Post by Shatter Machine on Dec 15, 2015 7:05:36 GMT -5
Madison Square Garden, New York City
This was Vince McMahon’s all-in gamble. He’d been working with MTV and some celebrities and expanding nationally for the previous year, building on Hulk Hogan’s exploding popularity. This show, bringing in the celebrities, doing the national broadcast on closed circuit, the minimal PPV audience in NYC, and everything else forced him to mortgage everything, and if the show hadn’t succeeded, they were screwed. It worked, and now WrestleMania is an insanely valuable brand, making a shitload of money every year and having cities bid for it like the Super Bowl. It all started here.
Announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura, with Lord Alfred Hayes and Gene Okerlund doing interviews and drop-ins. (Lord Al, God rest his soul, was really bad at this sort of thing. If he didn’t have a teleprompter, he would stumble over what he was talking about, and generally sound like he was totally clueless. He was great in the “Control Center” or Update Desk environment, but not ad libbing. Just didn’t work for him. Okerlund, however, was gold.)
Gene Okerlund sings the National Anthem. And does a pretty good job.
Tito Santana
Vs
the Executioner (Buddy Rose)
This match served a twofold purpose: to introduce the non-wrestling fans in the audience (of which there were quite a few) to a basic wrestling match; and two, it was a showcase for Santana, to build him up in his program with Greg Valentine over the Intercontinental Championship. Tito controls early, sending the Executioner out with a dropkick (Executioner is so obviously Buddy Rose, he didn’t even bother to cover up the “BR” on his boots.) Those are some REALLY loose ring ropes. Executioner goes for Tito’s bad leg, and buries a knee to the gut. He goes for a leg lock, but Tito fires back. He goes to ring his bell, but gets back dropped. Slam, but when Executioner goes up, Tito slams him off the top. Executioner gets his knees up on a splash, but Tito kicks him to the floor, then slams him back in. Flying forearm, and Tito finishes with a Figure Four at 4:50. Nothing offensive. * ½
King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart)
Vs
SD Jones
Jones attacks at the bell, but Bundy cuts him off, hits the avalanche and a splash for the pin, announced as being in nine seconds. It was actually 24, but who cares. DUD.
Rick Steamboat
Vs
Matt Borne
This is another quick one, as Steamboat grabs a headlock. He flips out of a suplex, nails an atomic drop, and then goes back to a headlock. Borne hits a kneelift, but Steamboat uses his martial arts, and goes back to the headlock. He transitions to a front face lock, and sends Borne into the corner. Borne with a belly to belly out of the corner, and a vertical suplex gets 2. Steamboat fires back, and gets a back suplex. Neckbreaker and a kneedrop gets 2. Double thrust to the throat, and a top rope cross body gets the pin at 4:38. Another match that could have been really good if they’d gotten 15 minutes instead of 5, but it was decent enough. * ½
Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny V)
Vs
David Sammartino (with Bruno Sammartino)
Beefcake is pretty bad at this point, and it amazes me how good he got around 1989-1990, before he got hurt. David is just so bad. Fortunately, they keep it pretty basic, as David works a front face lock. He goes to an armbar, and Beefcake goes to a headlock on the mat. David can’t do a fucking Indian Deathlock. It’s not that Beefcake is trying to block it, David just can’t wrap his brain around applying the hold correctly. He eventually gives up and goes to a spinning toe hold. He goes to a knee bar, but Beefcake comes out of it. Back body drop, and Beefcake, who can’t even throw a worked punch, just starts forearming. David reverses a whip out of the corner and gets a back body drop. He hits a suplex, and his fired up offense is EXACTLY like Bruno’s from the 60’s and 70’s. Beefcake sends him to the floor, and Johnny V pounces on him, slamming David on the floor. Bruno decks Johnny, and all four men brawl in the ring. The ref throws it out at 11:44. ½ * The crowd was dead through the whole thing until Bruno got involved, and they erupted, because it’s BRUNO FUCKING SAMMARTINO.
