Two larger than life super heroes taking on a disgraceful enemy. A huge build up including Hulk Hogan and Mr T hosting Saturday Night Live and heavy cross promoting with MTV. Celebrity appearances from Liberace, Muhammad Ali and Cyndi Lauper. It's not hard to see why the first ever Wrestlemania. shown on closed circuit venues throughout America, was a success.
Just how big a success this inaugural event was financially is not as clear. What is known is that the WWE made back all the money it invested in the show and then some, and that Wrestlemania has since become the single biggest Wrestling show on the planet every year.
But, looking back now, there just isn't anything to get fussed about. The crowd was into the action, but it's tame by today's standards. We're not looking at any technical clinics of high thrills matches, just on the whole short, slow, fun typical of WWE at the time which few modern wrestling fans would enjoy.
The night started off with Tito Santana defeating The Executioner with the figure four leglock after about 5 minutes. And that's pretty much the whole story with this one. Same can be said of the next match where King Kong Bundy, accompanied by Loud Mouth Jimmy Hart destroyed Special Delivery Jones in well under a minute. Beating him with one move.
The next match was the most back and forth of the night as the future NWA and WCW legend Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne in another short match. Probably the most likely match to be appreciated by the younger fans.
Next up we had David Sammartino accompanied by his legendary father Bruno and fighting to a draw with Brutus Beefcake, who was accompanied by Johnny Valiant. Longest match so far. MSG crowd were into Bruno.
The next match saw Greg "The Hammer" Valentine retain his Intercontinental Championship by getting himself counted out when he wasn't faring very well against the Junk Yard Dog. This was the first Championship match in Wrestlemania history.
The next match saw the first Championship change in Wrestlemania history as hated heels Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek defeated Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham after Sheik hit Windham with a cane. What's a good wrestling event from 1985, or even now, without controversy? In our next match, Andre The Giant defeated Big JOhn Studd in a $15000 Bodyslam Challenge. I believe there was some type of retirement stipulation on the match, but it was all nonsense. Andre was never going to lose here. He took his $15000 and started throwing the money to the crowd, but Studd's manager Bobby Heenan ran off with the money bag, cutting his losses.
Next was the infamous womens' Championship match in which Wendy Richter pinned Leilani Kai to win the women's championship. Cyndi Lauper an former Women's Champion the Late Fabulous Moolah got involved.
Finally is our main event as WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr T our two larger than life heroes, defeated Rowdy Rod Piper and Paul Orndorff despite the interference of Cowboy Bob Orton and his trusty cast. This match had happened because of some dastardly events in what was supposed to be a one on one title match between Hogan and Piper a month or so earlier at "The War to End it All". Shenanigans occurred, Orndorff, Orton and Mr T got involved. Lines were crossed. Dastardly stuff. The crowd was hot for the action. Everyone did what they were supposed to do and the match and evening were a success.
If you're one of those casual fans of wrestling, give this one a miss. It was made for fans of 80s wrestling and hasn't aged very well. If you are really into wrestling workrate and technical stuff, skip this and get an old NWA Video. If you watched this as a kid and love it, it's a nice trip down memory lane and a great bit of nostalgia. And that, in the end, is the main selling point of this event 20+ years down the line.
Just how big a success this inaugural event was financially is not as clear. What is known is that the WWE made back all the money it invested in the show and then some, and that Wrestlemania has since become the single biggest Wrestling show on the planet every year.
But, looking back now, there just isn't anything to get fussed about. The crowd was into the action, but it's tame by today's standards. We're not looking at any technical clinics of high thrills matches, just on the whole short, slow, fun typical of WWE at the time which few modern wrestling fans would enjoy.
The night started off with Tito Santana defeating The Executioner with the figure four leglock after about 5 minutes. And that's pretty much the whole story with this one. Same can be said of the next match where King Kong Bundy, accompanied by Loud Mouth Jimmy Hart destroyed Special Delivery Jones in well under a minute. Beating him with one move.
The next match was the most back and forth of the night as the future NWA and WCW legend Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne in another short match. Probably the most likely match to be appreciated by the younger fans.
Next up we had David Sammartino accompanied by his legendary father Bruno and fighting to a draw with Brutus Beefcake, who was accompanied by Johnny Valiant. Longest match so far. MSG crowd were into Bruno.
The next match saw Greg "The Hammer" Valentine retain his Intercontinental Championship by getting himself counted out when he wasn't faring very well against the Junk Yard Dog. This was the first Championship match in Wrestlemania history.
The next match saw the first Championship change in Wrestlemania history as hated heels Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek defeated Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham after Sheik hit Windham with a cane. What's a good wrestling event from 1985, or even now, without controversy? In our next match, Andre The Giant defeated Big JOhn Studd in a $15000 Bodyslam Challenge. I believe there was some type of retirement stipulation on the match, but it was all nonsense. Andre was never going to lose here. He took his $15000 and started throwing the money to the crowd, but Studd's manager Bobby Heenan ran off with the money bag, cutting his losses.
Next was the infamous womens' Championship match in which Wendy Richter pinned Leilani Kai to win the women's championship. Cyndi Lauper an former Women's Champion the Late Fabulous Moolah got involved.
Finally is our main event as WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr T our two larger than life heroes, defeated Rowdy Rod Piper and Paul Orndorff despite the interference of Cowboy Bob Orton and his trusty cast. This match had happened because of some dastardly events in what was supposed to be a one on one title match between Hogan and Piper a month or so earlier at "The War to End it All". Shenanigans occurred, Orndorff, Orton and Mr T got involved. Lines were crossed. Dastardly stuff. The crowd was hot for the action. Everyone did what they were supposed to do and the match and evening were a success.
If you're one of those casual fans of wrestling, give this one a miss. It was made for fans of 80s wrestling and hasn't aged very well. If you are really into wrestling workrate and technical stuff, skip this and get an old NWA Video. If you watched this as a kid and love it, it's a nice trip down memory lane and a great bit of nostalgia. And that, in the end, is the main selling point of this event 20+ years down the line.