.

[Bigpapa42]

What is really startling is going back and watching some junior heavyweight stuff from prior to the TM era. The name "junior heavyweight" was very accurate - they worked the exact same standard slow, technical style as typical of late 70s, early 80s Japan but they are just smaller. I've watched Tiger Mask stuff from around the same time and by memory, it didn't tend to click because he was quicker than his opponents, who were mostly trying to work the same slow style.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Dynamite Kid was considered one of the best workers in the business for about 5 years by that point. He made his name in Calgary and then really broke through in New Japan with his still legendary series of matches with Tiger Mask, which are considered classics and at least 20 years ahead of their time.

The Bulldogs were arguably the top working team in the world around '86, and were the only WWF act at that time that were also doing Japan tours while working for WWF. Vince didn't like that, but Dynamite wasn't going to give that up (he was the brains, Davey Boy was along for the ride).

So yeah, to answer your question, yes the Bulldogs were definitely a thing by then, and big international stars. Dynamite injured his back not long after the WMII match, effectively ending his career, and eventually sending him to a wheelchair by 40. He lives alone in England now, and is pretty much universally hated in wrestling circles because he was a terrible, miserable, selfish human being. Davey Boy obviously went on to a long, successful singles career, until he too injured his back in WCW when he took a bump on a trap door that was installed on the mat for a gimmick later in the show (one of the few Ultimate Warrior WCW appearances). Davey died a few years later, and many believe that the back injury sped up the process because he ended up back hooked on pain killers, but the reality is he was a guy with plenty of demons who abused steroids for decades, so his heart was likely to explode at some point anyway.

I do think it is fair to say that the WMII title win was probably the peak of the Bulldogs as an act. Dynamite got hurt, they dropped the titles to the Hart Foundation (in a match where Dynamite never tagged in because he couldn't walk), and Dynamite was never the same. They left in 1988, and did some random shots together (like the famous AWA match vs Rock & Roll Express which wasn't good but historical due to it being two iconic teams from the same era wrestling for the only time) until they split up, with Dynamite teaming with Davey's (kayfabe) brother Johnny Smith as the New British Bulldogs in Japan. Dynamite wrestled until he was literally crippled. His final match is incredibly sad to watch, from a human perspective of a guy who just couldn't let go because he didn't know how to do anything else and this was the only world he knew:

Read the YouTube description. His final match was opposite his biggest rival, Tiger Mask, some 13 years after they were having the best matches on the planet. Here, Dynamite can barely walk. Tiger Mask still wrestles to this day, and is still competent even pushing 60.

woah thats sad. He could barely move in that clip.
The elementary school rumor was that he died in a car crash and thats why he dissapeared.
Great post.

[Senser81]

In the hardcore nerd wrestling circles, II is considered one of, if not THE worst, of all time.

I do not run in those circles.

[Senser81]

Dynamite got hurt, they dropped the titles to the Hart Foundation (in a match where Dynamite never tagged in because he couldn't walk), and Dynamite was never the same.

I remember this match. It was terrible.

[Warner2BruceTD]

The injury:

Title change. They claim he was hit with Jimmy Hart's megaphone:

That match also advanced the Danny Davis heel ref story line.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

lol @Jesse Ventura " I admit its a little controversial but we have new champions"