Wrestlemania

(From the manuscript When Wrestling Was Golden: A Fan's Remembrance of Pro Wrestling From 1985-1990 by John M. Milner)

And so the wheels were in motion for the inaugural Wrestlemania card, live from Madison Square Gardens on the last day of March, 1985. As the broadcast opened, the crowds watching on closed circuit were greeted with still shots of the New York City skyline, the first of which, ironically, featured the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

As “Easy Lover”, a Top 40 hit by Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey played, Vince McMahon himself ran down the entire Wrestlemania card before sending it over to announcers Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “the Body” Ventura. Both Monsoon and Ventura were former wrestlers who had settled into announcing roles at the end of their careers. Monsoon had been a fierce heel for most of the 1960s and 70s before becoming a fan favourite late in his career and would become the organization’s lead play-by-play commentator on pay-per-view (not to mention on syndicated programs such as All-American Wrestling and Wrestling Challenge) until 1993.

Ventura was just nearing the end of his in-ring career at the time of the first Wrestlemania. A former AWA World Tagteam Champion, Ventura would help to revolutionize the commentary scene throughout the entire business of professional wrestling. In the past, commentators, both play-by-play and color men, tended to side with the faces. Ventura, a heel throughout his career, was the first to sympathize with his fellow rulebreakers, often making for humourous disagreements with both Monsoon and McMahon, who also handled the play-by-pla9y on WWF television broadcasts.

(In 1985, it should be noted that Ventura was some fourteen years away from gaining national celebrity for being elected the Governor of Minnesota.)

Monsoon wasted little time before directing the broadcast up to the ring, where ring announcer Howard Finkle introduced fellow WWF announcer, “Mean Gene” Okerlund who sang “the Star Spangled Banner” to kick things off.

Backstage, Lord Alfred Hayes was standing by just behind the entrance. Fans who discovered wrestling in the 80s because of Wrestlemania and Hulk Hogan remember Hayes only as an announcer and interviewer but Hayes had been an active wrestler from 1950 until he retired due to rheumatoid arthritis in 1983. Known as “Judo Al Hayes”, he wrestled in Texas and the Central States areas, and even netting the PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award for 1972.

Hayes introduced two pre-recorded interviews that Mean Gene Okerlund had conducted with the participants in the opening match: Tito Santana and the Executioner. The Executioner was, in fact, “Playboy” Buddy Rose, a former star from the Pacific Northwest who would later go on to win the AWA Tagteam titles with Doug Somers. By 1990, severely overweight, he would return to the WWF with a silly gimmick that played up his weight problem but was really little more than a jobber.

Tito Santana, allegedly severely upset with having to open the show, was a top star in the WWF for most of the mid-1980s, having held the Intercontinental Championship for seven months in 1984, defeating the Magnificent Muraco in February before losing it to Greg “the Hammer” Valentine on September 24th, 1984 in London Ontario. During that match, held as part of a TV taping, Valentine, who had a still-heel Captain Lou Albano in his corner, used his “patented” finishing maneuver, the figure four leglock to not only win the title but injure Santana. Santana was hot for revenge over losing the title and for Valentine injuring his leg.

Santana had the advantage for most of the match, despite a mid-match flurry by the Executioner. Santana regained control and hit the Executioner with the flying forearm, an intrical part of his repertoire at the time, which set up the Figure Four leglock. The Executioner held on for a few seconds but soon submitted, giving Santana the win. A jobber match though this was, it also served to advance the storyline of a feud between Santana and Valentine. Santana, having perfected the figure four leglock, was put over as a top contender for the Intercontinental Championship.

Lord Alfred Hayes, standing at the entrance to the ring aisle, then talked up the next match before introducing more pre-recorded interviews with Gene Okerlund who talked with S.D. Jones and his opponent King Kong Bundy.

Jones, from the West Indies, was only a little higher up the ladder than the Executioner was, despite being a tagteam partner of Andre the Giant’s on occasion and getting an action figure made of him. March 31st, 1985 was not his night. A veteran of the World Class, Mid-South and Georgia areas, King Kong Bundy was coming in as a bald, bulky monster under the tuteledge of Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart.

