We’ve all done this. We’ve all sat around the campfire, water-cooler, sacrifice pit and meticulously tried to re-book the Granddaddy of the all. Brilliant idea after brilliant idea has flowed from the minds of countless brilliant people which made us at Place To Be Nation sit up and say, “We’re somewhat brilliant. We can piece together two or three coherent sentences. Surely we can book an all time classic like WrestleMania IX.” So welcome To the Great WrestleMania Re-Book. For each of the 30 celebrations of life (TM WWF 1999) Justin Rozzero, Aaron George, Steven Graham, Nick Duke, Brian Bayless, Trent Williams, and Glenn Butler, give you their versions of each showcase of the immortals. In order to ensue a different spin with this thing here’s a few rules we’ve all sworn a blood-oath to uphold:
– For any given year you can have NO MATCHES THAT WERE ON THE ORIGINAL CARD. So WrestleMania III say goodbye to Savage/Steamboat and Hogan/Andre cause we have to come up with something completely different.
– For every year YOU MUST RESPECT THE CURRENT CHAMPIONS GOING INTO THE EVENT. So even if it hurts our hearts Miz is still champ going into 27, Triple H still has his reign of terror at XIX and Cena is still champ going into 36.
– As much as we are sticklers for the given circumstances and champions we may CHANGE THE WINNER OF THE ROYAL RUMBLE. Otherwise we’d be unable to follow rule number one from 1993-2003. Imagine we’re booking the show as of January 1st.
IF A CELEBRITY WRESTLES/BOXES A PHYSICAL MATCH AT A GIVEN SHOW, HE/SHE MUST HAVE A MATCH AT THE SHOWS WE BOOK. Sorry, no getting out of seeing Snooki “compete.”
– Aside from that we are free to USE ANY MEMBER OF THE ROSTER AT THE TIME THAT WAS HEALTHY OR SCRATCH SOMEONE FROM THE CURRENT CARD IF WE FEEL THEY DON’T FIT AND/OR HATE THEM.
– Unless it’s specified by the given author EVERY ONE OF THESE CARDS LIVES IN IT’S OWN UNIVERSE. Otherwise this could very quick descend into 30 years of fantasy booking instead of seeing what we could each make with the given circumstances. If a butterfly effect is enacted it will be mentioned but I think we’ll keep it to a respectable minimum.
So there’re our awful, rigid, back-breaking rules. Without further ado, here’s the Great WrestleMania Re-Book!
ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY – MARCH 27TH 1988
THE ORIGINAL CARD
1. Bad News Brown d. 19 Men – Battle Royale
2. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase d. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan – First Round Tournament Match
3. Don “The Rock” Muraco d. Dino Bravo by DQ – First Round Tournament Match
4. Greg ” The Hammer” Valentine d. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat – First Round Tournament Match
5. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. “The Natural” Butch Reed – First Round Tournament Match
6. The One Man Gang d. Bam Bam Bigelow by Count Out – First Round Tournament Match
7. “Ravishing” Rick Rude & Jake “The Snake” Roberts time limit draw – First Round Tournament Match
8. The Ultimate Warrior d. Hercules
9. Hulk Hogan & Andre The Giant wrestle to a double DQ – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
10. “The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase d. Don “The Rock” Muraco – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
11. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
12. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake d. The Honky Tonk Man (c) by DQ – Intercontinental Title
13. The Islanders & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan d. The British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware
14. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. The One Man Gang by DQ – Semi-Final Tournament Match
15. Demolition d. Strike Force (c) – WWF Tag Titles
16. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase – WWF Title Tournament Final
JUSTIN ROZZERO
WWF Heavyweight Title Tournament Brackets:
Hulk Hogan
Greg Valentine
Jim Duggan
One Man Gang
Randy Savage
Bret Hart
Ricky Steamboat
Rick Rude
Andre the Giant
Dino Bravo
Ultimate Warrior
Butch Reed
Brutus Beefcake
Ted DiBiase
Jake Roberts
Harley Race
Pay Per View
1. Ultimate Warrior d. Butch Reed – First Round Tournament Match
2. Ted DiBiase d. Brutus Beefcake – First Round Tournament Match
3. Jake Roberts d. Harley Race – First Round Tournament Match
4. Andre the Giant d. Dino Bravo – First Round Tournament Match
