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in: Wrestling Years

1985

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This is a list of various things that took place in 1985.

Significant events[]

Unknown date

  • The WWF releases its first series of VHS videos through its new home video company Coliseum Video. Released in the spring of 1985, the first videos were "Best of the WWF" (highlights of classic matches and feud recaps); "Hulkamania" (reviewing Hulk Hogan's first year as WWF Heavyweight Champion) and "WWF's Bloopers, Bleeps, & Bodyslams" (a showcase of comical events and bloopers, partially inspired by the popular Dick Clark-hosted "TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes"). Also included in the initial wave of releases was a video of the first WrestleMania. Future waves of video releases came roughly every three months, always with three videos released at a time

January

  • 1 - The first WWF Prime Time Wrestling show is aired on the USA Network, featuring Jack Reynolds and Jesse Ventura as hosts; Gorilla Monsoon would be the lead host by the end of 1985, with Ventura continuing as co-host until being replaced by Bobby Heenan sometime in 1986. At this point, Prime Time Wrestling was a collection of matches from the WWF's syndicated programs, arena shows and original matches, plus commentary on the matches and feuds

February

March

  • 1 - A match pitting the Road Warriors against Baron Von Raschke and Curt Hennig in Hammond, Indiana ends in a no-contest when the Warriors assault referee Larry Lisowski and when Hawk strikes and bloodies Hennig with a chair shot to the head as Hennig has his head entangled between the top and middle ropes, prompting match commentator Larry Hennig to run in and make the save for his son. A fan riot breaks out in the Hammond Civic Center in the aftermath of the match as the Warriors and manager Paul Ellering have to fight their way through enraged fans to get back to the locker room area, with one fan striking Hawk over the head with a chair during the riot in presumed retaliation for Hawk's earlier chair strike on Curt Hennig
  • 10 - Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling debuts on TBS
  • 31 - The first WrestleMania takes place at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The main event -- meant to cash in on growing mainstream popularity of professional wrestling and the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection -- features Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff, and involves celebrities including Muhammad Ali, Billy Martin and Liberace. The event is a huge success and began an annual tradition

April

  • Vince McMahon sells his TBS World Championship Wrestling time slot to Jim Crockett Promotions, nine months after acquiring Georgia Championship Wrestling and taking over its TBS show
  • 29 - Hulk Hogan is featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine on the issue with this day's cover date, as part of a feature on the immense popularity of professional wrestling. Although it was neither the first nor last stories published on professional wrestling, Hogan (to date) is the only active professional wrestler to be featured on the publication's cover.

May

June

  • Southeastern Championship Wrestling owner/promoter Ron Fuller reacquires the Knoxville territory after short-lived attempts by Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling to promote in the city. With the expansion, SECW changes its name, along with its regionally syndicated TV show, to Continental Championship Wrestling
  • 17 - During a television taping at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York:
    • Terry Funk makes his WWF debut, memorably beating up ring attendant Mel Phillips before a match. Phillips had put Funk's hat on his head since his arms were full of ring gear, angering Funk and prompting the attack. Phillips is helped backstage, shaken up and his suit coat and shirt ripped to shreds but otherwise is okay
    • "Macho Man" Randy Savage makes his debut in the WWF, and is pushed as an arrogant heel. Immediately, a storyline is started with the heel managers were hoping to become Savage's manager, only to eventually surprise everyone by introducing a beautiful 25-year-old woman -- Miss Elizabeth (Savage's real-life wife) -- as his manager. During the same TV taping, but aired the following week, Savage's real-life brother, Lanny Poffo, makes his debut (as tag team partner of Pedro Morales), winning a squash match. As will be the case with Miss Elizabeth, the real-life relationship between Savage and Poffo is never mentioned or even referred to on television
    • Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo regain the WWF Tag Team Championship, defeating the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. This will mark Fred Blassie's last managerial championship prior to his retirement

July

August

  • 27 - The Pro Wrestling USA program debuts on ESPN; within months, the show evolved into AWA Championship Wrestling after the Pro Wrestling USA alliance between the AWA and several NWA affiliates dissolves

September

  • 14 - Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, a Saturday morning cartoon aimed to cash in on the popularity of professional wrestling and the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, debuts on CBS for the start of a two-year run. Actor-comedian Brad Garrett is the voice of Hulk Hogan
  • 20 - The St. Louis Wrestling Club holds its final event in St. Louis before its purchase by Jim Crockett Promotions