Jones tried to jumpstart the match, coming off the ropes to attack Bundy, who caught him in a bearhug then dumped him into the corner. As Jones struggled to get to his feet, Bundy rushed in with an avalanche. Jones fell to the mat, clearly stunned and Bundy came off the ropes himself, landing a big splash on Jones and getting a three-count for a stunningly quick victory, announced as being a record time of nine seconds (although the WWF was exaggerating the quickness of the fall to help get Bundy over).

Be that as it may, the ease with which Bundy dispatched Jones helped to add to his gimmick of being an unstoppable monster, a trait that the WWF would cash in on a year later.

When Hayes introduced the next match, he took great pains to put over Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat as an exciting star that had just arrived in the WWF. While Steamboat might have been a new face on WWF television, he was an estabilished eight-year veteran, fresh off a run as one-half of the NWA World Tagteam Champions with Jay Youngblood. Steamboat had, just a year prior, wrestled in the New York area, New Jersey’s Meadowlands Arena, to be exact, as part of the NWA’s “The Night of Champions” where he had turned heads when he tangled with NWA World Champion Ric Flair in one of the first of their legendary series of encounters that would continue in 1989.

His opponent was “The Maniac” Matt Borne, who would later go on to such gimmicks as Doink the Clown and Big Josh. A second generation wrestler, Borne had been a huge star in the Pacific Northwest area before coming to the WWF.

Prior to the Steamboat-Borne contest, Ventura mentions that the viewership of Wrestlemania was 1.2 million worldwide. The match itself saw Steamboat in control for most of the contest, introducing WWF fans to his martial arts aka “the Dragon” gimmick and also proving that Steamboat could be counted upon to deliver solid outings. Steamboat would get the victory with a flying bodypress off the top rope.

Hayes then introduced the next match that pitted Brutus Beefcake against David Sammartino, giving props to Sammartino’s father, “the Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino as being a legend in the professional wrestling industry. Okerlund interviewed both participants; first, David with his father, Bruno, who would serve as his corner man, and then Beefcake, who opted to stay silent while his manager, “Luscious” Johnny Valient did all the talking.

Beefcake would later be billed as hailing from San Francisco, California but on the night of Wrestlemania, he claimed to be from Parts Unknown. Beefcake (real name: Ed Leslie) had wrestled in the Florida and the Southeast/Continental areas for a few years before arriving in the WWF, primarily, it’s believed, because of his friendship with Hulk Hogan.

Speaking of wrestlers who had gotten their shot because of who they knew, David, with little to distinguish himself from other jobbers, he was most likely on the Wrestlemania card so McMahon could also include his father, the two-time WWF Heavyweight Champion, Bruno Sammartino on the card. David had been in the business since 1980 but had never really advanced beyond the early and mid-card level. Although he would get himself into shape by the time he arrived in Herb Abram’s UWF, David still was retaining some babyfat in 1985 and was pudgy.

As for the elder Sammartino, Bruno had born in Italy and arrived in the United States when he was 15. In 1959 he turned pro and five years later began his first reign as WWWF Champion, which lasted over eight years and ended at the hands of Ivan Koloff in Jnauary 1971. A second reign lasted from December 1973 to May 1977 and included a comeback from a broken neck at the hands of Stan Hansen. After the loss of the WWWF title for the final time, Sammartino took a young protégé by the name of Larry Zbyszko under his wing. Zbyszko turned on Bruno, leading to a bloody feud that culminated in a steel cage match in Shea Stadium in 1980.

This match was a great example of what they call “a contrast in styles”. David Sammartino, obviously schooled by his father, was a throwback to the “old school” wrestlers while Beefcake was all flash and arrogance, with Valient trying to create havoc outside the ring. Bruno, a newbie to being outside the ring during a match, was content, for the most part, simply to watch along from ringside.

This was probably the longest match of the night thus far, as both Sammartino and Beefcake traded scientific maneuvers, but nothing too exciting until Beefcake temporarily blinded David with his forearm pads and took over on the youngster. Even as Sammartino made a comeback, the crowd remained alive. Beefcake, turning the tide with a headbutt to the midsection, tossed David Sammartino to the outside where Valient was waiting, attacking with a bodyslam onto the concrete floor.