5. Ricky Steamboat d. Rick Rude –First Round Tournament Match
6. One Man Gang d. Jim Duggan via disqualification – First Round Tournament Match
7. Randy Savage d. Bret Hart – First Round Tournament Match
8. Hulk Hogan d. Greg Valentine – First Round Tournament Match
9. Ultimate Warrior NC Andre the Giant – Quarter-Final Tournament Match *
10. Ted DiBiase d. Jake Roberts – Quarter-Final Tournament Match **
11. Hulk Hogan d. One Man Gang – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
12. Randy Savage d. Ricky Steamboat – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
13. Honky Tonk Man (c) d. Bam Bam Bigelow – WWF Intercontinental Title Match
14. Hulk Hogan d. Randy Savage – Semi-Final Tournament Match
15. Demolition wins Tag Team Battle Royal – WWF Tag Team Title #1 Contenders Match ***
16. Ted DiBiase d. Hulk Hogan – WWF Championship Tournament Finals ****
* Ted DiBiase randomly showed up and triggered a brawl to lead to the no-contest
** Ted DiBiase receives a bye to the finals
*** Killer Bees, Young Stallions, British Bulldogs, Bolsheviks, Islanders, Rougeau Brothers; Strike Force sat ringside
**** Andre the Giant attacked Hulk Hogan and turned heel during the match, kicking off a year-long revenge storyline
AARON GEORGE
Right off the bat it is mandated by Jack Tunney that neither Ted Dibiase nor Andre the Giant are allowed to enter the WWF Title Tournament due to the copious amounts of cheating and plastic surgery they took part in the win the WWF Championship. Two men are given byes to the second round: Hulk Hogan, the rightful champion and The Honky Tonk Man, The Intercontinental Champion
1. Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant d. Demolition, The Hart Foundation, The Killer Bees, The Young Stallions, The Islanders, The British Bulldogs, The Bolsheviks and Outback Jack & Steve Blackman – Tag Team Battle Royale for a shot later in the night.
DiBiase and Andre are surprise entrants.
2. Bad News Brown d. Jake “The Snake” Roberts – First Round Tournament Match
3. Bam Bam Bigelow d. Hercules – First Round Tournament Match
4. Bret Hart d. The Junkyard Dog – First Round Tournament Match
5. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. “Ravishing” Rick Rude – First Round Tournament Match
6. Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine wrestle to a double DQ – First Round Tournament Match
But like a fast double DQ. Intense brawl for like 3-4 minutes then all Hell breaks loose.
7. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat d. “The Natural” Butch Reed – First Round Tournament Match
Steamboat receives a bye to the semi-final.
8. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan d. “King” Harley Race – No disqualification.
Continuing their epic brawl which started at the Slammys.
9. Hulk Hogan d. The Honky Tonk Man – Quarter Final Tournament Match
Like totally destroys him. Honky is bloodied and pinned within five minutes.
10. Bad News Brown d. Bam Bam Bigelow – Quarter Final Tournament Match
11. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. Bret Hart – Quarter Final Tournament
Savage wins a rather long match.
12. The Ultimate Warrior d. The One Man Gang
13. Bad News Brown d. Hulk Hogan by DQ – Semi-Final Tournament Match
Bad News uses a chair behind the ref’s back, Hogan does the same and is caught.
14. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. Ricky “The Dragon Steamboat – Semi-Final Tournament Match
Steamboat had had a bye. A long tight match which tires Savage for the Final.
15. Ted Dibiase & Andre The Giant d. Strike Force (c) – WWF Tag Team Titles
16. “Macho Man” Randy Savage d. Bad News Brown – WWF Title Tournament Final
It’s the tired Savage puling off a miracle against the fresher, angrier Brown. Savage and Liz celebrate alone in the ring to close out the tournament.
STEVEN GRAHAM
I’m going with a 12–man tournament. That means Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ted DiBiase & Randy Savage all get byes to the second round.
1. The Jumping Bomb Angels (c) d. The Glamor Girls – WWF Women’s Tag Titles
One of the better feuds around this time and it would be a hot opener for this show.
2. Jake “The Snake” Roberts d. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine – First Round Tournament Match
Jake gets the win with the DDT, so the crowd is not deflated like what really happened. Valentine really works the leg in this setting up the next round.