Intercontinental Championship:
Greg Valentine (champion, with Jimmy Hart)
Vs
Junkyard Dog
“Another One Bites the Dust” is overdubbed with “Grab Them Cakes” which is kind of meta, because “Grab Them Cakes” didn’t come out until November or so. JYD is insanely over, but was rapidly deteriorating from the muscled up guy he was in Mid-South. Cocaine is a hell of a drug. He hits the rolling headbutts, and Valentine bails out. Valentine works the legs, going to a half-crab. JYD kicks him off on a Figure Four, then fires back. He keeps head-butting him but not letting him fall. Jimmy Hart takes a hell of a bump off the apron on a heel miscommunication spot (way to tuck that chin, Jimmy!) Valentine scoops JYD in the corner and uses the ropes for leverage and gets the pin. Tito Santana comes out and convinces the ref to restart the match, and Valentine refuses to re-enter the ring, so he gets counted out at 6:55. Valentine was good, JYD was over, but they didn’t mesh. ¾ * Valentine would lose the title to Santana in July.
WWF Tag Team Championship:
U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, Champions, with Captain Lou Albano)
Vs
Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik (with Freddie Blassie)
Windham was in amazing shape here, and everyone has their working shoes on. Sheik works a headlock, but Rotunda takes over with a hiptoss and slam. He goes to a headlock. Windham with a nice elbow from the top. He goes to a headlock, and Sheik accidentally nails Volkoff on the apron. Nikolai tags in, and the champs work his arm. He eventually runs Rotunda into Sheik’s elf boot. Gut wrench suplex gets 2. Rotunda reverses a suplex, but Volkoff comes in. Rotunda with a sunset flip for 2. Sheik puts on an abdominal stretch, but Rotunda hip tosses out of it. Hot tag to Windham, who gets the bulldog. Sheik saves the pin, and all four men brawl in the ring. As the ref puts Rotunda out, Sheik clobbers Windham with Blassie’s cane for the pin and the shock title change at 6:56. * ½ This was basically a title change for the sake of having one at a big show. Windham and Rotunda would regain and lose the titles before the end of the summer.
$15,000 Bodyslam Match:
Andre the Giant
Vs
Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan)
This match came about because Studd and Ken Patera cut Andre's hair on an episode of whatever the "A" syndication show was at this point (I'm not sure when the switchover to "Superstars" happened.) If Andre fails to slam Studd or loses the match in any way, he has to retire. From what I understand, Andre couldn’t stand Studd and just acted like a dick to him in the ring. There’s not a lot going on here, as they kick and punch and choke. Andre gets a bearhug. Studd gets literally no offense, and Andre slams him to finish it at 5:56. DUD. Andre starts throwing the cash to the audience, but Heenan grabs the duffel bag and runs away with it.
WWF Women’s Title:
Leilani Kai (Champion, with the Fabulous Moolah)
Vs
Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolfe)
Scott Keith said years ago that Richter sounds just like Mongo McMichael, and if you close your eyes and listen, damned if she doesn’t sound like Mongo inhaled a bunch of helium. This is essentially a paint-by-numbers Women’s match from the 1980’s, as they use lots of hair pulls and body scissors. They manage to fuck up a gut wrench suplex, and Moolah grabs Richter, prompting Lauper to attack her. Wendy does a fireman’s carry into a drop for 2. Leilani gets her knees up in the corner for a near fall, then a backbreaker for 2. She slams Richter and goes up. Kai with a top rope cross-body, and Richter rolls through (badly) for the pin and title at 6:12. That match was actively bad. -** Vince would screw Richter out of the title a few months later when she wouldn’t sign a new contract, using Moolah in a mask to get it back.
Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (with Superfly Snuka)
Vs
Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (with Cowboy Bob Orton)
Billy Martin is the guest ring announcer, and was probably pretty drunk, because he was always drunk. Liberace comes out with the Rockettes, as he’s the guest timekeeper he has a little tea bell to ring (There were seriously questions about this guy’s sexuality. Not kidding.) Muhammad Ali is the special referee, but they make him the ref on the floor. Probably a good plan, since nobody bothered to smarten him up. Pat Patterson is the inside referee. Piper and Orndorff are led to the ring by a full Pipe and Drum regiment. “Real American” is dubbed over “Eye of the Tiger” for Hogan & T. It’s seriously tense and crowded in the ring, as the fans litter it with garbage. Some poor guy has to come out with a broom to clean it up, and Orndorff grabs the broom and snaps it in a fit of rage. Piper and Hogan tease, but Mr. T comes in, and he and Piper trade stiff slaps, then do some mat wrestling. All four guys wind up brawling in the ring, and Ali comes in and chases them all out. The heels take a walk, but eventually come back. Hogan pounds on Piper, and they double clothesline him. Mr. T comes in and slams Orndorff. Hogan boots Piper to the floor, but Orndorff clobbers him, knocking him to the floor, where Piper hits him with a chair to the back. Hogan gets caught in the corner, and Mr. T keeps trying to come in. Ali comes into the ring BECAUSE HE DOESN’T KNOW IT’S A WORK. JESUS CHRIST. Patterson smartens him up on the fly, because Ali leaves the ring pretty quick. Piper with a kneelift on Hogan for 2. Orndorff misses a top rope forearm, and Hogan makes the hot tag. The heels just maul Mr. T for a bit until he tags Hogan back in. Orndorff with a back suplex on Hogan, and Orton tries to run in. Snuka cuts that off, and it all breaks down. Orndorff grabs Hogan, and Orton tries to come off the top with his forearm cast, but nails Orndorff by accident, allowing Hogan to get the pin at 13:24. Super-hot match. Not a technical marvel or anything, but it was really good. Enough people liked it to vote it the PWI Match of the Year for 1985. ** ½ All of the celebrities come into the ring for the post-match celebration.
The Bottom Line: This was an amped up MSG show that was shown nationally. Orndorff turned face for a while after the show, feuding with Piper and Orton, and teaming with Hogan before turning on him in the summer of 1986. Matt Borne would be gone pretty much right away after this show, and Windham was back in Florida by the end of the year. Overall, a really average show, match wise, but it’s worth watching for the pure history of it.
This was Vince McMahon’s all-in gamble. He’d been working with MTV and some celebrities and expanding nationally for the previous year, building on Hulk Hogan’s exploding popularity. This show, bringing in the celebrities, doing the national broadcast on closed circuit, the minimal PPV audience in NYC, and everything else forced him to mortgage everything, and if the show hadn’t succeeded, they were screwed. It worked, and now WrestleMania is an insanely valuable brand, making a shitload of money every year and having cities bid for it like the Super Bowl. It all started here.
Announcers are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura, with Lord Alfred Hayes and Gene Okerlund doing interviews and drop-ins. (Lord Al, God rest his soul, was really bad at this sort of thing. If he didn’t have a teleprompter, he would stumble over what he was talking about, and generally sound like he was totally clueless. He was great in the “Control Center” or Update Desk environment, but not ad libbing. Just didn’t work for him. Okerlund, however, was gold.)
Gene Okerlund sings the National Anthem. And does a pretty good job.
Tito Santana
Vs
the Executioner (Buddy Rose)
This match served a twofold purpose: to introduce the non-wrestling fans in the audience (of which there were quite a few) to a basic wrestling match; and two, it was a showcase for Santana, to build him up in his program with Greg Valentine over the Intercontinental Championship. Tito controls early, sending the Executioner out with a dropkick (Executioner is so obviously Buddy Rose, he didn’t even bother to cover up the “BR” on his boots.) Those are some REALLY loose ring ropes. Executioner goes for Tito’s bad leg, and buries a knee to the gut. He goes for a leg lock, but Tito fires back. He goes to ring his bell, but gets back dropped. Slam, but when Executioner goes up, Tito slams him off the top. Executioner gets his knees up on a splash, but Tito kicks him to the floor, then slams him back in. Flying forearm, and Tito finishes with a Figure Four at 4:50. Nothing offensive. * ½
King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart)
Vs
SD Jones
Jones attacks at the bell, but Bundy cuts him off, hits the avalanche and a splash for the pin, announced as being in nine seconds. It was actually 24, but who cares. DUD.