That was enough for Bruno, who came to the rescue of his son. Attacking Valient, the elder Sammartino tossed Beefcake’s manager back into the ring and continued to go to work on him until Brutus attacked him from behind. Before much damage could be done, however, David was back in the ring and all four men battled for a moment before Beefcake and Valient were sent packing.

As the crowd chanted “Bruno!”, Valient and Beefcake tried to claim victory but the official decision was a double-disqualification.

After the Sammartino-Beefcake bout, Ventura and Monsoon chat up what’s already gone down this evening as if to mark the end of the preliminary matches and set the stage for the mid-card portion of the program. The next bout, as Lord Alfred Hayes is quick to point out, is the first title match of the night, pitting Intercontinental Champion, Greg “the Hammer” Valentine in a title defence against the Junk Yard Dog.

Both men were estabilished ring veterans. A second-generation wrestler, Greg “the Hammer” Valentine was the son of Johnny Valentine and had been wrestling since the late 1960s. Like so many greats, Valentine can credit Calgary wrestling legend Stu Hart with training him for the ring in the Hart family Dungeon. The man that would become known as “the Hammer” for his clubbing forearm blows would also learn from Ed Farhat (aka the Original Shiek) in Detroit.

But it would be in the Mid-Atlantic area where Valentine would really make a name for himself, teaming in December 1976 with fellow legend Ric Flair to win the first of their two NWA Tagteam titles and form one of the greatest teams of all time. Valentine would also win the NWA Tagteam belts with Baron Von Raschke and Ray Stevens as well as pick up the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight and Television titles, Canadian Championship and the United States title (he would fued with former partner Ric Flair over that particular championship in 1980).

In 1983, Valentine would engage in his most high-profile and most violent fued of his career when he battled Roddy Piper over the United States championship, a battle that would climax with Valentine and Piper engaging in a brutal “dog collar match” at Starrcade 83. After having wrestled for Jim Crockett and the WWF alternatively for the past several years, Valentine would leave the Mid Atlantic behind for good in 1984 to compete exclusively for the WWF.

With Jimmy Hart in his corner, Valentine was obviously the heel, playing off the charismatic Junk Yard Dog who came to the ring to the strains of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”.

The Junk Yard Dog was born Sylvester Ritter and had been wrestling since 1977, shortly after his football career was stillborn due to a knee injury. After working for Pedro Martinez’s North Carolina-based Independent Wrestling Alliance as well as in Memphis and a tour of Germany, he attracted the attention of Bruce Hart and the Dynamite Kid and soon found himself working as a heel in Calgary (known as “Big Daddy” Ritter), eventually winning the promotion’s North American title and battling Harley Race for the NWA World Championship.

As the 70s ended and the 80s began, Ritter headed south and wound up in Bill Watt’s Mid-South territory and, transforming into “the Junk Yard Dog”, became the biggest attraction in the promotion, battling Jake “The Snake” Roberts, the Fabulous Freebirds and other top heels en route to capturing another North American Heavyweight crown, this time the Mid-South version. With Vince McMahon looking to sign every top worker in the business, it came as no surprise that he would eventually sign the Dog.

The Junk Yard Dog got things underway using right hands and headbutts to get the advantage on Valentine early. “The Hammer” ducked out after a series of headbutts and when he returned, the Champion took control on the JYD.

With the Junk Yard Dog at a disadvantage, Valentine went to work on the knees and legs of his opponent as a set up for his finisher, the Figure Four Leglock. However, when Valentine went for the leglock, the Junk Yard Dog kicked him off and went back to work on the Hammer, nailing him with several headbutts.
Sensing that his man was in trouble, Jimmy Hart leaped up on the apron to distract the referee. The Junk Yard Dog grabbed Hart and then ducked out of the way as Valentine came up from behind to deliver a shot that nailed Hart instead. With the manager out on the floor. JYD went to work on the Hammer, backing him into the corner with right hands and headbutts. Valentine raked JYD’s eyes, momentarily blinding the Dog, and then cradled him into a pinfall predicament. As the referee went down to count the fall, Valentine put both his feet on the second rope for leverage and seemed to have retained his title via pinfall.

