The Original WWE WrestleMania featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, King Kong Bundy, Tito Santana, and the British Bulldogs.
The initial installment of WrestleMania took place in New York City at the historic Madison Square Garden. It is true that WrestleMania has grown up a little since its 1985 debut. This year’s event will host between four and five times the people that originally had live seats for the 1985 showing. Most of the wrestlers involved with the original WrestleMania have long since retired or passed away and some may not even return a single link when typing their name into Google. On the other hand, type WrestleMania and you will be pressured with a daunting task of pages upon pages of links to sort through. In this article we look at the first event called WrestleMania, explore the characters, and delve into the first chapter in WrestleMania history.
The arena was dark and the video feed was poor at best. Simply put though, it really didn’t matter because the marquis on the front of Madison Square Garden read Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf. Fans watching WrestleMania didn’t know that they were watching the most historical night in the history of professional wrestling. Those fans should have saved their ticket stub, their popcorn container, their beer cup, their newspapers or anything that said WrestleMania. A wrestling enthusiast would pay money just to see these items today.
As they did for several more WrestleManias, the action was called by the broadcasting team of Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “the body” Venura. Tito Santana faced off against the Masked Executioner in the opening bout of WrestleMania. The match ended with Tito hitting his signature move, the flying forearm, and then locking in the figure four leglock. Tito not only won that match, but went on to become an Intercontinental Champion, a Tag Team Champion, and a Hall of Famer. The precedent was set and the ball kept rolling as King Kong Bundy beat Special Deliver Jones in an amazing nine seconds. The match consisted of a bear hug, an avalanche, and a pin.
The Living Legend Bruno Sammartino represented the WWE as their Champion for several years, but by the time the first WrestleMania aired it was his son David in the spotlight. Unfortunately the match between Brutus Beefcake and David Sammartino ended in a double disqualification when Bruno and Beefcake’s manager Luscious Johnny Valiant decided to interfere.
Although the World Championship held by Hulk Hogan was not up for grabs, the night did have a number of championship matches. WrestleMania featured the crowning of new Tag Team Champions and a new Lady’s Champion. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik defeated Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo (known in the future as I.R.S.) for the Tag Team Championship, while Wendy Richter defeated Leilani Kai for the lady’s championship.
By this point the WWE had not only acquired some of the biggest names in professional wrestling, but also some of the biggest bodies. In a match to determine who the real giant of Professional Wrestling was, Andre “the Giant” took on Big John Stud. The match did have some unique stipulations as Andre put his career on the line against Big John Studd’s 15 thousand dollars. If Andre could not bodyslam Studd within the twenty minute time limit, then Andre would be forced to retire. If Andre did slam Big John, he would become 15 thousand dollars richer. After a physical battle, Andre slammed Studd in the middle of the ring and began distributing the money to the fans sitting ringside.
In the Main Event of the evening, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T took on Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf. These teams were accompanied to the ring by Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Cowboy Bob Orton respectively, but a number of celebrities played important roles in this match. Former New York Manager Billy Martin introduced the combatants, Muhummad Ali and Pat Paterson kept order as the special guest officials, and Liberace actually stood by as the special guest time keeper. Entering the ring to the sound of a live pipe band, Rowdy Roddy Piper and crew were perspiring confidence, and Hogan and Mr. T. entered to the ever popular song “Eye of the Tiger.” This might be the only match in the history of wrestling to feature five future hall of fame superstars. The match ended when Cowboy Bob Orton came off the top rope and inadvertently hit Orndorf with his cast. Hogan then easily made a cover for the victory.
The original WrestleMania goes off the air as a huge success, but would the second WrestleMania live up to the first? Would the great matches continue? Do celebrities still get involved? Where will next years take place? Find all this out and more in the next installment.
- Tito Santana defeated The Masked Execution via submission
- King Kong Bundy with Jimmy Hart defeats Special Delivery Jones via pinfall
- Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne via pinfall
- The Brutus Beefcake and David Sammartino match ended in a double disqualification
- The Junk Yard Dog defeated Greg “the Hammer” Valentine (Intercontinental Champion) via count out
- Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik with Classy Freddie Blassie defeated Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham with Captain Lou Albano for the Tag Team Titles
- Andre the Giant defeated Big John Studd via bodyslam
- Wedi Richter defeated Leilani Kai for the Woman’s Title via pinfall
- Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeat Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf
Previous: WrestleMania's Past
Next: The Second WWE WrestleMania
Also See: Raw Review March 5
