The Mega Powers Implode! WWE Wrestlemania 5 Review

[@michaelsinger4638]

Hogan was constantly stealing Savage’s spotlight. Savage NEVER got to beat Hogan clean in a big match. No wonder Randy resented Hogan so much later on.

[@AuroDHikoshi]

"hogan aint gonna put him over brother!"

[@tmage23]

Hogan was involved in every single one of Savage's world title wins. He never let Savage have the spotlight to himself.

[@kenrickkahn]

@@tmage23 Randy Savage told Hulk Hogan to his face in WCW.. *"Why you always in my spotlight??"* - (Paraphrasing) Randy got sick of it and couldn't no longer tolerate it..

[@michaelsinger4638]

Savage’s last two WCW World Title reigns both lasted ONE DAY!! And who did he lose the belt to both times, why Hogan of course: Then Hogan ruins Randy’s first win at World War 3 by whining for AGES after the match.

[@AuroDHikoshi]

@@michaelsinger4638 fuck hulk Hogan... He did so many things based on his ego

[@ra0929]

Mr Fuji coming off the top rope in his mid 50s. And he can run a sub 20 minute 5k!

[@skippythealien9627]

and the motherfucker did it in a full suit and tie and non running shoes

[@Aaron-g3q9l]

Yep and once again the same exact thought is what I had in my head at that same moment isn't it cool the bumps the dude was still taking in the later years .

[@vitorHSreis]

Randy Savage promos leading to this Mania are amazing, I still have most of the lines stuck in my head, specially after 2k14 recreated those in amazing form

[@Spacewizzard090]

Macho's "Hotdoggin' and Grandstandin'"! promo is probably my favourite ever promo from anyone, even over the Hogan "Slamming Andre destroys Trump Plaza" one

[@KingKhanate1997]

I HATE YOU HULK HOGAN. I HATE YOUR GUTS. AND THAT’S WHAT’S GONNA BE LEFT ALL OVER THE MAT AT WRESTLEMANIA V!!!!!

[@GamblerOfFate777]

My favorite line “You’ve got lust in your eyes!!!!! And in your black heart!!!!! For Elizabeth!!!!!!

[@JF-vw9lv]

Macho shouldve never trusted that hotdoggin, grandstandin, wife luster.

[@chrisbutler1668]

Who knew that Macho Man's promo about Hulk Hogan would be the most truthful and poignant insight into the mind of the man formerly known as Terry?

[@morrnmanderson7376]

Most of Beefcakes matches at Mania end with count outs and DQ's, because it allows for him to win while also giving his opponent a plausible reason to not get his hair cut. 99% of Beefer's haircuts were done to jobbers on Saturday morning wrestling. And since back then, we mostly only saw star vs star matches on pay per view. It was a good way to protect Beefcake on TV while also protecting his opponents from having to be cutted and strutted lol

[@BradleyBoy]

I wonder how many of Beefcake's opponents wanted a haircut

[@donjohn2695]

And most of his match's sucked

[@dixienormus6941]

Ironic that Beefcake would have a gimmick that brought attention to his hair. He had a bald spot as big as a dinner plate

[@dmck8516]

I remember the Saturday morning wrestling my great grandma use to love wrestling and the barber beefcake lol. We use to watch it together good times

[@Kingofb0ngstyle]

Hogan and Beefcake wouldn't do the job. They used their creative control.

[@Spacewizzard090]

Not only does Warrior drop Heenan unsafely, Rick Rude looks pretty close to necking himself during the finish when Heenan grabs Warrior's legs. Anyone involved an Ultimate Warrior match should have been awarded hazard pay

[@kidneystonermusic]

Warrior vs Goldberg would have ended in death

[@Gotenks_90]

@@kidneystonermusic yeah both would have break their necks

[@Phyrre56]

Warrior was definitely an unsafe worker, but the suplex into the leg grab was a tough spot to execute. He's got Rude in the chinlock already for the suplex, so he would have to let go of the chinlock while holding him and Rude would have to rotate his body while Warrior is falling and not make it look scripted. It was too complex of a spot to give to Ultimate Warrior, they should have figured out an easier way to get into it. The way he dropped Heenan was just inexcusable and terrible.

[@HereIsWisdom1318]

Theres no such thing as dropping someone unsafely on a press slam. As the person being press slammed, its your job, and YOUR JOB ALONE to protect yourself with that particular move. Theres nothing the one doing the press slam can do BUT drop you!

[@HereIsWisdom1318]

And speaking of unsafe, RICK RUDE is the one who’d drop an elbow right on the back of the neck of his opponent’s giving them stingers!

[@blacktytrix]

One of the best wrestlemania main event builds ever, just a perfect slow burn story. And that promo savage cut before the show about "the pukesters" and the death of hulkamania is timeless.

[@westnile21]

With the veins bulging out of his neck lol truly one of the goats

[@Neithan02]

Is that his shoot face promo where he lists all the real life downsides of hogan, like the sabotaging and trying to take spots etc...?

[@matthewdrake4385]

Hogan and Macho was classic. As friends, as enemies, none were better.

[@thomasroedgaard117]

History beckons The Macho Man yeah!

[@thekidfromiowa]

Compelling, emotionally charged storylines like that are what is missing from the promotion nowadays.

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

You have no clue how truly appreciative I am of this series! I appreciate your grind my dude!