Tito Santana rushed the ring and told the referee Dick Kroll what had happened. The referee agreed to restart the match but by this time Valentine was outside the ring with manager Jimmy Hart. Kroll began his count and eventually counted Valentine, who was held back by Hart, out and awarded the match to the Dog. Valentine would lose the match but retain his Intercontinental Championship. (For those not familiar with the rules, in the WWF a title could only change hands on a pinfall or submission, but not a count out or disqualification.) The Junk Yard Dog would get the win and Tito Santana would get some revenge on Valentine.

One title match followed another here at Wrestlemania as the WWF Tagteam Championship was up for grabs as the champions, Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo, defended their titles against the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.

This match was the classic U.S.A. vs. Foreign Villians match that had been around, in one form or another since the end of the Second World War. While the German neo-Nazi gimmick had faded away in the early 1950s, the evil Russian had replaced it and, with the Iran hostage crisis of the early 1980s, so to had the idea that Iranians were considered just as good heel gimmick material as their Russian counterparts.

With legendary heel “Classy” Freddy Blassie in their corner, Sheik and Volkoff filled those roles perfectly and had the crowd against them from the word go. The Iron Sheik’s gimmick wasn’t just something dreamed up by promoters. He actually was from Iran and had wrestled on the 1968 Olympic wrestling team before coming to the U.S and helping with the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team. A year later, he decided to join the professional ranks and was trained by Verne Gagne.

In addition to being the man that Hulk Hogan defeated in 1984 to start the whole “Hulkamania” craze, the Iron Sheik had held numerous titles including the British Empire/Commonwealth title (in 1977 as Ali Vaziri), the NWA Canadian Tagteam Championship (in 1978 with the Texas Outlaw), the Pacific Northwest Tagteam titles with Bull Ramos), the Mid-Atlantic Championship (1980), the NWA Canadian Heavyweight title (in 1980 as Great Hossein Arab), the NWA National Television title (1983).

The Sheik would win his greatest title on Boxing Day, 1983. After chasing the WWF Championship for some time, the Sheik injured then-champion Bob Backlund during a weighlifting competition. Zeroing in on Backlund’s wounded back, the Sheik eventually put the champion in the dreaded camel clutch. Backlund wouldn’t submit but Backlund’s manager, Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel. That was the same as a submission and the Sheik had won the title. He would hold it only a month before dropping it to Hogan on January 23rd, 1985 in the same Madison Square Garden ring where he had won the title in the first place.

His partner, Nikolai Volkoff, had actually held the Tagteam titles prior to Wrestlemania, back in 1975, albeit illegally. As a third member of the Executioners (along with Killer Kowalski and Big John Studd), he had been the cause of the team being stripped of the belts after Volkoff interfered in a match against Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy Whitewolf in a May, 1976 match in Philadelphia.

After wrestling for the Russian Olympic team in Mexico City in 1968, Volkoff began his wrestling career in the WWWF in 1970 under the name Beepo Mongol. He and Gito Mongol defeated Victor Rivera and Tony Morino in June 1970 to win the WWF International Tagteam titles. The Mongols left the WWWF in early 1971, taking the belts with them and forcing the WWWF to create new championships. After wrestling in the Pittsburgh area, Volkoff returned to the WWF in 1974 and feuded with WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino and Strongbow.
Volkoff also wrestled in Georgia (winning the Heavyweight title there in 1975), Florida (where he and fellow Russian Ivan Koloff won the tagteam championship in 1980), the Mid-Atlantic area (where he teamed with Chris Markoff to win the tagteam titles in 1981), the Mid-South area (1983) before returning to the WWF in 1984 and teaming with the Iron Sheik.

On the opposite side of the ring were the champions, Windham and Rotundo, who dubbed themselves the U.S. Express and came to the ring to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” as well as Captain Lou Albano who, after years of managing heel tag teams to the WWF titles, had his first victory as a face.