Rick Steamboat
Vs
Matt Borne
This is another quick one, as Steamboat grabs a headlock. He flips out of a suplex, nails an atomic drop, and then goes back to a headlock. Borne hits a kneelift, but Steamboat uses his martial arts, and goes back to the headlock. He transitions to a front face lock, and sends Borne into the corner. Borne with a belly to belly out of the corner, and a vertical suplex gets 2. Steamboat fires back, and gets a back suplex. Neckbreaker and a kneedrop gets 2. Double thrust to the throat, and a top rope cross body gets the pin at 4:38. Another match that could have been really good if they’d gotten 15 minutes instead of 5, but it was decent enough. * ½
Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny V)
Vs
David Sammartino (with Bruno Sammartino)
Beefcake is pretty bad at this point, and it amazes me how good he got around 1989-1990, before he got hurt. David is just so bad. Fortunately, they keep it pretty basic, as David works a front face lock. He goes to an armbar, and Beefcake goes to a headlock on the mat. David can’t do a fucking Indian Deathlock. It’s not that Beefcake is trying to block it, David just can’t wrap his brain around applying the hold correctly. He eventually gives up and goes to a spinning toe hold. He goes to a knee bar, but Beefcake comes out of it. Back body drop, and Beefcake, who can’t even throw a worked punch, just starts forearming. David reverses a whip out of the corner and gets a back body drop. He hits a suplex, and his fired up offense is EXACTLY like Bruno’s from the 60’s and 70’s. Beefcake sends him to the floor, and Johnny V pounces on him, slamming David on the floor. Bruno decks Johnny, and all four men brawl in the ring. The ref throws it out at 11:44. ½ * The crowd was dead through the whole thing until Bruno got involved, and they erupted, because it’s BRUNO FUCKING SAMMARTINO.
Intercontinental Championship:
Greg Valentine (champion, with Jimmy Hart)
Vs
Junkyard Dog
“Another One Bites the Dust” is overdubbed with “Grab Them Cakes” which is kind of meta, because “Grab Them Cakes” didn’t come out until November or so. JYD is insanely over, but was rapidly deteriorating from the muscled up guy he was in Mid-South. Cocaine is a hell of a drug. He hits the rolling headbutts, and Valentine bails out. Valentine works the legs, going to a half-crab. JYD kicks him off on a Figure Four, then fires back. He keeps head-butting him but not letting him fall. Jimmy Hart takes a hell of a bump off the apron on a heel miscommunication spot (way to tuck that chin, Jimmy!) Valentine scoops JYD in the corner and uses the ropes for leverage and gets the pin. Tito Santana comes out and convinces the ref to restart the match, and Valentine refuses to re-enter the ring, so he gets counted out at 6:55. Valentine was good, JYD was over, but they didn’t mesh. ¾ * Valentine would lose the title to Santana in July.
WWF Tag Team Championship:
U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda, Champions, with Captain Lou Albano)
Vs
Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik (with Freddie Blassie)
Windham was in amazing shape here, and everyone has their working shoes on. Sheik works a headlock, but Rotunda takes over with a hiptoss and slam. He goes to a headlock. Windham with a nice elbow from the top. He goes to a headlock, and Sheik accidentally nails Volkoff on the apron. Nikolai tags in, and the champs work his arm. He eventually runs Rotunda into Sheik’s elf boot. Gut wrench suplex gets 2. Rotunda reverses a suplex, but Volkoff comes in. Rotunda with a sunset flip for 2. Sheik puts on an abdominal stretch, but Rotunda hip tosses out of it. Hot tag to Windham, who gets the bulldog. Sheik saves the pin, and all four men brawl in the ring. As the ref puts Rotunda out, Sheik clobbers Windham with Blassie’s cane for the pin and the shock title change at 6:56. * ½ This was basically a title change for the sake of having one at a big show. Windham and Rotunda would regain and lose the titles before the end of the summer.