[@clarencesimmons8580]

Oh yeah, Brian I can't wait to see in the late 1990's pay per View WWF Wrestlemania 15, For Real!!!

[@matthewlane518]

Indeed! We all love the Z man!

[@siegmund87]

Hogan isn't a doctor. So even when he carries Liz to the back, what's your plan then? She isn't dying. You watch Hogan during that segment, and he weeps like she is about to die. And you notice Hogan doesn't go back to help Savage until Liz is awake and tells him to help Savage. He waited until Liz saw that he rescued her before he goes back to Savage. He totally had lust for Liz. Wish Savage had won.

[@missastrology]

My favorite is Jesse Ventura at the end. When Hogan wins he goes completely silent for minutes. You can tell there’s real animosity

[@pronkb000]

Supposedly the real animosity between the two wasn't until Jesse's royalties lawsuit. The discovery is when Jesse found out that Hogan was the one who stooged Vince off to his attempts at forming a wrestlers' union. Now, was there some "What's he got that I don't?" professional jealousy before? Maybe, but during the lawsuit Jess said that he and Hogan were friends or at least friendly until then.

[@missastrology]

@@pronkb000 yes, Jesse made them ask Vince that in his deposition and Vince didn’t hesitate to answer it was Hogan lol

[@Wooderz245]

This was the first show my grandad showed me on VHS in 1998. Until Survivor Series 1998, this show was my only exposure to Pro wrestling and I was hooked immediately. Amazing that, even back then, and for how lacklustre some of these matches were, as a 9 year old I was immediately hooked by this show so I always have more fondness for it.

[@kenterminateddq5311]

24:10 yeah, Brian Zane, I would also feel awkward if my daughter or son asked me about the current ages of the participants in the Rude vs Warrior match. :(

[@gatienlaurol5793]

Wrestlers don’t have a long shelf life post career likely because of drug abuse and other kind of addictions that lead to early heart attacks and/or strokes. It’s really sad that many of these guys don’t even get to live past 60.

[@kenterminateddq5311]

@@gatienlaurol5793 Depends if they don't have any demons or health issues. It kinda makes me worry about Triple H (and I'm not a fan of Hunter).

[@gatienlaurol5793]

@@kenterminateddq5311 Also keep in mind that many of these guys use anabolic steroids which takes it toll on the heart and the body. Not to mention the many painkillers just to keep wrestling. It’s sad man :(

[@kenterminateddq5311]

@@gatienlaurol5793 Not the wrestlers of today. Cause AJ Styles looks so jacked on a substance, right?

[@gatienlaurol5793]

@@kenterminateddq5311 I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make here. I was merely stating that the sport of wrestling and its lifestyle for some wrestlers doesn’t build a foundation for a long healthy life once it’s over. And that’s the sad part is that we end up watching wrestlers we grew up and love decay in front of us and die before 65 :(

[@iannolan2979]

I love the “this doesn’t fit my script but I have to put the spine buster in” moment

[@jamesrobinson4042]

Everyone loves an Arn Anderson spine buster and all that deny are just lying 😂 if Arn is shown you gotta show his spine buster 😂

[@georgenoriegajr]

27:10 Heenan said in his book that because the Piper segment ran long, one of the agents told him backstage that his match with Taylor needed to be super short; Heenan told Taylor they were going to have to cut their planned match short, so he would just rush him, Taylor would move, Heenan would hit the ring post, 1-2-3. According to Heenan, Taylor was upset because he wanted a match complete with highspots and everything, but Heenan pointed out that his payoff was going to be the same regardless of whether he worked 30 seconds or 30 minutes, so he should just appreciate the easiest paycheck he was ever going to earn. He's not called "The Brain" for nothing.

[@BBall0027]

14:42 I'm actually kind of surprised that you didn't mention that was the original OSW Review "Aloha Arn"

[@HyperFlame64V1]

AAAAALLOOOHHAAAAARRNN......AAAALLOOOHAAAAARRNNN......

[@RC99_Productions]

I still have Mania 5 on VHS and every once in a blue moon, I feel the need to pop it in and watch it. Also, fun fact: On the UK VHS version I have, they cut out all those non-wrestling segments like the national anthem being sung, the Bushwhackers eating and the 5K run. However, they did keep in Strikeforce's pre-match interview plus Run DMC's rap and Piper's Pit. Also also insert all your OSW references here. Quick rubs and squeezie-squeezies galore.

[@daniellatkowsky6284]

An edited UK vhs? What a pittance!

[@RC99_Productions]

@@daniellatkowsky6284 Needs more Aloha Arn

[@daniellatkowsky6284]

@@RC99_Productions lol… Those British lads are the best

[@mrkipling2201]

@@RC99_Productions do you remember watching the WWF on Sky one??

[@RC99_Productions]

@@mrkipling2201 Yup. Back in the day.

[@kylekarnes4652]

I will always love this Mania because I watched it so much on VHS at my grandparents house when I was a kid. This is definitely my most watched Mania, the Twin Towers/Rockers and Demolition/Powers of Pain tag matches are 2 of my favorites.

[@kenterminateddq5311]

27:01 FUN FACT that Zane didn't mentioned: When Brooklyn Brawler (Steve Lombardi) walked to the back, Vince asked him,"Where's your hat?" Lombardi responded,"A fan took it". In actuality, it was Terry Taylor (Red Rooster) who took it. Unlike Patterson and Brisco, you won't call Lombardi a "stooge".