Barry Windham, despite being booked as almost a rookie by the WWF, had been competing for several years by the time he brought his WWF Tag Team Championship belt on the line at Wrestlemania. The son of former WWF competitor Blackjack Mulligan (who himself had held the WWF Tag titles with Blackjack Lanza in 1975), Windham had been a top competitor in the Florida area since 1980, holding every major title that the territory had to offer and getting several NWA World title shots against Ric Flair and Harley Race.

After a tour of Japan, Windham began teaming with Mike Rotundo (who had won a tournament to fill the vacancy of the Florida Heavyweight Championship created when Windham left for Japan) and the pair won the Florida version of the U.S. Tag Team titles three times in 1984 (trading the titles with Ron Bass and Black Bart before finally losing them to Chavo and Hector Guerrero on July 14th, 1985).

After winning the Mid-Atlantic TV title in 1982, Rotundo, a wrestling standout from the University of Syracuse, would head to the Toronto area to win the NWA Canadian Television title in a tournament in August 1983 where he defeated Don Kernodle. While in Toronto, Rotundo would battle Harley Race for the NWA World Championship twice in the fall of 1983.

Like Windham, he also won the NWA Southern Heavyweight title, on two occasions and received a World title shot against then - NWA Champion Kerry Von Erich in 1984 (one of the few that Von Erich wrestled during his brief tenure as champion).

After wrestling in the Mid-Atlantic area for some time, Windham and Rotundo had moved to the WWF and at the time of Wrestlemania, had been Tag Team champions for just over two months, defeating Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch in Hartford, Connecticut on January 21st 1985.

As was his custom, prior to the match, Volkoff asked the crowd at Madison Square Gardens to rise and respect his singing of the Soviet National Anthem. Some of the members of the crowd may have risen to their feet but only to throw garbage into the ring as they lustily booed the Russian, as well as his Iranian partner.

The Iron Sheik and Mike Rotundo started the match and while the Sheik had the momentum at first, Rotundo soon turn the tide. He tagged in Windham who kept up the offence on the Sheik until he was backed into the wrong corner. However, as Volkoff had Windham tied up for the Sheik to assault, the tall Texan ducked out of the way and the Sheik nailed his own partner with a dropkick.

Volkoff was tagged in to square off against Windham. Windham took control with a side headlock and then tagged in Rotundo, who tried to pin Volkoff. Failing that, he went to work on the left arm of Volkoff. Quick tags between Windham and Rotundo had Volkoff reeling until the big Russian managed to back Rotundo into his corner and tag in the Sheik.

And so things looked bleak for the WWF Tagteam Champions as the Sheik isolated Rotundo and tried for a couple of pinfalls but to no avail. The Sheik went for a suplex but Rotundo reversed it and suddenly it was a race to their respective corners. The Sheik won and tagged in Volkoff who stomped away on a fallen Rotundo.

Rotundo tried several maneuvers to reverse the momentum of Nikolai Volkoff but to no avail and the Sheik was tagged in. As Blassie and Albano squared off at ringside, the Sheik trapped Rotundo in an abdominal stretch. Rotundo powered out of it and again, the race to tag Windham was on. The Iron Sheik tagged in Volkoff but this time Rotundo managed to tag in Windham.

Windham went to town on Volkoff, peppering the big Russian with rights and left hands and a dropkick. Out of the corner with a running bulldog, Windham went for the cover but the Iron Sheik broke it up. Rotundo stormed into the ring to attack the Sheik and dropkicked him to the outside. As the referee ordered Rotundo back to his corner, the Sheik climbed up on the apron…with Blassie’s cane in hand. With the ref’s back turned, the Iron Sheik nailed Windham with the cane. Volkoff went for the cover and got the pinfall victory. The WWF had new Tag Team champions in the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.

In the post-match interview with Gene Okerlund, Blassie took exception to Okerlund’s declararion that the title change was “controversial”.