October

  • Stampede Wrestling resumes operations after Vince McMahon sells the promotion back to the Hart family. With Stampede's return, its TV show on Calgary independent station CFAC-TV also returns, once again hosted by Ed Whalen and syndicated to other markets in Canada and overseas
  • 22 - In one of his final matches (and what would be his final TV appearance), Rick McGraw faces Roddy Piper at a WWF Championship Wrestling taping in Poughkeepsie, New York (aired on tape delay in first-run syndication on November 2). The match was made following an appearance by McGraw on Piper’s Pit on October 1 (aired on October 26), where he gave Piper a hard time, accusing him of using his interview segment to shoot off his mouth and attack his guests while not bothering to step into the ring on TV to back up his talk, before slapping Piper in the face to end the segment. After McGraw briefly takes control early in the match, Piper takes over and dominates thereafter, culminating the one-sided beatdown with a swinging neckbreaker and two DDTs, the second of which leads to the match being stopped and awarded to Piper after McGraw is ruled unable to continue. As McGraw is subsequently removed from the ring on a stretcher, Piper arrogantly proclaims to the TV camera "That's why they don't let me wrestle on TV!" in reference to the match's outcome. The match aired on TV the day after McGraw's death on November 1, leading to some fans assuming (at a time when kayfabe was still in effect) that McGraw died of injuries inflicted by Piper during the match (even though, in fact, McGraw wrestled a few more matches in the interim between that match and his death from a heart attack). Piper, a real-life friend of McGraw's off-camera, mourned his passing and subsequently headlined a show in McGraw's hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina to benefit McGraw's family

November

  • The Wrestling Album is released on Epic Records, and consists of entrance themes used by WWF wrestlers; the themes are performed either by rock singer and musician Rick Derringer and/or the WWF's personalities. The most notable track on the album is "Real American," which during the fall of 1985 was used as the theme of the U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo), although by very early January 1986 (with Windham and Rotundo having departed the WWF) the song was given to Hulk Hogan (Hogan himself was initially given a different track, "Hulk's Theme," which initially served as his entrance music and was also used as the theme for Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling)
  • 7 - The Wrestling Classic becomes the WWF's first supercard with widespread availability on pay-per-view television (although closed-circuit arenas also made the show available). The event consisted of a 16-wrestler, single-elimination tournament plus a non-tournament match pitting WWF Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper (in one of their final matches of their year-long feud). The tournament was won by the Junkyard Dog, defeating Randy Savage by countout. Although this event was the only one to be called "The Wrestling Classic," the single-elimination tournament format would be used on a recurring basis as "King of the Ring," which at one point is a pay-per-view event of its own
  • 22 - Bad News Allen, who gained notoriety as a heel in Stampede Wrestling for his violent matches and provocative TV interviews, shocks the promotion by returning as a face and defeats Kerry Brown in Calgary. During an interview with Stampede Wrestling host Ed Whalen, Allen mentions the reason for his change, explaining that his grandfather, who had started him out in the martial arts and in pro wrestling and who had not seen Allen's matches as a wrestler until recently, expressed disappointment over his style in a letter to him, prompting Allen to change his ways out of respect for his grandfather[1]

December

Births[]

Unknown

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths[]

January

March

September

November

December

Debuts[]

July

November

December

Events[]

January

February

March

April

  • 21 - AWA StarCage

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

  • 25 - WCCW Christmas Star Wars

Pay-Per-View events[]

March

November

Title changes[]

January

February

March

April

  • 10 - Brian Blair wins the NWA Florida Southern title from Rick Rude in Tampa
  • 14 - Bobby Jaggers regains the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Karl Steiner in Centralia, Washington
  • 28 - Hector Guerrero wins the NWA Florida title from Jesse Barr in Orlando

May

  • 4 - Mike Miller wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Bobby Jaggers in Portland (the title is vacated later in the year)
  • 26 - Hercules Hernandez wins the NWA Florida Southern title from Brian Blair in Orlando
  • 28 - Dino Bravo regains the vacant Canadian International title by defeating King Tonga in Montreal (during Bravo's reign, he is recognized by the WWF as its Canadian Heavyweight Champion during the WWF's brief partnership with Lutte Internationale from August 1985 to January 1986)

June

July

August

September

October

November

  • 4 - Rick Rude wins the NWA American title from Iceman Parsons in Fort Worth, Texas
  • 9 - Bobby Jaggers wins the NWA Pacific Northwest title from Ricky Vaughn in Portland
  • 19 - Lex Luger wins the NWA Florida Southern title from Wahoo McDaniel in Tampa
  • 21 - Kerry Brown wins the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship from Davey Boy Smith in Edmonton, Alberta
  • 25 - Fabulous Moolah wins the WWF Women's title from Wendi Richter in New York City (Moolah wrestles the match as the masked Spider, then gets unmasked by Richter after the referee delivers a fast three-count against Richter)
  • 28 - Magnum TA regains the NWA United States title from Tully Blanchard at Starrcade 1985 in Greensboro; Buddy Landel wins the NWA National title from Terry Taylor at the Greensboro portion of Starrcade; Krusher Krushchev wins the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic title in a tournament final over Sam Houston at the Greensboro portion of Starrcade; Dusty Rhodes wins the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair at the Atlanta portion of Starrcade (the title is later returned to Flair and the result changed to a disqualification win for Rhodes due to interference by Ole and Arn Anderson during the match)

December

See also[]

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