[@SweetAndSourPlums]

You and Wrestling Bios keep my wrestling KZbin cravings at bay.

[@dadncaleb]

What a great show. I love that you and OSW have done a lot of the same ppvs because it’s nice to see differing takes on the same event. Great video.

[@TOCC50]

He didn’t do WM 1 & 2

[@tthomaselli2]

Wrestling With Wregret- I noticed that the spot around 21:05 with André The Giant getting caught up in the ropes was used at 'WWF WrestleMania 6', as well. It happened near the end of the WWF Tag-Team championship match that he had with Haku against Demolition, I believe...

[@wstine79]

I was 10 years old when this event aired. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were great together as well as opposing each other.

[@mrkipling2201]

I was 9 years old at the time of WM5 and I totally agree with your comment. I was gutted when the ‘ megapowers ‘ exploded!!

[@BarsAnderson]

@@mrkipling2201 i'm right there with you guys. Still think Macho should've won this! I mean I figured he wouldn't when I was a kid and as I got older I get it, but man, Hogan's schtick was already getting old. By Rumble 92 he was a heel masquerading as a babyface lol

[@kenrickkahn]

@@BarsAnderson And I just told someone on another channel that if Hogan did business most of the time even turning heel when he needed too WCW would be still open and other wrestlers would be made men.. but that's another Universe.. 😂

[@mrkipling2201]

@@BarsAnderson I totally agree. I wasn’t really a Hogan fan at all. I was a huge Hart Foundation fan. Especially Bret Hart. He had the cool shades and the pink and black was so unique at the time.

[@WhyNot2day]

What a great feud and excellent build up, I was on The Macho Man side tho

[@SteamyLinguini]

Still ridiculous that Hogan ditched Savage and took his girl away, and when Savage rightfully gets angry at him, SAVAGE is the one seen as the bad guy here. Hogan’s an utter clown lol

[@sebastiancintron29]

I know right. Only in Hogan's strange fantasies could an adulterer be seen as the good guy, so long as said adulterer is him.

[@andrewneese6484]

Indeed, but that is on Vince and the writers. Hogan definitely should have been the heal with Savage as the face in this one.

[@tempestfennac9687]

@@sebastiancintron29 This would have worked a lot better if Hogan had sincerely said he had no interest in Miss Elizabeth because he's happily married with the whole thing being Savage just being paranoid.

[@sebastiancintron29]

Vince: ok Hogan, you'll be the heel in this story. Hogan: doesn't work for me brother.

[@sebastiancintron29]

@@tempestfennac9687 I feel like thats what they were trying to do, but the storytelling wasn't all there or executed well.

[@mikem10481]

Always holds a place in my heart as it was the first Wrestlemania I ever watched and have been a fan since. Despite a lot of throw away matches the Main Event certainly made up for it.

[@thomasferraro479]

Same here my first mania i ever saw as a kid

[@chrissawyer1484]

First Mania I saw live as it happened. Great times.

[@josephcamenzind1305]

First Wrestlemania too

[@Phyrre56]

These are throwaway matches by modern standards, but at the time, all you ever saw on free TV was Superstar vs. Jobber in a squash match. Maybe you'd get one match between two known wrestlers as the main event. Just the fact that PPVs in this era didn't have jobbers made them feel special. Everything changed when RAW started normalizing Superstar vs. Superstar and gradually getting rid of jobbers. Of course this is still 4 years before RAW.

[@JASETHE13TH]

This was also the first wrestlemania I ever saw it was around 93-94 I rented the vhs from a local corner store I think it was like $2 the only other wrestling tape they had was Summerslam 89 I rented those tapes so many times that the old lady who ran the store would just let me take them for free once in a while

[@CatsClaw44]

Heads up on King Haku, Haku didn't beat Harley for the crown. Harley lost the crown after getting hurt going through a table at SNME against Hulk Hogan so Bobby took the crown from Harley and gave it to Haku. They even had a ridiculous segment where the entire Heenan family came out to pay their respects to Harley like he had died and they showed Harley's head floating in the clouds. They actually had a ceremony for Haku anointing him the king of the vacant crown. Later Harley challenged Haku at the Royal Rumble prior to this Wrestlemania. That's why Harley competed at the 1988 Survivor Series as just Harley Race while Haku competed in the main event as King Haku.

[@RonBurgundy420]

I'd imagine the Rooster/Heenan match had more planned but after the Warriors carelessness of dropping Heenan improperly, aggravating Heenan's neck injury. They likely had to scrap most of it.

[@TheFlock83]

That was my thought as well. I wonder if that’s where Heenan’s dislike of Warrior the person started

[@johnepants]

@@TheFlock83 I think so. They wrestled a bit in 1988 and Heenan wasn’t the biggest fan of his work; but I’m sure this pissed him off and I doubt Warrior owned up to it at the time

[@TheFlock83]

@@johnepants my only real knowledge comes from “The Ultimate Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior” DVD so I know a little about the feud. I know it had Heenan in his weasel suit, but even then he was mad cause Warrior rushed things. A major take away from that DVD was how much Heenan disliked Warrior

[@johnepants]

@@TheFlock83 yeah, Nothing is ever really made clear as to when the hate really started, I just think he didn’t care for him and the grand sum of experiences turned Heenan off to Warrior. I love Bobby, but he seemed like the guy that once you got on his shit list, you were there. He also had beef work Schiavone for a long time and from what I have seen, Tony seems like a legit decent person

[@themedianman9712]

Heenan had a general dislike for Warrior's working ability. One example he gave was that Warrior would screw up the oft-used Andre tie up spot. You might think "big deal" all these years later, but at the time, live crowds popped big for it.

