WWF The Wrestling Classic

The Wrestling Classic, also known as Wrestlevision, was a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) pay-per-view event that took place on November 7, 1985, from the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois. It revolved around a 16-man single-elimination tournament and included a WWF Championship match.

It is a commonly held misconception that The Wrestling Classic was the first WWF pay-per-view; even WWE often refers to it as such. However, the first WrestleMania event, in March of the same year, had been available on pay-per-view in some markets.

Background[]

The main feud heading into Wrestling Classic was between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper, with the two battling over the WWF Championship. In 1985, Piper became the top heel of the promotion after he spoke out against the burgeoning Rock 'n' Wrestling connection, which lead to a confrontation with Hogan. In February, they faced each other at MTV special The War to Settle the Score for Hogan's WWF title, where Hogan retained his title by disqualification. Their feud lead to the development of WrestleMania. In the main event of the first-ever WrestleMania, Hogan and celebrity Mr. T defeated Piper and Paul Orndorff. Hogan feuded with Piper and "Cowboy" Bob Orton for the rest of the year and often got disqualification victories over them, leading to a WWF title match between Hogan and Piper at Wrestling Classic. A tournament was also being promoted on WWF television "Wrestling Classic" which was to take place on the pay-per-view event.

Event[]

The pay-per-view event featured a 16-man tournament dubbed "Wrestling Classic". The first round of the tournament began when Adrian Adonis defeated Corporal Kirchner with a Suplex. Dynamite Kid faced Nikolai Volkoff, and before the match began, Volkoff began singing Russian national anthem. As he was in the midst of finishing his singing, Dynamite Kid hit a missile dropkick on Volkoff to win the match. Randy Savage defeated Ivan Putski by having both his feet on the middle rope for leverage as he pinned Putski. Ricky Steamboat faced Davey Boy Smith. Smith landed in the ropes to attack Steamboat but Steamboat sidestepped and Smith injured his groin. He was unable to continue, so Steamboat was awarded the match by forfeit. Junkyard Dog faced Iron Sheik. The match began with Sheik choking JYD with his jacket. He applied a camel clutch on JYD before releasing the hold. JYD quickly hit a headbutt on Sheik and pinned him to win the match. Moondog Spot and Terry Funk's match was next. None of them wanted to wrestle, so they both left the ring. As Spot started to leave, Funk attacked him from behind. He tried to re-enter the ring but Spot prevented him from entering the ring and won the match by countout. Tito Santana faced The Magnificent Don Muraco. Santana pinned Muraco with a quick small package. The final match of the first round pitted Paul Orndorff against Cowboy Bob Orton. Orton was disqualified after he hit Orndorff with his cast.

The quarterfinals began. Adrian Adonis faced Dynamite Kid. During the match, Adonis accidentally hit his manager Jimmy Hart and collided with Hart. Kid took advantage and pinned Adonis to win the match. Ricky Steamboat faced Randy Savage. The referee was distracted by Miss Elizabeth as Savage took advantage and pulled out brass knuckles from his tights and hit Steamboat with the knuckles before pinning him to win the match. Junkyard Dog defeated Moondog Spot after a headbutt. Tito Santana and Paul Orndorff fought to double countout, eliminating both wrestlers from the tournament in the process. This led to Bobby Hennan's $50,000 storyline bounty on Paul Orndorff not being collected.

A non-tournament match occurred where Hulk Hogan defended his WWF Championship against Roddy Piper. Hogan applied a bearhug on Piper. Piper responded with a sleeper hold. The referee was knocked out and Piper hit Hogan with a steel chair. Hogan applied a sleeper hold of his own on Piper. Cowboy Bob Orton came out and hit Hogan with his cast. The referee saw this and disqualified Piper in the process. Piper and Orton continued to assault Hogan until Paul Orndorff came out and cleared the ring.

The semifinal match between Randy Savage and Dynamite Kid was next. Dynamite Kid superplexed Savage off the top rope but Savage countered it into an inside cradle for the victory. Junkyard Dog drew a bye in the semifinals because the double countout ending of Paul Orndorff vs. Tito Santana in the quarterfinals. A contest was held where over 250,000 fans participated. In the contest, a fan from Batavia, Illinois, Michael Hamley won a Rolls-Royce. This segment was cut from the Coliseum Home Video release for time. However, it was restored when the show aired on WWE 24/7 Classics, WWE's archival video on demand service.

The main event and the finals of the Wrestling Classic tournament occurred between Junkyard Dog and Randy Savage. JYD hit a back body drop on Savage off the top rope who landed on the arena floor. Savage was unable to get into the ring and was counted-out. As a result, JYD won the match and the tournament.

Results[]

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

Adrian Adonis (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Corporal Kirchner in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (3:21)
Dynamite Kid defeated Nikolai Volkoff in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (0:08)
Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ivan Putski in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (2:48)
Ricky Steamboat defeated Davey Boy Smith in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (2:55)
Junkyard Dog defeated Iron Sheik in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (3:26)
Moondog Spot defeated Terry Funk (w/ Jimmy Hart) by Count Out in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (0:27)
Tito Santana defeated The Magnificent Muraco (w/ Mr. Fuji) in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (4:19)
Paul Orndorff defeated Cowboy Bob Orton by DQ in a Wrestling Classic Tournament First Round Match (6:30)
Dynamite Kid defeated Adrian Adonis (w/ Jimmy Hart) in a Wrestling Classic Tournament Quarter Final Match (5:27)
Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ricky Steamboat in a Wrestling Classic Tournament Quarter Final Match (3:19)
Junkyard Dog defeated Moondog Spot in a Wrestling Classic Tournament Quarter Final Match (0:45)
Tito Santana vs. Paul Orndorff ended in a Double Count Out in a Wrestling Classic Tournament Quarter Final Match (8:06)
Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Roddy Piper by DQ to retain the WWF Championship (7:17)
Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) defeated Dynamite Kid in a Wrestling Classic Tournament Semi Final Match (4:52)
Junkyard Dog defeated Randy Savage (w/ Miss Elizabeth) by Count Out in a Wrestling Classic Tournament Final Match (9:44)

Tournament Bracket[]

Pin-Pinfall; Sub-Submission; CO-Countout; DCO-Double countout; DQ-Disqualification; Ref-Referee's decision

First round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Adonis