WrestleMania 1985

WrestleMania (chronologically known as WrestleMania I) was the first WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The attendance for the event was 19,121 fans. The event was viewed by over one million fans through Closed-circuit television, making it the largest event on closed-circuit television in the United States at the time. The event was the start of the Rock 'n' Wrestling gimmick, which brought together professional wrestling and the music industry, and matches aired on MTV during the build up to the event.

Nine professional wrestling matches, performances with pre-determined outcomes between wrestlers with fictional personalities that are portrayed as real, were featured. The main event match pitted Hulk Hogan and Mr. T against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Hogan won the match after interference from "Cowboy" Bob Orton (Bob Orton, Jr.). Also at the event, Wendi Richter defeated Leilani Kai for the WWF Women's Championship, and Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik defeated The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.

The reviews for the event were mixed. Reviewers considered the main event match to be entertaining and humorous but lacking in technical wrestling. Despite this, it received Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual PWI Match of the Year award.

Background and promotion
In the late 1980s, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s main competition in the professional wrestling industry was from Jim Crockett Promotions. McMahon countered Jim Crockett's successful Starrcade pay-per-view, which began airing in 1983, by creating the WrestleMania franchise.

For the first WrestleMania, Vince McMahon began cross promoting with MTV. In addition, several celebrities like Muhammad Ali, Liberace and Cyndi Lauper also appeared during the build up to and at the event. The WWF aired two wrestling specials on MTV. The first one was The Brawl to End it All, aired on July 23, 1984, in which a match from a live Madison Square Garden broadcast was shown on MTV. Wendi Richter defeated The Fabulous Moolah to win the WWF Women's Championship on the card, with Lauper on her side. At The War to Settle the Score, which aired on February 18, 1985, Leilani Kai, accompanied by Moolah, defeated Richter, again accompanied by Lauper, to win the Women's Championship.

Two other championships were also defended at WrestleMania: the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship. Prior to the event, Greg Valentine had feuded with Tito Santana over the belt. Valentine defeated Santana on September 24, 1984 for the championship. Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham won the WWF Tag Team Championship three months before WrestleMania from the team of Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch.

In the months leading up to the first WrestleMania, Roddy Piper began a talk-show segment on WWF television entitled Piper's Pit. On one episode of the show, he hit Jimmy Snuka over the head with a coconut, leading to a feud between the two men. As part of the storyline, Piper recruited Cowboy Bob Orton to be his bodyguard. On another episode of Piper's Pit, Piper spoke out against the burgeoning Rock 'n' Wrestling connection, which led to a confrontation with Hulk Hogan. In February 1985, the two men faced each other at The War to Settle the Score, where Hogan won by disqualification after interference by Paul Orndorff and Mr. T. Their on-going feud led to their match at WrestleMania.

As part of the promotion for the event, Hogan appeared on Hot Properties four days prior to WrestleMania, where he put host Richard Belzer into a front chinlock —a move that cuts off the flow of blood to the brain. Belzer, however, fell to the floor unconscious and began to bleed profusely. His injury required eight stitches.

Results

 * Tito Santana defeated The Executioner (4:50)
 * Santana forced The Executioner to submit with the figure-four leglock.


 * King Kong Bundy (w/Jimmy Hart) defeated Special Delivery Jones (0:23)
 * Bundy pinned Jones after an avalanche and a big splash.
 * WWE announced the time of the match as 9 seconds.


 * Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne (4:37)
 * Steamboat pinned Borne after a flying crossbody.


 * David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) fought Brutus Beefcake (w/Johnny Valiant) to a double-disqualification (12:43)
 * Sammartino and Beefcake wrestled to a double disqualification when Johnny Valiant attacked David Sammartino outside the ring, prompting Bruno Sammarino to respond, ending with all four men brawling in the ring.


 * The Junkyard Dog defeated WWF Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) by countout (7:05)
 * Valentine originally pinned JYD with a roll-up while holding onto the ropes for leverage. Displeased with the result, Tito Santana came out and told the referee about Valentine's illegal victory causing the match to restart. Valentine walked out of the match, giving JYD the win by count-out. However, Valentine retained the Intercontinental Championship.


 * Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik (w/Classy Freddie Blassie) defeated The US Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) (w/Lou Albano) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (6:55)
 * Volkoff pinned Windham after Sheik hit Windham with Blassie's cane.


 * André the Giant defeated Big John Studd (w/Bobby Heenan) in a $15,000 Body Slam match (5:53)
 * André the Giant body slammed the "unslammable" Big John Studd to win the match. After the match, André began to throw the money into the crowd to Heenan's dismay, who eventually got the bag back.
 * The stipulations of the match were that if André had failed to slam Studd, that he would be forced to retire from wrestling.


 * Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper) defeated Leilani Kai (w/The Fabulous Moolah) to win the WWF Women's Championship (6:12)
 * Richter defeated Kai after reversing Kai's flying bodypress into a pin.


 * Hulk Hogan and Mr. T (w/Jimmy Snuka) defeated Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (w/Cowboy Bob Orton) (w/ Muhammad Ali as guest outside referee) (13:13)
 * Hogan pinned Orndorff after Orton accidentally hit Orndorff with his cast.