[@andrewlivingston1590]

“[In this feud] Macho Man [was] one of the most justified heels in history…” Amen to that! Just because Hogan wasn’t *intended* to be the villain of this story doesn’t mean he *wasn’t*. When somebody is showing off and working the crowd while a defenseless person has just been taken to the infirmary in the back, what are we to call that except grandstandin’ and hotdoggin’??! And that’s just leaving out what was going on outside of kayfabe!

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Personally I've always thought the best heel turns (like Macho's here) are when the heel has a legit justification for their behavior.

[@quentinparhiala9415]

I think this is one of Macho Man's best heel turns he did

[@jarrodhen8063]

Honestly I've gone back and watched allot of these old PPVs from when I was a real little kid to see how different I see things as an adult. This was when I was like 8 or 9. I remember as a little kid you don't understand all the stuff from the storylines really but just know that Macho attacked our hero Hogan. However going back as an adult you understand so much more obviously and there are so many times that they push Hogan over the years as a supreme Babyface but you really can't help but see he is the real bad guy and really have "sympathy for the devil 👿" as the saying goes and completely understand the gripe the "Now Heel" has with the situation. Just look at 2 years later with the what went down with Sid at the Royal Rumble that costs his good friend not just the Rumble but the World Title none the less and hands the championship to what was suppose to be his mortal advisary in Ric Flair. Then again right before he was leaving 2 more years later basically acts like a heal and is taking the spotlight away from Bret Hart. He was very much in the wrong those 2 times alone. During this time He constantly costs his friends matches in favor of keeping his ego on top, steals his friends ladies and always keeps himself in the spotlight like when Bret Hart took on Yokozuna at WM IX and started to get a little traction up the ladder 🪜 even when he knew he was leaving still had to be the guy with all the attention. Makes you really wonder if were really dumb, naive or just wanted to do the status quo back then when we cheered him. I am not a Hogan hater like many people these days but many of these if they happened today would be an "unintentional" heel turn and he would be booed out of the building.

[@quentinparhiala9415]

@@jarrodhen8063 That's awesome you watched alot of these PPV's when you were a kid and you wanted to see if it was different

[@andrewlivingston1590]

I think Bruce Pritchard was asked once on his podcast what the biggest “hindsight is 20/20” moment of his career was and he said (seemingly not needing to think about it at all first) that he sees now that the time was right for Hogan and Sid to do a double turn either at or leading up to Wrestlemania 8. (They *had* considered turning Hogan for Wrestlemania 6, he said on a separate occasion.) Hogan’s outright RACIAL SLUR at Wrestlemania 9…what was going on there???

[@ianfeuerhake1859]

Funny, I was a much younger lad for this of course. And I was also hoping for more with the Blazer/Perfect match. Up to this point, Perfect used to take time outs on the floor to regroup, and I thought Blazer being the only one who did suicide dives at the time would be the perfect counter for that.

[@deementia6796]

I saw a Perfect/Blazer house match in Providence, RI that was a month or two before this one, and it went almost 20 minutes. My dad and I couldn't believe at first that Perfect couldn't put him away quickly (I was a Mr. Perfect fan), but as time went on, the crowd really got behind Owen. My favorite match of the night!

[@tthomaselli2]

I had to laugh at 24:01-24:26 & the story that Brian Zane told about his daughter asking a ton of questions while he's trying to watch a Pay-Per-View. Too funny!...

[@ivormctin6367]

The Hogan v Savage feud was huge. One of the great feuds of all time. Can you imagine a year long build now? Sometimes the greatness of a match comes from the story not the in-ring work. Glad to see you recognised that with your rating

[@Hyde_Hill]

Last year long build I can remember was Roode vs Strom in TNA after the break up of Beer Money and Storm winning the belt when Roode could not. So in a one on one Roode screwed over Storm. Aside from Claire Lynch that time in TNA was pretty well booked.

[@danieldorsey6768]

I imagined it. We had the Bayley-Sasha Banks feud not too long ago.

[@raisedbrow01]

Cena v the Rock - the once in a lifetime year long fued... done twice 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@MichaelMartin-qe5ye]

As others have mentioned, this was the Bushwhackers/Rougeau match where one of the Rougeaus gets his small package rubby rubby squeezy squeezey'd.

[@chrisbutler1668]

I still do not understand why you would not point it out...it's a once in a lifetime move that will probably never been seen again. And your move-for-move description is spot on.

[@MichaelMartin-qe5ye]

@@chrisbutler1668, thank you but it is not my description, I stole it from OSW Review.

[@traviche7207]

Tony Ski-A-Vone. That pronunciation killed me. Great video :)

[@themedianman9712]

Not that you should be forced to like something that perhaps doesn't hold up, but at the time, getting to see stars face one another was the treat worth paying for. Free TV was jobber squashes. This is still kayfabe era, so tweens of the 80s weren't critiquing finishes.