$15,000 Bodyslam Match:
Andre the Giant
Vs
Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan)
This match came about because Studd and Ken Patera cut Andre's hair on an episode of whatever the "A" syndication show was at this point (I'm not sure when the switchover to "Superstars" happened.) If Andre fails to slam Studd or loses the match in any way, he has to retire. From what I understand, Andre couldn’t stand Studd and just acted like a dick to him in the ring. There’s not a lot going on here, as they kick and punch and choke. Andre gets a bearhug. Studd gets literally no offense, and Andre slams him to finish it at 5:56. DUD. Andre starts throwing the cash to the audience, but Heenan grabs the duffel bag and runs away with it.
WWF Women’s Title:
Leilani Kai (Champion, with the Fabulous Moolah)
Vs
Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolfe)
Scott Keith said years ago that Richter sounds just like Mongo McMichael, and if you close your eyes and listen, damned if she doesn’t sound like Mongo inhaled a bunch of helium. This is essentially a paint-by-numbers Women’s match from the 1980’s, as they use lots of hair pulls and body scissors. They manage to fuck up a gut wrench suplex, and Moolah grabs Richter, prompting Lauper to attack her. Wendy does a fireman’s carry into a drop for 2. Leilani gets her knees up in the corner for a near fall, then a backbreaker for 2. She slams Richter and goes up. Kai with a top rope cross-body, and Richter rolls through (badly) for the pin and title at 6:12. That match was actively bad. -** Vince would screw Richter out of the title a few months later when she wouldn’t sign a new contract, using Moolah in a mask to get it back.
Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (with Superfly Snuka)
Vs
Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (with Cowboy Bob Orton)
Billy Martin is the guest ring announcer, and was probably pretty drunk, because he was always drunk. Liberace comes out with the Rockettes, as he’s the guest timekeeper he has a little tea bell to ring (There were seriously questions about this guy’s sexuality. Not kidding.) Muhammad Ali is the special referee, but they make him the ref on the floor. Probably a good plan, since nobody bothered to smarten him up. Pat Patterson is the inside referee. Piper and Orndorff are led to the ring by a full Pipe and Drum regiment. “Real American” is dubbed over “Eye of the Tiger” for Hogan & T. It’s seriously tense and crowded in the ring, as the fans litter it with garbage. Some poor guy has to come out with a broom to clean it up, and Orndorff grabs the broom and snaps it in a fit of rage. Piper and Hogan tease, but Mr. T comes in, and he and Piper trade stiff slaps, then do some mat wrestling. All four guys wind up brawling in the ring, and Ali comes in and chases them all out. The heels take a walk, but eventually come back. Hogan pounds on Piper, and they double clothesline him. Mr. T comes in and slams Orndorff. Hogan boots Piper to the floor, but Orndorff clobbers him, knocking him to the floor, where Piper hits him with a chair to the back. Hogan gets caught in the corner, and Mr. T keeps trying to come in. Ali comes into the ring BECAUSE HE DOESN’T KNOW IT’S A WORK. JESUS CHRIST. Patterson smartens him up on the fly, because Ali leaves the ring pretty quick. Piper with a kneelift on Hogan for 2. Orndorff misses a top rope forearm, and Hogan makes the hot tag. The heels just maul Mr. T for a bit until he tags Hogan back in. Orndorff with a back suplex on Hogan, and Orton tries to run in. Snuka cuts that off, and it all breaks down. Orndorff grabs Hogan, and Orton tries to come off the top with his forearm cast, but nails Orndorff by accident, allowing Hogan to get the pin at 13:24. Super-hot match. Not a technical marvel or anything, but it was really good. Enough people liked it to vote it the PWI Match of the Year for 1985. ** ½ All of the celebrities come into the ring for the post-match celebration.
The Bottom Line: This was an amped up MSG show that was shown nationally. Orndorff turned face for a while after the show, feuding with Piper and Orton, and teaming with Hogan before turning on him in the summer of 1986. Matt Borne would be gone pretty much right away after this show, and Windham was back in Florida by the end of the year. Overall, a really average show, match wise, but it’s worth watching for the pure history of it.