3. Bam Bam Bigelow d. “King” Harley Race – First Round Tournament Match
Bam Bam was one of the hottest babyfaces in the WWF at the time. Let’s give him a win.
4. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat d. “Ravishing” Rick Rude – First Round Tournament Match
A match that was really good on some house shows. Steamboat gets the win which sets up a quarter-final match we all want to see.
5. One Man Gang d. Bad News Brown – First Round Tournament Match
A heel versus heel match!
6. The British Bulldogs & Ultimate Warrior d. Demolition & Mr. Fuji
This match happened a few times and was awesome. Warrior pins Fuji to build him up for the summer.
7. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase d. Jake “The Snake” Roberts – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
DiBiase is fresh while Jake had a rough match with Valentine early.
8. Andre The Giant d. Bam Bam Bigelow – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
Andre gets the win in a huge battle.
9. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat d. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
The rematch of WrestleMania III and Steamboat continues to have Savage’s number.
10. Hulk Hogan d. One Man Gang – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
Hogan defeats the monster as per usual.
11.The Hart Foundation d. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers – Jimmy Hart in a shark cage
Hart had sold the contracts and took on the Rougeaus in a strange angle that actually happened. Here is the payoff with Jimmy not allowed to interfere.
12. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan d. The Honky Tonk Man (c) by DQ – Intercontinental Title
Same as the Beefcake match, but with the much better Duggan. The humiliation of Jimmy Hart continues.
13. “The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase d. Andre the Giant – Semi-Final Tournament Match
Andre lays down giving DiBiase the easy win to advance to the finals. It’s all about the money!
14. Hulk Hogan d. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat – Semi-Final Tournament Match
This would be bizarre and interesting. I’m sure they can make it work. Hogan can work a pseudo-heel in this as he is the much bigger man. I would love to see this.
15. Strike Force (c) d. The Islanders – WWF Tag Titles
The best feud of 1987 ends at WrestleMania.
16. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase d. Hulk Hogan – WWF Title Tournament Final
DiBiase cheats somehow to win this. You can even use Savage & Andre in a similar fashion, but maybe have Savage mess up the chair shot?
NICK DUKE
Some notes: The WWF title tournament arises as a result of Ted DiBiase paying off the Hebner brothers to allow him to defeat Hulk Hogan at The Main Event. Tunney vacates the title, and creates a 16-man tournament.
1. Hulk Hogan d. Nikolai Volkoff – First Round Tournament Match
2. Harley Race d. Bam Bam Bigelow – First Round Tournament Match
3. Jake Roberts wrestles Greg Valentine to a time limit draw – First Round Tournament Match
4. Ted DiBiase d.Virgil – First Round Tournament Match
Virgil lays down for DiBiase, allowing him to advance.
5. Rick Rude d. Junk Yard Dog – First Round Tournament Match
6. Randy Savage d. Bad News Brown – First Round Tournament Match
7. One Man Gang d. The Ultimate Warrior – First Round Tournament Match
Bobby Heenan holds down the Warrior’s legs during a pinfall. In my rebooking, One Man Gang has swapped from Slick to the Heenan Family.
8. Andre The Giant d. Butch Reed
Andre the Giant is still a face heading into WrestleMania IV. The turn at III never happened.
9. Hulk Hogan d. Harley Race – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
Ted DiBiase receives a bye into the semifinals
10. Randy Savage d. Rick Rude – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
11. Andre The Giant d. The One Man Gang – Quarter-Final Tournament Match
12. The Jumping Bomb Angels © d. Judy Martin and Leilani Kai – WWF Women’s Tag Team Titles
13. Ted DiBiase d. Hulk Hogan – Semi-Final Tournament Match
Virgil distracts Hogan and the referee, allowing DiBiase to hit Hogan with the ring bell.
14. Randy Savage d. Andre The Giant by Count Out – Semi-Final Tournament Match
Andre is counted out chasing DiBiase and Virgil from Ringside
15. The Hart Foundation d. Strike Force (c) – WWF Tag Team Titles
16. Ted DiBiase d. Randy Savage – WWF Title Tournament Final
During the match, Virgil attempts to interfere, but is chased to the back by Hulk Hogan. Andre the Giant then appears and turns heel by choking Savage unconscious while the referee is down.