[@jasvinjames5773]

huh, that's such a nice comparison to what we have with AEW, "free TV", i.e. KZbin is Dark and Elevation which is where the jobber squashes happen and on Dynamite and Rampage which is paid TV (I suppose), you get the big time matches and angles and everything and I guess that makes PPVs a mega paid TV xD

[@themedianman9712]

@@jasvinjames5773 ehhhh kind of. I mean, you have to pay your home ISP or cell provider. So even the YT product isn't "free". The entire model is different nowadays. I don't see a way back, and many would say "why would you want to?"

[@jasvinjames5773]

@@themedianman9712 true but I just meant on a base level it's kinda cool to see that similarity. I'm from India and I wasn't even born back then so I don't really know much about this free TV stuff and pay per views even, doesn't seem to be something that's followed in India.

[@kenterminateddq5311]

Also, FUN FACT, Zane: last Friday was my birthday so a new Classic PPV Review is as good, if not, better than getting WWE 2K22 as a birthday present. :)

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Happy Birthday!

[@frankez99]

You do an amazing job with these. I haven’t watched wrestling since 1991 but I stumbled across your channel and it literally brought back memories of watching these on AFN in Germany with the family in the 1980s/early 90s. Then I saw the Saturday Night”s Main Event with Hogan and Savage and I teared 😢 up. You’ve reopened some beautiful memories of my family; thank you Zane.

[@bootsthecat6718]

Called in during the middle of the night and it only takes him 3 seconds to get ready? What a pro!

[@LPGD1994]

Macho Man Randy Savage. WM 4: Wins the title and the girl. WM 5: Loses the title and the girl. WM 6: Becomes the villain and embarrassed by the girl. WM 7: Wins back the girl. WM 8: Wins the title and the girl.

[@stevenb427]

I had WrestlemaniaV on VHS 📼. MUST HAVE WATCHED IT OVER 3/400 TIMES BROTHER!! 40 years old now and it's still Classic material👊

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

One of the reasons why savage turned against Hogan was because Hogan got the most attention despite savage being champion They literally announced savage and then Hogan just like when Matt Hardy was ecw chamapion and Jeff was not champion

[@scotthardie5141]

SO many Hogan feuds were a result of Hogan being a dick, Andre, Mr Wonderful, Savage, Kidman, Yoko, Flair (when Flair was the heel), etc, etc

[@fro-zone2k]

@@scotthardie5141 To make matters worse Savage was suppose to retain the title but Hogan refused.

[@fro-zone2k]

@@scotthardie5141 To be fair it was Andre's idea to have Hogan retain instead of Hogan being a dick abusing his power to benefit himself.

[@BmanTheChamp]

If you're talking about their match at 'Mania 25, neither Matt nor Jeff was champion at the time.

[@mrsejanoz523]

You mentioned that Morton Downey Jr. was a good sport about the fire extinguisher spot - according to the book WrestleMania: The Official Insider's Story by Basil V. Devito, Jr., Morton was the one who came up with the idea in the first place.

[@chrisbreezy3048]

First of all, kids are so inquisitive, but I can imagine the awkwardness when everyone on screen is dead and gone. Secondly, I was almost expecting Jo Graham to make another guest appearance during that Hogan promo.

[@Psychoville93]

This is the first Wrestlemania I owned on VHS when I first became a wrestling fan in 2002.

[@MadisonCarter]

I've always theorized the Snuka cameo was a test-of-the-water bit to see what the reaction would be (i.e. if people knew about or remembered the murder). Regarding Curt/Owen, I can only find 9 house shows they worked in '89 w/ Owen as the Blazer, then in '93 they were in two battle royals together but that's all I see.

[@davidkos74]

The whole murder thing was not ever an issue back then. Fans back then didn’t know about it or didn’t care. Only in the past 5-10 years did it become an issue. Nancy’s death happened in 83, Snuka was a huge star then. His erratic behavior (drugs) was the reason he left the WWF basically after WM1 and ended up in the AWA and elsewhere.

[@chaospoet]

I want to say Perfect wrestled Owen as the Blue Blazer once on an early episode of Monday Night Raw but I may very well have Owen confused with Max Moon admittedly but I do remember Perfect vs some athletic opponent in a blue mask.

[@Phyrre56]

This was Snuka's first appearance in WWF in 4 years. He wrestled in Japan and a few other promotions during his time away, but I'm guessing they had just decided to bring him back and wanted to tease that, but he wasn't in good enough shape for a match. He would re-debut on taped TV about 6 weeks later and his first live match was at Summerslam. This was the 1989 equivalent of a teaser video.

[@chrisbutler1668]

@@davidkos74 It became an issue before his death because they finally decided to charge Snuka with the murder, but his family was able to delay the trial until he died, blaming his years of brain damage as a reason why he would not be fit to stand trial. Still to this day, there is no justice.

[@donjohn2695]

Well the fans seemed like they couldn't care less

[@jwhittle91]

This, Wrestlemania 3, and the first Summerslam are my favorite 80’s WWF shows. Some of the wrestling is a little outdated but the shows are so exciting and have a certain charm to them.

[@Morrowclaw]

Far and away the only KZbinr I check daily to see if there's been an upload.

[@MichaelStrick9]

Even as a little kid, I was always cheering for Savage. Especially in this match. Randy Savage was awesome, even when he's supposed to be a bad guy, and 10 year old me was sick and tired of Hogan getting shoved down my throat. I guess that's why they could never keep Savage heel for too long, too many people still cheered for him.

[@LoopGawdTV]

You guys just dont know how awesome it looked when Demolition came out with those black mask with spikes sticking out, with their theme song playing….You knew someone was about to get their asses KICKED!!!

