Well this was it, the grandaddy of them all, the original Wrestlemania. This was not much of an event by today's standards, but in 1985, there had never been anything like it. I'm going to try and give you a taste of the event with a brief run down of the matches. Anyway let the festivities begin.
An opening introduction from Vince McMahon (Jesus, he looks young) kicks us off, followed by some truly god awful 80's muzak, the national anthem, as sung by Mean Gene, we've got Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse "The Body" Ventura on commentry and we're off.
Tito Santana vs The Executioner Right, former InterContinental Champion vs Mr. Nobody Jobber. If you have never seen a Wrestling match in your life, you can guess who is going to win this one. Not bad action from both sides mind and Tito was pretty special considering it was 1985. We see the flying forearm and the figure-four, not a bad way to kick things off. Imagine though if Tito had been against someone like the newly signed heel Bret Hart, hell that would have been an opener.
King Kong Bundy with Jimmy Hart vs S.D.Jones 450 pound madman vs Mr. Nobody. A 9 second (actually more like 20) squash. Next...
Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne Hey it's the Dragon vs Doink (wonderful future gimmicks there). Solid match here. I love watching Steamboat and that arm drag. Technical well paced match. Not bad though says I.
David Sammartino with Bruno Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake with Luscious Johnny V. Dull dull dull. This match goes on for ever with a lot of chinlocks too. Epitome of boring 80's wrestling, and awfully cheap finish as well. Especially cheap considering this is the greatest event of all time.
Intercontinental Title Match : Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (Champion) with Jimmy Hart vs The Junkyard Dog I have to admit, I was never able to get in to the JYD, although the MSG crowd pops huge for him. Again, pretty dull match, not good for the IC division. However, the title would soon become the possesion of a young Mr. R. Savage, and things would get much better.
Tag Team Titles Match : The US Express (Champions) vs Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik with Classy Freddie Blassie I like this one, two speedsters vs two huge monsters. Loads of extra-curricular activities on the part of Blassie and the heels and some great moves from the Express make ths one a goodie.
$15,000 Bodyslam Challenge : Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan The stipulation here was thet if Andre could slam Studd within the time limit, then he would win $15,000 from Studd and Heenan. If he couldn't however, he would be fired from the WWF (pretty ahead of it's time). This isn't great wrestling, but it's good fun. It's always great to watch Andre in his face days - the gentle giant. With Heenan as well in full weasel mode this one is a favourite.
Women's Title Match : Leilani Kai (Champion) with The Fabulous Moolah vs Wendi Richter with Cyndi Lauper Okay, big time MTV Rock n Wrestling crossover going on here. The croed pops huge for Lauper. Anyway not a bad match, a few of the moves a blatantly botched, but better that 60% of women's matches today.
Hulk Hogan (WWF Champion) & Mr. T with Superfly Jimmy Snuka vs Rowdy Roddy Piper & Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff with Cowboy Bob Orton Guest Referee : Muhammad Ali Guest Ring Announcer : Billy Martin Guest Timekeeper : Liberace Now this is the Main Event. A star studded arena, MSG jumping and the mighty Hulkster teaming with BA himself, Mr. T. This is a pretty good main event, all 4 men primarily brawling, but damn Hogan and Piper know how to work the crowd. When they are in together the crowd is hot. This is good fun, although I feel that this should have been Hogan and Piper one on one. This IS Wrestlemania after all.
So there you go, the tradition is born. If you're not a wrestling fan, you probably won't get much out of this. However, if you love this theatre of the absurd we call wrestling this is where it all began and you owe it to yourself to check it out.