Lord Alfred Hayes introduced the next match as being “most intriguing” and indeed it was. Andre the Giant would take on Big John Studd in a “$15 000 Slam Match”. Studd didn’t have to pin Andre to win the match, all he had to do was ensure that Andre did not body slam him within the time confines of the match. If Studd could stay out of Andre’s clutches for the duration of the match and claim victory, Andre would have to retire.
The fued between Andre and Studd was a no-brainer from a booking standpoint, since they were the two biggest men in the WWF at the time of Wrestlemania. Studd had long boasted that no man could ever slam him and, in an effort to prove he was the best big man in the WWF, set his sights on Andre the Giant. The feud intensified during a match that pitted Studd and his tag team partner, Ken Patera, against Andre and S.D. Jones.

After Jones was knocked out of the ring, Patera and Studd double-teamed Andre and then cut some of his hair off, collecting it in a plastic bag as a reminder of the event. Andre was humiliated by Studd’s actions and vowed revenge.

Having Andre the Giant on the card for the first Wrestlemania was fitting, since Andre had, for the years before Hulk Hogan’s arrival on the scene, been the biggest draw in the business. Andre had begun his career in 1964 in France, when he was 18, at a height of 6’7” and still growing. After wrestling for several years in France, Andre came to wrestle in Montreal in the late-60s and early -70s. After a few years, he met with Vince McMahon, Sr. who began to book him as a “special attraction” around the territories, appearing one or two times in every promotion before moving on to the next one. In 1984, however, with Vince McMahon, Jr’s takeover of the WWF, Andre was no longer allowed to travel from territory to territory, save for his Japanese dates. Instead, he remained in the McMahon-controlled WWF where he battled big man, the likes of Killer Khan, Kamala, King King Bundy, Ken Patera and Big John Studd.

Studd (John William Minton) had begun wrestling in California in 1972 and later for the WWF, both mostly as a jobber. That changed, temporarily when in 1976, he and Killer Kowalski became the Masked Executioners and won the WWF Tag Team titles. He went to Texas after the title reign ended and eventually unmasked to wrestle under the moniker “Big John Studd” (credit Houston promoter Paul Boesch with coming up with the name) and later wrestled in Hawaii, the Mid-Atlantic area, St. Louis, the AWA, the WWF again (fueding with Andre and Bob Backlund) and Florida. When Studd returned to the WWF once again, he was promoted very high up the card, as Bobby Heenan’s first WWF protégé and was one of the first men Hogan defended his WWF title against after defeating the Iron Sheik. Studd would remain a top contender for some time to come.

The audience would have to wait for Studd and Andre until after the intermission at Wrestlemania (for the first few years fans at home got an intermission). However, once everyone had a chance to use the washroom, load up on snacks or souvenirs, we were ready for the two biggest men in the WWF to clash.

Big John Studd was introduced, along with his manager, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan. And then it was Andre’s turn to make his way to ringside. As there was some discussion as to what was to be done with the WWF gym bag containing the $15 000 that was up for grabs, Studd attacked Andre and battered him into the corner. Andre returned fire with a series of chops and a headbutt sent Studd out to the floor for a breather.

After conferring with Heenan, Studd headed back into the ring but got caught in the corner as Andre choked away. After wearing down Studd, Andre used his body to squash him into the corner. Studd retailiated with a low blow and went for a body slam but couldn’t get it.

Andre caught Studd in a bearhug and even an eyerake couldn’t break the hold. Andre eventually released the hold himself but still went to work on Studd, catching him in a headlock and later battering him with big right hands and headbutts. Andre whipped Studd into the ropes and appeared to be setting him up for a back bodydrop. Studd went to nail Andre with a kick but Andre caught him and continued the offence, trapping Studd in the corner.

As Studd came out of the corner, Andre kicked him several times in the left leg and then picked Studd up and bodyslammed him. Andre had won the match, the $15 000 and didn’t have to retire. After the match, Andre took the money and began to toss it to the fans at ringside until Heenan grabbed the bag away from the Giant and fled ringside with it.
And with that, Wrestlemania was down to just two matches and Alfred Hayes tried to introduce the first of the “Rock and Wrestling Connection” matches, the WWF Women’s title match, but was suitably unnerved by both the Fabulous Moolah and the WWF Women’s Champion Lelania Kai giving him a kiss as they made to ringside, before introducing Gene Okerlund’s interviews with the two sides of the upcoming bout.

