Remembering Wrestlemania I a Few Months Before Wrestlemania XL
Since its first pay-per-view event back on March 31st, 1985 in Madison Square Garden, Wrestlemania has grown to be the biggest event in wrestling every year. It has become the Super Bowl of the sport, with various legends making claims to numerous championships throughout the years inside the ring. At the time, Wrestlemania I was the largest pay-per-view event of its time as it was seen by more than one million people on closed-circuit television. We’re a couple of months away from the WWE’s 40th anniversary of this prestigious show. It’s time to look back on how Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, and others made this yearly event possible.
Commentators for the first Wrestlemania were done by none other than WWE Hall of Famers Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. It all started off when Tito Santana put the figure four leglock on The Executioner during the first matchup. The Executioner would tap out giving Santana the win. Next accompanied by the legendary Jimmy Hart, King Kong Bundy absolutely manhandled Special Delivery Jones in a remarkable 24 seconds. The third match would be between Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Matt Borne. Steamboat held the upper hand until Borne flipped Ricky over and hit him with a belly-to-belly suplex to the mat. Eventually after performing a flying crossbody, “The Dragon” pinned Borne for the victory. After, David Sammartino was accompanied by his father, Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino. His opponent Brutus Beefcake was accompanied by Johnny Valiant. At one point, Brutus threw David out of the ring, this is when Valiant lifted David and slammed him onto the concrete floor. Valiant pushed David back into the ring before getting attacked by Bruno. Before you knew it, all four men would be fighting in the ring and this match would end in a no-contest.
The first title match of the night was for the Intercontinental Championship, and it was between then-champion Greg “The Hammer” Valentine against The Junkyard Dog. JYD would be aggressive to start out the match, dealing headbutts and punches to Valentine. At one point during the match, “The Hammer” accidentally hit his manager Jimmy Hart while he was standing on the side of the apron. Later on, Valentine would try a dirty pin or an illegal pin by leveraging both of his feet on the ropes. While the refs would call Valentine the winner, Tito Santana rushed to the ring and explained to the officials what actually happened. The referee then decided the match must restart. Greg Valentine would fail to re-enter the ring and would lose the match by count-out. However, the JYD would not win the Intercontinental Championship as the title only changes hands on a pinfall or a submission.
Next up, was for the Tag-Team Championship between the then-champions The U.S Express, the team featuring wrestlers Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham. They would face the tag team of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Sheik and Volkoff were accompanied by Freddie Blassie, while the U.S Express walked out with Lou Albano. The U.S Express dominated until The Iron Sheik gained an advantage over Rotundo. Windham would get tagged in and immediately perform and hit the Sheik with a bulldog. The Iron Sheik was close to being pinned, but soon after he whipped Barry Windham with Freddie Blassie’s cane while the referee wasn’t looking. Volkoff would enter the ring and pin Windham, making him and The Iron Sheik the first people to win a championship at Wrestlemania.
The seventh match would be a $15,000 Body Slam Contest. If Andre the Giant could bodyslam Big John Studd he would win the $15 thousand, if Big John Studd won the match, Andre the Giant would have to retire from wrestling. As you probably would have guessed, the Eighth Wonder of the World won the matchup, and instead of keeping all of the money for himself, he started distributing it to the fans at MSG. Bobby “The Brain'' Heenan who was accompanying Studd took the bag with the rest of the earnings and ran off. The WWF’s Women’s Championship match took place next with Wendi Richter who was accompanied by Cyndi Lauper against the then-champion Leilani Kai who was accompanied by The Fabulous Moolah. A little after the match began, Moolah grabbed Richter as she was outside of the ring, but Lauper went to save her. Kai performed a flying crossbody from the top ropes, but Richter used Kai’s momentum to her advantage. Wendy Richter would roll up Kai in a pinning position and get the win becoming the new Women’s Champion.
The main event and final match of the night pitted Hulk Hogan who was the reigning Heavyweight Champion and Mr. T against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Greg “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff. Hogan and T were accompanied by Jimmy Snuka while Piper and Orndorff were accompanied by “Cowboy” Bob Orton. Muhammad Ali was the guest referee, Yankees manager Billy Martin was the guest ring announcer, and music icon Liberace was the guest timekeeper. Mr. T and Piper would trade blows almost immediately as the match started. Midway through, all four men would be in the ring at once. Ali punched Piper as he was trying to restore order. Piper and Orndorff would have the advantage as soon as the order was restored to the match. “Mr. Wonderful” put Hulk Hogan in a full nelson, Bob Orton climbed the top ropes in an attempt to knock out Hogan. Orton would accidentally hit Orndorff and Hogan would pin Orndorff to win the match. Out of frustration, “Rowdy” punched in-ring official Pat Patterson before walking back to the locker room with “Cowboy” Bob Orton, leaving Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff alone in the ring with Hogan, T, and Snuka. Hogan would go on to be a national icon, and a five-time WWF Heavyweight Champion during his run with the company.
