WWF WrestleMania (March 1985)

In early 1985, the WWF becoming alarmingly popular with Hulk Hogan and their cross promotion with MTV, introduced an event that has become known as not only the flagship show for the promotion – but all of wrestling. With the first WrestleMania, the WWF (popular, but still considered a ‘fad’ by many in the business – most notably Jim Crockett and the NWA), needed something to put them over the top, and cement their position as the premiere wrestling promotion in North America. What they came up with was WrestleMania – an extravaganza that could rival the NWA’s Starrcade supercard, and that would air on closed circuit in theaters and arenas across the country to bring Rock ‘n’ Wrestling and Hulkamania to fans everywhere.

Hulkamania, combined with the celebrity involvement of Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper, made WrestleMania a must-see for serious and casual fans alike – not only in the WWF’s Northeast ‘territory,’ but across the country – with crowds packing closed circuit locations en masse. It became a huge success, not only as an event, but in catapulting the WWF to the top of the mountain.

All eyes were on New York that faithful day in March – turning into the ultimate ‘put up or shut up’ show for McMahon and Co – as failure with WrestleMania would not only dash the WWF’s hopes of expanding, but also put the entire future of the company in jeopardy.  

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura – with Gene Okerlund ‘singing’ the National Anthem to kick things off.


Opening Match: Tito Santana v The Executioner: Executioner is Buddy Rose under a mask - one of his last WWF appearances of the 1980s. Big criss cross starts us off - ending with Santana dropkicking him to the floor. Inside, Tito with a side-headlock, but Executioner kicks him in the gut, and catches him with a kneelift to follow-up. He keeps after the abdomen, but switches to a leglock before even a token abdominal stretch. Tito shrugs that off, and Executioner cowers in the corner - but manages a backdrop. Bodyslam, but he gets slammed when he climbs the ropes. Splash, but Executioner lifts the knees - hitting the bad abdomen. He goes for the kill, but Santana nails him with a diving forearm, and the Figure Four sends the first match in WrestleMania history on into the record books at 4:49. Well paced, good choice for an opener - but nothing much beyond punch-kick. ½*

King Kong Bundy v SD Jones: Jones tries to charge him, but gets railroaded into the corner, and the Avalanche finishes at 0:24 - though announced as 'record' 9 seconds - a myth they still occasionally push as true today. I guess they just hoped no one would notice. Ever. DUD

Ricky Steamboat v Matt Borne: This was early in Steamboat's WWF run - still pre-'Dragon' persona. Big criss cross ends with Steamboat chopping him, and he hooks a headlock. Borne tries to side suplex out, but Steamboat back flips onto his feet, and hits an atomic drop. Borne responds with a pair of kneelifts, but gets caught with a 2^nd rope Tomahawk chop, so he catches Steamboat with a belly-to-belly suplex. Vertical suplex gets two, but Steamboat dominates a slugfest, and hits a delayed side suplex. Swinging neckbreaker, and a kneedrop for two - so Borne goes to the eyes to turn the tide - but gets caught with a shoulderblock, and Steamboat finishes with a flying bodypress at 4:38. Nice back-and-forth match, with crisp execution all around. *

Brutus Beefcake v David Sammartino: David Sammartino was one of the more exploited guys of the era, basically only getting something of a push so that Vince McMahon could use and advertise his dad (Bruno - still a draw, even in retirement) appearing at shows in David's corner. Beefcake keeps him waiting as he disrobes, and it works as strategy, as Beefcake easily trips up the overzealous Sammartino in the early going. Beefcake with a takedown, but Sammartino reverses on the mat, so Brutus bails to the floor to regroup. Back in, Sammartino turns a hammerlock into a front-facelock, but Beefcake makes the ropes to break. He tries a slam, but David hangs on, and takes him back to the mat with another armbar before Brutus breaks. Beefcake with a mat-based side-headlock, but David counters into an anklelock - but it's still 1985, so no one's expecting much. Beefcake goes to the eyes to break, and unloads with a series of forearms and elbowsmashes. Cross corner whip, but Sammartino counters with a backdrop, and starts firing fists of fury. Suplex gets two, so Beefcake blows him low to stop the effort, and dumps him to the floor for manager Johnny Valiant to abuse. Naturally, that draws daddy Bruno over, and everyone brawls for a double disqualification at 11:44. I found this dull when I first saw it twenty years ago, and while it's certainly a much slower pace than modern audiences are used to (even by nine years later, when I got into wrestling), I certainly appreciate the scientific aspect more than I did years ago. *

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Greg Valentine v The Junkyard Dog: Dog intimidates him into the corner, and grabs an armbar when he stumbles out. Valentine hides in the corner again, so Dog starts throwing headbutts, and the champ bails to regroup with manager Jimmy Hart. Test-of-strength goes Valentine's way, and he supermarket sweeps JYD to the mat for a little legwork. He hammers the knee, and tries for the Figure Four - but Dog shoves him off. Slugfest goes JYD's way, and he goes back to the headbutts - but Valentine sweeps him off his feet, and gets the pin with two feet on the ropes at 6:00. That draws Tito Santana out (the man Valentine won and would lose the title back to) to protest, and the referee actually restarts the match based on his word alone. Valentine's already half way to the dressing room, and just decides to keep walking - losing the match, but keeping the title at 6:55. Surprised they didn't go with the 'champion must return by the count of ten, or forfeit the title' routine, but they weren't switching the belt anyway. Match was all punch-kick. DUD