Moolah and the Champion were introduced first but the Garden began to explode as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” aired over the arena loudspeakers. The challenger, Wendi Richter, came to ringside with Cyndi Lauper and her manager David Wolf.

Richter and Kai hooked up in the center of the ring and Kai took control for the first second or so thanks to a handful of hair and backed Richter into the corner. Richter nailed Kai with a forearm to gain control and maneuvered the champion into an arm bar and later reversed a hammerlock. For the first few moments, Richter worked on the left arm of her opponent but Kai used a snapmare to get things going her way.

Now it was Kai who went to work on the arm and used a handful of hair from time to time to her advantage. Wendi tried to fight back but it wasn’t until Kai tried to choke out Wendi that Richter was able to trap her opponent in a leg scissors. A moment later, takedowns by Richter resulted in a pair of two counts over Kai, the first of the match.

The match went back and forth with Kai using a yank of Wendi’s hair to momentary advantage. After another two count attempt by Richter, Kai led the challenger into her corner where even Moolah tugged at Richter’s hair. Lauper came over and the two managers scuffled on the floor.

Back in the ring, Kai whipped Richter into the rope and delivered a kick to the sternum. Richter came back back with some forearms and sent Kai into the ropes for what looked like an attempt at an airplane spin. Instead, Richter just dropped Kai to the canvas and lept on her for the pinfall attempt.

Richter sent Kai into the corner and went to follow her in but Kai lifted the knees and took control. Kai began to stomp away on the challenger and got her first pinfall attempt. Kai delivered a backbreaker and went for another pinfall. Kai slammed Richter to the canvas and went to the toprope. Kai came off with a flying bodypress but Richter reversed it and got the pinfall.

Wendi Richter had pinned Kai and won the title. But the fight wasn’t over just yet. Lauper went after Moolah, prompting a brief melee between all four women. Soon Moolah and Kai were headed back up the aisle as the new champion and Lauper celebrated in the ring.

After a post-match interview that Okerlund conducted with Lauper and Richter, famed ring announcer Howard Finkle began the introductions for the main event. First he handed the microphone over to guest ring announcer, former Yankees manager, Billy Martin, who did the rest of the introductions, with some help from Finkle.

The guest time keeper, Liberace, was accompanied to the ring by four of the famed Rockettes who did an impromptu dance number. The crowd, knowing what was coming, drowned out Martin as he introduced the special guest referee, former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Muhammed Ali who would be the special outside referee while former
Intercontinental Champion and WWF official Pat Patterson would handle the in-ring affair.
As Ali made his way into the ring, a bagpipe band made its way to the ring, leading the way for the heel contingent: Rowdy Roddy Piper, Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff, and “the Ace” Cowboy Bob Orton. Once the heels made their entrance, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” (used in Rocky III) struck up and Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and Superfly Jimmy Snuka made their way to the ring.

As the two sides faced off against one another, Muhammed Ali made his way to the outside of the ring and Orndorff took a custodian’s broom and snapped it over his knee. After a group hug by the heels, the bell rang to start the bout and Liberace made it official by ringing a ceramic decorative bell that seemed to say it all when it came to his personality.

Orndorff was set to take on Hogan to start the match and the two stalked each other for a moment before Piper demanded to be tagged in. Orndorff made the tag and before any contact could be made, it was Mr. T who could be seen begging to be tagged into the match. Hogan made a show of tagging out and soon Mr. T had made his initial appearance inside of a wrestling ring.

Mr.T and Roddy Piper went nose-to-nose in the middle of the ring before Piper got the first shot in, a slap to Mr. T who returned the favour. A slapfest ensued before Piper kicked T in the gut and got an amateur style takedown on T. The opening moments resembled a high school wrestling match before T escaped.