[@stfi7566]

If you listen to “The Fink’s” intros before the match, he introduces the Powers of Pain, then Demolition’s music plays for a couple of seconds, then stops before he intros Mr. Fuji. The crowd even pops briefly during those couple of seconds.

[@LoopGawdTV]

@@stfi7566 wow, I never noticed after all these years. 😂

[@phreakzilla8514]

Seeing the interview with Miss Elizabeth reminded me why she was my first crush when I was 8 years old. She was something else.

[@RegginaldRiglet]

Your classic ppv reviews are some of your best content ever produced imo. Thanks for these Brian

[@alexbaxthedarkside]

Hulk Hogan describing Macho-Man as a cheap shot artist cracks me up XD

[@spookerredmenace3950]

nice tribute to Robert Goulet in the opening :D nice, its interesting to watching some of the wrestlers trip on the stairs coming down, a few look back.

[@scotthardie5141]

Vera said that?

[@spookerredmenace3950]

@@scotthardie5141 no if you watch the full event, some of them trip on the stairs

[@whitecloak11]

The bushwhackers were goofy but I'm in my early 40s and this was my era and man they were so over.

[@pepito2847]

I thought the part where Hogan collapses on Savage’s leg was hilarious And the way Jesse Ventura made fun of Hogan for it made it more funny

[@steveclayton2353]

Ya please macho I can't take no more of this punishment,bahahahahaha

[@xaingo76]

Wait, Tony Schiavone did a backstage interview and no one interrupted? 😆

[@ScottDelleFave]

Just think Rick Martel almost didn't make the show due to his work visa.

[@citizenstrife]

20:12 "Jacob is a snake-ob, and brother, Andre the Giant has a HUGE fear of snake-obs!"

[@32ekoc]

"Oh, Unhand me you brute" Best opening line

[@miamimagicians]

Savages Elbow was incredible

[@hopsonkim4952]

“If you like Bobby Heenan…” Are there people who care about wrestling and don’t like Bobby Heenan? THAT’S NOT FAIR TO FLAIR! I CANT BELIEVE MARTY JANNETY WOULD BE SO COWARDLY AS TO TRY AND ESCAPE THROUGH THE WINDOW! Best heel commentator ever.

[@diabolysticism]

Kinda weird seeing how long the Demo vs Pop feud went on for. These days if a feud went on anywhere near that long (See Joe/Styles, Rollynch vs Lacey Evans & Corbin) people couldn't wait to see the end of it quicker. Then again, this was before Monday Night Raw started, so it wasn't every week you had to see it.

[@angelus4282]

April 2nd, 1989 was a pretty cool ass day! WrestleMania V, Clash of the Champions VI... AND it was also my 7th birthday on top of all that!

[@Penguingay]

Brian Zane I want to personally thank you for these. I watch them as I go to bed and it’s the best part of my day. Keep up the great work sir.

[@TheDukeofMadness]

This was Vince booking at its absolute best. The slow deterioration of the MegaPowers was brilliant. And this was before wall to wall PPV's.

[@kenrickkahn]

He doesn't have it anymore and refuse to let other vets come in and book the shows..

[@dantegood2195]

@@kenrickkahn - WWE produces 5 hours of live tv each week, and their revenue streams are highly dependent on their billion dollar tv deals for both shows individually. Stories have to move much quicker.

[@kenrickkahn]

@@dantegood2195 Which kills Quality.. And they lost money dude.. They had to sell some assets to NBC.. and fire people to stay a float.. Fun Fact: Fox is about to terminate their contract with WWE.. WWE needs to do better..

[@dantegood2195]

@@kenrickkahn - lol. WWE had record breaking revenue profits this past fiscal year. What are you talking about? Their TV contract for Raw alone was more revenue than the WWF cleared in the whole decade of the 80s. And they sold the network for a billion dollars. They weren’t desperately selling it to keep the lights on. They had to pay networks to air their syndicated programs back in the 80s, because wrestling was considered such lowly programming. It was just glorified infomercials with squash matches and promos for the local house show.

[@CoralCopperHead]

@@kenrickkahn 0/10 research. 10/10 shitpost.

[@CMWaters]

The one thing about this show that makes me laugh: if you look at any cloth thing with the WrestleMania logo, you can see that they just re-used the Mania IV ones again but just removed the I from the IV.

[@LoopGawdTV]

WM5 is my second favorite WM of all time. (WM3 is my favorite). Everything looks so colorful and full of life, the crowd is active and engaged. Unlike now, where its dark and the crowd is dry and lame

[@makaveli4205]

WWE died after the Chris Benoit incident

[@handsolo1209]

@@makaveli4205 WWE died when Rock, Austin, Hogan, Brock & Goldberg all left within a year or so of each other and were left with midcard crap like Benoit to take their place.

[@tthomaselli2]

If you look at the screen around 14:12-14:15, you'll see what looks like a green circle after Bobby "The Brain" Heenan walks past the camera & as Arn Anderson gets ready to approach it. Does anybody know what that is, or, why that happened?...

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Lens flare!

[@tthomaselli2]

@@WrestlingWithWregret- That's what I thought it was called... Thank you.

[@gochasingwaterfalls9970]

As I’ve gotten older I’ve really grown to appreciate the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers they were an awesome heel tag team.

[@UndergroundSkat2000]

Loved Savage's "freak out yea!"