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The US Express v The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff: Mike Rotundo starts with the Iron Sheik, and a big criss cross ends with Rotundo hiptossing him, and hitting a dropkick. The champs pinball Sheik in the corner a bit, and Barry Windham hits a flying elbowsmash to put him on the mat. Sheik bails to Volkoff, but he gets blasted by a backelbow from Rotundo, as the champs easily toss him around - trading off with quick tags. Volkoff bails back to Sheik, and he manages a backdrop for two, and a gutwrench suplex gets two. Suplex, but Rotundo reverses, only to get slammed by Volkoff before he can get the tag off. The challengers cut the ring in half, but make the fatal mistake of letting him go during a tag exchange, and Rotundo dives to Windham. He's a house of arson, and looks to finish Volkoff with a bulldog - but a four-way brawl breaks out. The champs clean house, but Sheik whacks Windham with manager Freddie Blassie's cane, and Volkoff wins the titles at 6:56. Huge upset - as Sheik and Volkoff weren't considered contenders at all, and the crowd lets them know it. Well paced, energetic tag wrestling. *

Bodyslam Challenge: Career v $15,000: Andre the Giant v Big John Studd: No pinfalls, submissions, countouts, or disqualifications. They simply battle until one giant is able to bodyslam the other - with Studd manager Bobby Heenan putting $15,000 on the line to goad Andre into putting up his career. Studd jumps him in the corner on the way in, but Andre unloads a series of chops to put Studd on the floor. Inside, Andre chokes him like he owes him money, and hugs him like a bear. No submissions, so he eventually lets off, and gets the worn down Studd in a standing side-headlock. Series of kicks leaves Studd dazed, and Andre picks him up for the bodyslam at 5:53. Afterwards, Andre grabs the sack 'full' of cash, and starts throwing it out to the fans - but that Bobby Heenan won't abide, and steals it back. Really slow, plodding, restholdy match (even at six minutes), but the crowd loved it, and it's always associated with the spectacle of the first WrestleMania. -*

WWF Women's Title Match: Lelani Kai v Wendi Richter: Unlike today, the Women's Title match isn't just filler jammed on before the main event - it was actually a big selling point, and one of the cornerstones of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Cyndi Lauper accompanies Richter to the ring, coming out to 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun.' Lots of hair pulling in the early going, until Richter takes her to the mat with a hammerlock. Kai counters with more hair pulling, and locks for an armbar - but Richter throws a few closed fists to break. More hair pulling, so Wendi tries a bodyscissors - but Kai breaks with another handful of hair. They do a couple of sloppy takedown spots, but that goes nowhere fast, so Kai goes back to the old standby: hair pulling. Kai manager Fabulous Moolah gets involved to help with the pulling of the hair (champions have the butler do it), but Cyndi Lauper saves, and Richter hits a splash for two. Kai with a backbreaker, and a flying bodypress, but Richter rolls through for the pin at 6:14. More botched spots than a Sabu match, but it was energetic, and fun. Richter would hold the title until November, when a money dispute with Vince McMahon led to him sending Moolah out to shoot on her, take the title (her leverage), and end her WWF career forever. DUD

Main Event: Hulk Hogan and Mr. T v Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff: This one is in full Rock 'n' Wrestling mode, as not only is a celebrity wrestling, but Muhammad Ali is the special enforcer, Billy Martin is the ring announcer, and Liberace is the time keeper - bringing The Rockettes with him for good measure. Hulk Hogan starts with Paul Orndorff, but Piper decides he wants to smack the Hulkster around himself, and tags in. Hogan's ready to go, but if it's gonna be Piper, Mr. T wants in. Hogan obliges, so Piper slaps T in the face. That goes over about as well as expected, and T fires off an unexpected takedown before a four-way brawl breaks out to give Muhammad Ali an excuse to get involved. Piper and Orndorff decide they've had enough of that shenanigans, and bail to the back (making sure to tell the crowd to go fuck themselves on the way), but Hogan stops the referee's count, and demands they return. Back in, Hogan hits Piper with an atomic drop, and T bodyslams him. Another, and Piper ends up on the floor - but Orndorff jumps Hogan from behind, and Piper whacks him with a chair to turn the tide. The heels work Hogan over in the corner - cutting the ring in half - but Orndorff misses a flying elbowdrop, and Hulk tags T. He's a StarWagon of fire, but quickly gets overwhelmed by a double-team, and caught in a front-facelock by Piper. He manages to wiggle free to tag Hogan, but and it's mayhem. Piper pal Bob Orton tries to get involved, but misses a flying forearm (assisted by his eternally cast covered arm), instead nailing Orndorff, and Hogan gets the pin at 13:33 (verified – we’re not taking Liberace’s word on much). Not a technical classic, but it was everything it needed to be: fun, exciting, and never dull. * ½

BUExperience: While the first WrestleMania was nowhere near what the show has become today (no Axxess, no Hall of Fame ceremony, no giant sets – not even any pyro), it was still the premiere wrestling spectacle of the era – not outdoing Starrcade on a physical level, but certainly for sheer entertainment. The early WrestleMania’s (obviously, especially the first one) were sold on the card, not the name/brand – and the WWF delivered. While it wasn’t a completely proper blowoff show (the Tag and Intercontinental title matches were, more or less, thrown together than proper blowoffs to long feuds), the atmosphere was fantastic – it felt like the place to be, and the ‘Woodstock of wrestling’ as Jesse Ventura called it.

It’s recommended on historical value alone – and not just for history buffs. Anyone watching today, seeing guys pointing up at a sign on RAW to signify the importance of wrestling each other at WrestleMania absolutely should go back and see how it all got started – even if just once. ***