After some glaring, T caught Piper in a fireman’s carry and dumped him to the mat. Eventually T got caught in the heel corner and all hell broke loose with Hogan coming over, Patterson trying to separate them, Orton trying to sneak in, Snuka going to the top rope and Ali taking swipes at Orton, Orndorff and Piper.

Fleeing to the outside, Piper decided he’d had enough and led his troops to the back. Pat Patterson began to count out Roddy and Orndorff but Hogan stopped the count. No one wanted this match to end on a count out. Eventually the heels returned and they stormed the ring before T and Hogan cleaned house.

With Orndorff and T waiting in the wings, Hogan took it to Piper, dropping him with an atomic drop and exchanging eye racks with the Rowdy Scot.

The first legal tag of the match saw Mr. T enter the ring and he and Hogan dropped Piper with a clothesline. T. slammed Piper, hip-tossed Orndorff and again slammed Piper before tagging in Hogan once more.

Hogan eventually sent Piper to the floor but was distracted by the fallen Rowdy One, allowing Mr. Wonderful to attack him from behind, sending Hogan to the arena floor as well. Piper was back on his feet by then and slammed a chair across the Hulkster’s back. It began to break down as Mr. T. tried to come to his partner’s aid only to be pushed back by Patterson. Wonderful meanwhile made his own attack on Hogan outside while Ali tried to prevent the outside action.

As Piper taunted T into entering the ring, Orndorff and Piper doubleteamed Hogan while Patterson and later even Ali tried to maintain order. When the dust cleared it was Orndorff going to town on Hogan.

Piper was tagged in and picked up on Hogan where Orndorff left off. Piper went for a cover, the first pinfall attempt of the match and got two. Orndorff was tagged, coming in with an elbow smash off the top rope and he went for a pinfall but to no avail. Orndorff took Hogan down with a backbreaker but missed a flying knee off the top rope.
This gave Hogan an opening and he began to crawl over to his corner to tag in Mr. T. Hogan finally did make the tag but T fell victim to a brutal double-team from Piper and Orndorff. With Piper tagged in, the Rowdy Scot tried to wear down T with a front facelock before T powered out and tagged in the Hulkster who nailed Piper and Orndorff with fists to the face. A noggin-knocker staggered both Piper and Orndorff.

After Orndorff nailed Hogan with a suplex that also knocked the wind out of Mr. Wonderful, Piper distracted the referee. Orton was set to interfere but Snuka hit the ring and ran him off with a headbutt.

Unfortunately, Pat Patterson noticed Snuka still in the ring and went to usher him out and pandemonium struck. Piper moved to come in, bringing T in as well. Patterson finished with Snuka and tended to T. Orndorff held Hogan in a full nelson, as Orton, with a cast on his arm went up to the top rope. As Piper went to nail Hogan with a punch, T intercepted him dragging Piper, Patterson and himself over to the opposite corner. Orndorff spun Hogan around to face the corner where Orton was. Orton came off but instead of hitting his intended target, Hogan, he nailed Orndorff instead.

With Piper tied up with T and Jimmy Snuka taking out Orton, Hogan had Orndorff covered and Patterson made the count. Hogan pinned Orndorff and the main event of the very first Wrestlemania is in the record books.

But things weren’t over just yet. Piper nailed Patterson after the bout and he and Orton departed, leaving Orndorff still prone in the ring. Mr. T attended to his fallen foe until Orndorff came to and it was then that Orndorff went bezerk, trying to take a shot at Hogan. Eventually, Orndorff, bent out of shape, made his way from the ring.
Meanwhile “Eye of the Tiger” began to play as Hogan, T and Snuka celebrated in the ring. Billy Martin, Ali and Liberace came into the ring to celebrate as well. After the match, Okerlund interviewed the victors, asking Mr. T what it was like to be in Wrestlemania, to which T replied “it’s rough out there”. Hogan chimed in with his thoughts as did Snuka.

Going back to ringside, Monsoon and Ventura closed out the show as the show went off the air with still scenes from the evening’s matches and the credits. The first Wrestlemania was history; it would not be the last.

Smackdown Photos

The following photos were taken at the Smackdown tapings in London's John Labatt Centre on May 31st, 2007: