WWF Wrestlemania I

Date: 03/31/1985

Location: MSG in NYC

Announcers: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura

The Setup

This is it – The first Mania. How much more needs to be said? Hogan teamed with a legit pop culture star at the time, Mr. T, against the perfect heel tag team in Orndorff and Piper. Regarding pop culture stars, Cyndi Lauper worked her magic in Wendi Richter’s corner in the show’s semi-main event. Andre and Studd had worked several slam matches for cash at various house shows, and we got another here. It was a clever way to do a match without one of the giants having to job.

The Business 

Prowrestlinghistory.com has a sellout of 22,000 fans paying $502,000. The inflation calculator shows that $1.52 million is the equivalent in today’s money. The key was closed-circuit TV, which sold 398,000 tickets nationwide for an additional $3.8 million. That’s $11.48 million in today’s money. Who knows if Vince’s story of the company going under if Mania wasn’t successful is true, but there’s no arguing that the success was tremendous. 

The Results

Tito Santana def. The Executioner in 4:49. The Executioner was Buddy Rose under a hood, so this could have been in the four-star range if it had been given about twelve minutes. Tito won a solid match, clean with the figure-four. **1/4 

King Kong Bundy def. SD Jones in 0:37. They tried to call this a nine-second win despite Bundy having the wind of an Arizona day in July. Bundy won with a splash. Regardless of the shoot time, this is a match people still remember to this day, so it was highly effective. NR

Ricky Steamboat def. Matt Borne in 4:37. Much like the first match, this was a babyface showcase that would have been so much better with more time. Steamboat won with the crossbody off the top. **

David Sammartino DDQ Brutus Beefcake in 11:44. This was set up to do Bruno/David vs. Beefcake/Johnny V at MSG at the next show. David worked as his father had decades earlier, which was a drag for the crowd. Just a lot of holds here. The finish came when Johnny Valiant bodyslammed David on the outside, which set off Bruno, and he cleared the ring of Beefcake and Valiant. * 

IC Title Match: Junkyard Dog def. Greg Valentine (C) by CO in 6:55. Valentine’s in-ring work was wasted with JYD. He had a match with Steamboat at the next MSG show that was absolutely fucking incredible. He was one of the best in the world at this time.  This match, however, was a slower guy like Valentine against someone who couldn’t move in Dog. Valentine walked out for a cheap countout finish. 1/2*

World Tag Team Title Match: Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff def. Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda (C) in 6:56. This was good, particularly with Sheik in on the heels side. Everyone worked around ol’ Nikolai as much as possible. Sheik could still effectively bump for the babyfaces. The finish came when Sheik blasted Barry with Fred Blassie’s cane, and Nikolai got the cover. **3/4

$15,000 Slam Match: Andre the Giant def. Big John Studd in 5:54. This match was just fucking abysmal, complete with Andre leg kicks because it’s as high as he could get his leg, and the winning bodyslam came after a long bearhug. Fuck us all. DUD

Women’s Title Match: Wendi Richter def. Leilani Kai in 6:12. This was the big climax for the Wendi Richter/Cyndi Lauper stuff. That stuff might not have been classic pro rasslin’, but it was super fun and Richter was way fucking over as a result. Moolah playing the second and old fuddy-duddy foil for Lauper was perfect casting. The work was better with Kai in this spot instead of Moolah, but not good. Richter won reversing a high cross, in an ugly spot. *1/2

Hulk Hogan & Mr. T def. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff in 13:33. The main event wasn’t a classic wrestling match by any stretch of the imagination, but it had nuclear heat, and Mr. T worked very well in his role. They did double heat on the babyfaces, which seems odd given their personas, but it worked. The finish came when Bob Orton accidentally blasted Orndorff with the cast, leading to a Hogan pinfall. **1/2 

Additional Gaga

-The finish to the main set up the Orndorff babyface turn, which people forget did put him on a run where he was headlining with Hogan in tags and B shows with Piper. Then, the turn on Hogan was record-setting company house show business. It’s too bad Orndorff got the biceps injury that affected the rest of his career. He may have still been able to be a money player. Imagine a heel Orndorff against a babyface Randy Savage as a world title program in 1988. 

Muhammad Ali was really good in his role as special ref on the outside, including a spot where he almost decked Orndorff. Apparently, that wasn’t planned and Orndorff almost snapped, but the crowd loved it.

Billy Martin was the guest ring announcer, Liberace was the guest timekeeper, and he was accompanied to the ring by the Rockettes.

-Bobby Heenan stealing Andre’s fifteen grand cash as Andre threw two fistfuls to the fans was classic Bobby.

Mean Gene singing the national anthem was…oof. He asked the crowd to help him sing to drown himself out.

The Verdict

Thumbs Up  

The first Wrestlemania was a glorified MSG show with a supped-up celebrity main event. Besides the main, for some fucking reason, David Sammartino and Brutus Beecake got the second most time in an inexplicable decision. Steamboat, Valentine, and Santana were three of the best workers in the country at the time, yet they were put in positions where they couldn’t show it. The tag title switch was the best match because Shieky was still effective, but match quality wasn’t a thought in anyone’s head here. Usually, I think workrate nerds can be incredibly short-sighted. Still, being a variable in your collective thought process is okay, especially when you know a stinker like Andre vs. Studd is on the show as an attraction. 

With all that being said, it was a show built around the main event, and as far as a celebrity wrestling match, T probably doesn’t get brought up enough anymore. He was perfect in his role here, and the crowd was everything you’d want and more. Wendi Richter regained the women’s title and danced with Cyndi Lauper to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Andre the Giant avoided retirement, bodyslammed his most significant threat, then threw money out to the marks. It was a show full of spectacle and feel-good moments, two of the company’s most important factors in their success. Listen to the qcrowd. Did it sound like anyone took the subway home and talked about how disappointed they were? For those reasons alone, I’ll go thumbs very slightly up, even if it’s not full of good wrestling.