[@Jerry_Freestyle]

The sudden tone change from excited to monotone when Hogan “Hulked Up” and won the title That sums it up right there, B-Zane :)

[@whaduzitmatr]

fans ate it up though it was the 80s after all

[@Jacktrack7]

24:20 For context the guy with a blue shirt (referee) is Joey Marella, Gorilla Moonson son who tragically died at 31 in a car accident.

[@allenbar81]

That Macho Man elbow drop...still the best flying elbow ever.

[@tthomaselli2]

I was born several months after 'WWF WrestleMania 5' took place. I didn't see it from beginning to end until sometime in the mid-1990's when a friend of mine got a VHS of it at a video store.

[@Colonel_RamRod]

Damn you wrestle too? Did not know that, gonna have to check it out. Explains why you're so particular about the quality of a move being done. Been binging your stuff lately. Great as always!

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Wrestle(d)! 😄

[@Drummer8282]

26:40 - short match perhaps due to Heenan being injured at the hands of the Warrior earlier in the night? Probably said to Hernan, “just go out, take 1 bump and go home”.

[@flamethrowerflufsalisbury]

Perfect vs Owen was a battle of 2 the greatest wrestling pranksters ever.

[@LEGENDCITYest1963]

Me and 400 others at The Phoenix Convention Center Ballroom-closed circuit television. Back again for WM6

[@comixproviderftw_02]

As someone who was born in 1997, I can only imagine what must’ve been like to be a kid in the golden age of WWF. All the excitement, and the stars who were around, and it was a time when people still believed. I had a similar feeling like that when I was growing up with late Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression era.

[@austinsmith7731]

As a person also born in 1997, ive always found it wild that the screwjob happened the same week i was born. Seems like we missed out on some awesome stuff right before we existed

[@comixproviderftw_02]

@@austinsmith7731 I was born five years before the final Nitro

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@ComiXProvider FTW_02 It was similar to growing up with the MCU. Many of us knew it was fake, but the psychology of how their powers worked was so protected that you'd still have comic book nerd quality debates about speed vs. strength vs. technique vs. the power of heart. (Good for kicking out of finishing moves, it turns out. This was a time when that rarely happened outside of a big main event.) With that said, a lot of it sucked. You'd almost never see two guys in a competitive match. Most shows were just squash fights unless you lived near Madison Square Garden and caught the shows they televised, or had access to the right regional show. But those pay-per-views and occasional Clash/Main Event shows on TBS and NBC? They were big, in a way that things rarely are, anymore. People were really invested - to the point that cheering for the heels in the wrong crowd was dangerous. (Unless you were into Jim Crockette wrestling, then it was almost expected you'd cheer for the Horsemen or the Midnight Express.)

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

I was born in 86' and it truly was a magical time as a child! At least you got to still experience some great wrestling though!

[@wmen48]

@@ZekeThePlumber86 same macho, hulk n warrior where great faces. Heels where great also and the midcard...

[@robertmellon1041]

Great review as always Z Man. This was my first WM as I was born in July of 88. I still have the VHS tape that my Dad used to record it. Here we are 33 years later, only a few Wregrets 😎

[@BeeRodz]

It was the first Wrestlemania I actually watched on PPV (I was 6). It was all about watching the Hogan-MM match. My husband and I would like to do the “death count” of those who are no longer with us during these older PPVs. Oh there’s a lot here.

[@claudemichal3155]

I cried at the end. Really was pulling for Mach!!!

[@TheLedonne3]

The build to Hogan vs Savage was amazing. However, I never thought the match lived up to the build. Even as a kid it was kinda meh to me. Maybe it was because the crowd wasn't very lively, maybe it was because I was a Savage fan and wanted him to keep the title. I honestly prefer their match on The Main Event, to this one.

[@pandaloon6083]

Randy's legacy is somewhat cheated by the fact that WM 4 and 5 were both held at Trump Plaza, a place that is filled with people for whom Wrestlmania wasn't a destination but merely something along the way. Had the crowd been by populated by nothing but wrestling fans then Hogan's seismological concerns might have been justified. Oh, on another note: imagine how epic Wrestlemania VII's Randy/Liz reunion would have been had the event been held at its originally intended venue: the LA Coliseum. If 100K people saw that as the last match of the evening, it would have been epic.

[@toptenguy1]

That Superfly cameo was SO AWKWARD!!! lol

[@universe-ie2mk]

i wasnt old enough just yet to know wrestling during this mania (i had the warrior plush doll with the title on it after he beat hogan in 6), but i can say that the storylines from this era and even into the 90s were better for one simple reason that we will never see again: limited content. even a weekly show can make a great storyline feel old and have little anticipation before a big match. but they sold these main events. they didnt just grab bruno outta nowhere and say bruno vs. savage for the title like they do today.

[@dantegood2195]

Many of the old storylines were childish and hollow, and were “settled” on the house show circuit so you never really got to see a television pay off. You’re just judging things through nostalgic eyes.

[@Jason_Altea]

None of the storylines are all that complex. They weren't back then and they aren't now. Most stories back then didn't have this slow burn element like you seem to remember, most of it was just "We want this guy to fight this guy, let's write a story around it" just like they do today. The main difference is that things move much faster these days, so seeing these rivalries that build for a year or more isn't feasible for championship matches anymore. There are still plenty of matches that have a slow burn build today though. Just look at the destruction of the Shield, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho's friendship and subsequent rivalry, or CM Punk and John Cena's feud, or look over at NXT's stories like the rivalry between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, the build up and long running rivalry of #DIY, or the mystery behind who attacked Aleister Black.

[@Realest636]

@@Jason_Altea the OP is right however. Wrestling itself does suffer from content overexposure. The product suffers because it is too diluted.

[@Jason_Altea]

@@Realest636 Yeah sure, but the same goes for any long running media types to be fair. Sitcoms, soap operas, dramas, all of it. They all suffer over time from overexposure leading to the formation of tropes which audiences grow tired of. It's not exactly something exclusive to wrestling.

[@Realest636]

@@Jason_Altea it isn’t. Fair enough. However, wrestling wasn’t always on weekly episodic television. It was on preempted Fox Television with on Saturday mornings at 12 pm. The audience, didn’t see everything, and wasn’t overexposed to much of the game as it is now. I agree with the soap opera and sitcom analogy. Wrestling was better with 4 ppvs a year that meant something as opposed to one a month. Once a month ppvs, kind of hurt story development, because of the quicker burn.

[@christopherbako]

The Santana vs Martell feud was very FUN!

[@MrAce-lm8es]

"The WWF, What The World Is Watching!" The Mega Powers Explode Here at Wrestlemania V !!!

[@kidneystonermusic]

Imagine if they gave Perfect and Owen 15 minutes.

[@PaBa1984]

Alright! Let’s revisit the Rage Party next time, too!

[@johnepants]

As a kid, it was crazy to see how long Jake and DiBiasi feuded. This was the start of their program that didn’t end until WM6

[@philipcohen7192]

This was the WWF I grew up on. Not the best time for actual wrestling but loved these gimmicks.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

I agree that the gimmicks and angles were better in this era, but it might just seem that way because I was 9 years old too. However, I was older during the Attitude and Ruthless Agression Eras and I thought the gimmicks and angles still worked. I agree that the actual wrestling back in 80s WWF could be not very good. The current in-ring work is probably the best and most consistent the company as a whole has seen in the decades since the WWF went national. If the WWE could make a couple of big stars, tell stories like they used to *and* keep the current in-ring product I the WWE might find itself in the middle of a third boom period.

[@benjamincovault3017]

please do a review on WM2, WM8, & RR91 . Your reviews are awesome bro keep it up. You do an excellent job with your research.. i grew up watching all these events over and over again when my dad would tape the rented copy of whatever ppv me and my brother were renting. Miss those times

[@shawnwbronx]

The Warrior vs Rude match was better than two stars. I’d give it three. Just my opinion. Rude carried him to a good match.

[@tmage23]

Rick Rude's tights might be the best thing about this show.

[@lucaslonchampt613]

Disappointed that you didn't mention the quick rub and the squeezie squeezie during the Bushwackers and Rougeaus match

[@Goldnfoxx]

This was the first PPV event I ever had or attended, watching it in closed circuit at our Boutwell Auditorium. This was the event that's really responsible for my becoming a wrestling fan, and despite a couple of mediocre matches, I really enjoyed this event from start to finish.

[@ojsimpson.]

I always loved the entrance way for manias 4 and 5

[@tthomaselli2]

What's up with the lights around 14:45-14:47?... Am I missing something, or, is it just me?... I hate going back & watching old events like this, for example & seeing that on the screen. I saw this on various sports events when I was a kid in the mid-1990's & it drove me even crazier, as well.

[@darrelsapp1232]

I was at this Wrestlemania sitting about even with the WWF logo at the top of the entrance ramp. It was far as hell and the acoustics were garbage. Could barely make out any of Piper's Pit or the Run DMC rap. One of the souvenirs was a pair of WM5 binoculars.

[@patrickreeves4650]

this was the first ppv i ever saw as a kid. my neighbors came over and asked if i wanted to come watch the matches with their family that afternoon. i begged my parents to let me. for a 4th grader who was dirt poor, it was an amazing day. they got pizza, and we watched the whole thing. first time i had ever gotten to see hogan wrestle since he never did on regular tv. quite a memory.

[@ArtGuyCharlie]

Ultimate Warrior having bad matches and hurting people? Who would have ever thought!? I for one am absolutly shocked to hear it! /s

[@jd9119]

Watch that press on Heenan again. Heenan is supposed to do a pushup on Warrior's shoulders. Heenan decided to not do that and force Warrior to press him unassisted and that caused Heenan to be out of position when Warrior dropped him. If Heenan wasn't so set on sandbagging Warrior, he wouldn't have aggrivated his neck.

[@DaDitka]

One thing to remember about the Jake Roberts/Andre/Studd match is that it was the beginning of one of the greatest feuds of the golden age of the WWF- DiBiase was such a great heel to Jake being a face. That lasted a whole year, with it ending at WrestleMania VI, and there were so many back and forth moments with the two of them. And DiBiase was responsible for at least one face turn, with the Big Boss Man turning. It might be my all-time favorite feud. At the very least, it was my favorite of that era.

[@markant9534]

Yes, DiBiase faded after that fued, he should have been given a run with the title and then Jake could have wrestled Ted for the title with the winner wrestling Hogan.

[@SiddallK]

"How old is the Ultimate Warrior now?... What about the guy he's wrestling?..... What about the guy in the blue shirt..... What about the guy on the outside?...." ☹️😢😭