BRIAN BAYLESS
Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant both receive a bye in the WWF Heavyweight Championship Tournament
1. Rick Rude & The Islanders w/ Bobby Heenan d. Jake Roberts & British Bulldogs
Rude hits Dynamite with the Rude Awakening after a distraction from Heenan, Roberts then goes after Rude with Damien as Davey chases off Heenan by using Matilda. Vince McMahon would be in all his glory watching two animals chasing off the heels.
2. Ted DiBiase d. The Junkyard Dog – WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
DiBiase, one of the favorites to win this tournament, gets a clean win over the deteriorated JYD and goes on to face Hogan in the second round.
3. Ricky Steamboat d. Dino Bravo – WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
Steamboat gets a clean win as he advances to the second round in a competitive match to keep the fans in attendance happy.
4. Bad News Brown d. Don Muraco – WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
Bad News gets the win over the former IC Champ, who despite in the midst of a new face push, was just a shell of his former self and not as high up on the card as Bad News.
5. Strike Force (c) d. Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart – WWF Tag Team Title Match
Jimmy Hart’s interference backfires and costs his team the match. Post-match, the Hart Foundation yell at their manager as their babyface turn starts here.
6. Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan d. Hillbilly Jim – WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
Hercules submits Jim, who was clearly on the downside of his run and could afford to lose cleanly in this tournament.
7. Brutus Beefcake d. Greg Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart – WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
Beefcake puts his former partner away with the sleeper as we continue the theme of the former bigger name guys on the downside jobbing in the first round. Always a good tournament strategy.
8. Randy Savage d. Ron Bass – WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
Savage puts Bass away with the flying elbow drop in a short match.
9. Bam Bam Bigelow d. Honky Tonk Man w/ Jimmy Hart – WWF Intercontinental Title
Bam Bam does not win the belt as he wins by count out after Honky flees with Hart to escape from the beating he was taking at the hands of Bam Bam, who was unique enough in that he did not need a secondary title.
10. Hulk Hogan DCO Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil – WWF Championship Tournament, Round Two
Andre comes down to the ring halfway through the match and goes after Hogan when he gets tossed but Hogan drags out DiBiase and they brawl but the ref counts them both out as Hogan attempted to roll back inside.
11. Bad News Brown d. Ricky Steamboat – WWF Championship Tournament, Round Two
Bad News with another clean win over Steamboat, who was leaving the promotion anyway. Plus, a second clean win helps Bad News look strong as he heads to the finals due to the Hogan vs. DiBiase match ending in a double count out. We have established Bad News as a threat here.
12. Hercules w/ Bobby Heenan d. Brutus Beefcake – WWF Championship Tournament, Round Two
Herc gets the win after hitting a vertical suplex on Beefcake as Heenan holds down Beefcake’s leg during the pin. After the match, Beefcake cuts a piece of Heenan’s hair before Hercules could save his manager. Heenan leaves irate.
13. Randy Savage d. Andre the Giant w/ Ted Dibiase & Virgil- WWF Championship Tournament, Round Two
Hogan gets his revenge on Andre as he stops the heels from interfering as Savage gets the win by countout. Fans go nuts as the heels plans are foiled. You still have a reason for Hogan to feud with DiBiase and Andre and that can also carry over as the Mega Powers are formed.
14. Randy Savage d. Hercules – WWF Championship Tournament Semi Finals
Heenan attempts to hold up Savage for Hercules after a ref bump but that fails as Heenan gets sent off of the apron then Savage slams Hercules before dropping the top rope elbow as Savage advances to the finals. Down the road, Heenan uses this as an example of why he sold Hercules’s contract, citing that he was unable to win anything.
15. Ultimate Warrior d. Harley Race
Warrior was getting popular around this time so giving him a win on the show in a match against a veteran like Race is a solid idea to me.
16. Randy Savage d. Bad News Brown – WWF Championship Tournament Finals
These guys get time to work a good match and Savage wins clean with the flying elbow drop. During the match, DiBiase and Virgil come out and attempt to interfere but Hogan chases them off with a chair. Savage celebrates with Miss Elizabeth as Hogan comes into the ring as the Mega Powers close out the show. From that they can feud with DiBiase and Andre and they have elevated Bad News as a singles threat with a deep tourney run.
TRENT WILLIAMS
First off I would change the tournament from having 14 participants to just 8 participants.
1. Demolition d. The Hart Foundation, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers, The Young Stallions, The British Bulldogs, & The Bolsheviks – Tag Team Battle Royal (WWF Tag Team Titles #1 Contender Match)
2. Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth d. Greg Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart – First Round Tournament Match
3. Bad News Brown d. Jake Roberts – First Round Tournament Match
4. Ricky Steamboat d. Rick Rude w/ Bobby Heenan – First Round Tournament Match
5. Junkyard Dog d. Butch Reed w/ Slick ends in a Double Countout – First Round Tournament Match
6. Don Muraco w/ Billy Graham d. Harley Race
7. Hulk Hogan & Bam Bam Bigelow d. Andre the Giant & One Man Gang w/ Bobby Heenan & Slick
8. Jim Duggan d. Ron Bass
9. Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth d. Bad News Brown – Semi-Final Tournament Match
10. Ken Patera d. Dino Bravo w/ Frenchy Martin
11. Koko B Ware d. Danny Davis
12. The Ultimate Warrior d. The Honky Tonk Man (c) w/ Jimmy Hart – Intercontinental Title
I would have the SummerSlam 88 match happen here instead allowing Warrior to get that big pop on the biggest show I think it would add another memorable moment to a show which has very few of them.
13. Strike Force (c) d. The Islanders w/ Bobby Heenan – WWF Tag Team Titles
14. Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth d. Ricky Steamboat – WWF Title Tournament Final
They would have their WrestleMania III classic here. Also Hogan wouldn’t come out and steal Savage’s spotlight, also I would have after the match Savage and Steamboat shake hands and Steamboat raise Savage’s arm before leaving the ring. They will be working the match both as babyfaces.
GLENN BUTLER
The World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship has been vacated following Andre’s illegitimate victory on the Main Event and subsequent attempt to sell the title to Ted DiBiase. As a result, there must be a sixteen-man tournament to determine a new champion!
WWF Championship Tournament, Round One
1. Hulk Hogan def. Haku (w/Bobby Heenan)
The show kicks off with a hot match, as everyone is aching for Hulk to regain the title he never actually lost.
2. Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) def. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
3. George the Animal Steele def. Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan)
4. One Man Gang (w/Slick) def. Don Muraco (w/Billy Graham)
5. Randy Savage (w/Elizabeth) def. Dino Bravo (w/Frency Martin)
6. Ricky Steamboat def. Bad News Brown
7. Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) def. Hillbilly Jim
8. Andre the Giant def. Junkyard Dog
9. Demolition (w/Mr. Fuji) def. The British Bulldogs (w/Matilda)
WWF Championship Tournament, Round Two
10. Hulk Hogan def. Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart)
11. One Man Gang (w/Slick) def. George the Animal Steele
12. Randy Savage & Ricky Steamboat wrestle to a time limit draw.
They could definitely go long enough & keep up a quick enough pace to make it a good match even though it’s a draw.
13. Ted DiBiase def. Andre the Giant via countout.
Andre takes his payoff and walks away.
14. Jake the Snake Roberts def. Honky Tonk Man (c) – Intercontinental Title
As Honky Tonk is about to hit Jake’s bag with his guitar, Damien becomes unsettled and the bag moves, frightening Honky Tonk. He stumbles backward right into Jake, who knocks the guitar away and hits a quick DDT for the win and the title.
WWF Championship Tournament, Round Three
15. Ted DiBiase advances to the finals due to the draw between Savage and Steamboat.
16. Hulk Hogan def. One Man Gang (w/Slick)
Hulk has now defeated a representative of each of the three major heel managers in one night. It’s an impressive feat, but after three grueling matches with three tough opponents does Hogan have enough left in the tank to finish the job? Well, he’s got the largest back in the world.
17. Strike Force (c) def. The Hart Foundation – WWF Tag Titles
WWF Championship Tournament Finals
18. Hulk Hogan def. Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil & Andre)
The Hulkster overcomes the odds, and peace is restored. All is right with the world.
Loading ...Thanks for joining us for the this installment of The Great WrestleMania Re-Book. Feel free to keep the discussion going at the Place To Be Nation Facebook page. Tune in next time when we allow the Mega Powers to simmer. In the meantime, catch up on our previous re-books:
