WrestleMania - March 31st, 1985 - Madison Square Garden (New York City, NY)

Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon & Vince McMahon (w/ Bruno Sammartino)

Intro, Opening, Scandal and Vince McMahon

• The opening video package shows us the history of the WWF all the way up to 1985. Starting with the WWWF and moving through highlight after highlight until we get to 1985. The lights come up in the arena and Scandal opens the show playing the song “The Warrior.” When the song is finished, Vince McMahon greets us from the middle of the ring. “Welcome everyone to the greatest show in the world, Wrestlemania!” The Rockettes came out followed by Liberace and delighted the crowd with their dancing. And an epic rendition of The National Anthem.

Tito Santana vs. “Playboy” Buddy Rose - Singles Match - 20 Minute Time Limit

• Tito got some cheers. But woah, Buddy Rose got a lot of boos from the crowd. These two put on an amazing performance. It was clear that the WWF had two amazing talents. Buddy Rose was getting a big push with the lead-up to this Wrestlemania match. He had been taunting Santana for weeks, attacking him after his matches, and calling him out in promos. This opener was hot and hard hitting. It was long enough that both were able to showcase their talents and the crowd didn’t get too bored. It was back and forth with Buddy Rose getting the upper hand though most of the bout. At one point Rose was beating Tito on the outside. The crowd got behind Tito and he won after a Springboard Elbow. Winner: Tito Santana (Pinfall) - 13:55 | Meltzer Rating: ★★★1/2

King Kong Bundy (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. SD Jones - Singles Match - 20 Minute Time Limit

• This was a squash match that put the showcase on Bundy’s amazing strength and size. The crowd loves SD Jones and they got some chants going for him. However, he was no match for Bundy’s sheer unmatched strength. Jones got in two dropkicks. Bundy gave two huge chops to the head. Two huge body blows. And one big running splash. Bundy put his foot on SD’s chest for the pin. The crowd rained boos on the ring hard after that one. Winner: King Kong Bundy (Pinfall) - 3:55 | Meltzer Rating: ★★1/2

Pre-Taped Interviews

• After this match we had an interview with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat who expressed his excitement to be on such a big stage. He talks about his road to this point. Defeating competitors like Don Muraco, Ivan Putski, Rocky Johnson, and even Mr. Fuji. Now he sets his sights on another wrestler that’s seen a similar successful streak, Matt Bourne. Bourne gets an interview next and he laughs at Steamboat’s “accomplishments”. Matt says that he’s the real deal and fans should be hitching their wagons to his star. Bourne has defeated Paul Roma, Pedro Morales, and The Masked Superstar.

Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. Matt Bourne - WWF Intercontinental Title #1 Contenders Match - 30 Minute Time Limit

• Woah, career defining match right here for both guys. Matt Bourne got booed pretty heavily when he came through the curtain. He was yelling at the crowd to recognize his accomplishments. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat had Rockwell play “We Live in a Jungle” for his entrance and the crowd went insane. The match took a bit to start but once it got going the house was hot for it. Ricky and Matt put on a clinic and just tried out doing each other for twenty minutes. Steamboat would hit a dropkick and so would Bourne. Bourne would hit a bulldog and Steamboat would hit his own. It was 50/50 the whole time. However, when Bourne tried cheating with brass knuckles, The Dragon took advantage and started laying in heavy, rough German Suplexes. After a particularly snug Suplex, Steamboat locked in the Dragon Sleeper and Bourne passed out. Winner: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (Submission) - 23:45 | Meltzer Rating: ★★★★1/2

Pre-Taped Segment, Cyndi Lauper, Hogan, Piper, MTV VJ's, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff

• Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Bob Orton are backstage in a pre-taped segment where they are making fun of Cyndi Lauper and her entourage. Piper laughs at Lauper and Captain Albano jumps in his face. Piper rears up to hit Albano but he and his crew run away when Hogan, Mr. T, and Andre the Giant break it up. Hogan and Wendi Richter get interviewed together and they give some cheesy cheap pop lines to get the crowd roused. There is a bit of an in-ring segment where MTV VJ’s Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and J.J. Jackson is surrounded by TV’s that display the telecast on them. They say hello to the New York crowd and soak up some of the cheers. They begin to talk about the Rock ‘N Wrestling connection but are interrupted by The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff. These two dastardly heels chase off the VJ’s and throw the TV’s out of the ring. David Sammartino is in the back and is interviewed about his match. The crowd goes nuts when Bruno is on screen. David vows to make a mark on the WWF.

David Sammartino (w/ Bruno Sammartino) vs. Brutus Beefcake - Singles Match - 20 Minute Time Limit

• The crowd came unglued when David Sammartino came out with his dad, Bruno right behind him. This was a pretty decent match that didn’t last too long but was meant to introduce the fans to Bruno’s son. Beefcake was a good opponent too. Smarmy. Annoying. A fun villain that the crowd loves to see get beat up. Beefcake started things off by gyrating in front of David and offering to do a pose down instead of a match. But David wasn’t here to play and the Sammartino son started things off with a hard right hand to Beefcake's jaw that sent the male model down to the mat. Sammartino ate a few headlocks and a piledriver, but came back tough and threw Beefcake out of the ring with a fireman’s carry. Beefcake complained to the ref and tried to cheat with some powder to the eyes. But that didn’t work. Beefcake ended up getting powder in his own eyes and David Sammartino wins with a roll-up. Winner: David Sammartino (Pinfall) - 7:37 | Meltzer Rating: ★★1/2

Greg Valentine © (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Junk Yard Dog - WWF Intercontinental Title - 30 Minute Time Limit

• This was a hotly anticipated match. Junk Yard Dog might be right next to Hulk Hogan in terms of popularity at this point. Greg Valentine was known as a cold-blooded brutalizer. His matches against Roddy Piper in the NWA was stuff of legend. Their dog-collar match was well known in the wrestling world. This match echoed that Piper/Valentine match quite a bit. JYD was the crowd favorite and everyone was cheering him on. Greg Valentine was cocky and acted like he had this one in the bag. But this got bloody really quick. Valentine was busted open very quickly after taking a header into the turnbuckles. JYD and Valentine fought all over the ringside and Valentine bashed Dog’s head into the ring bell to bust him open. It was a massacre. The crowd didn’t know quite how to react until it got back into the ring and they rallied behind JYD. A big THUMP put Valentine on the mat and gave Dog the 1-2-3. And NEW WWF Intercontinental Champion, Junk Yard Dog! This was easily one of the bloodiest matches in WWF history to this point. Valentine tried complaining after the match but it didn’t matter. Winner: Junk Yard Dog (Pinfall) - 19:21 | Meltzer Rating: ★★★★

Intermission

• The band Survivor treated us to another musical interlude and intermission before we got into some of the bigger matches. Survivor played their hit single, “I can’t hold back!” and they were introduced by the MTV VJ’s and George “The Animal” Steele.
  

The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff © (w/ Freddie Blassie) vs. The U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo) - WWF Tag Team Titles - 30 Minute Time Limit

• This was another very hot match. The Tag Team champions have been defeating everyone in their path. But for some reason they kept avoiding the US Express. They are finally doing battle tonight and the New York crowd couldn’t wait for these two to lock up. Rotundo and The Iron Sheik started things off and it was pretty standard. They tried some shenanigans but got caught and the tables got turned. The crowd was on the edge of their seats. At one point Rotundo was dropped on his neck outside the ring leaving Windham by himself to fight off Volkoff and Sheik in the ring and he held his own. Windham was locked in the Camel Clutch when the bell rang for the time limit. That was it. A draw. And a damn good match to boot. The crowd hates Sheik & Volkoff. Winner: TIME LIMIT DRAW - 30:00 | Meltzer Rating: ★★★2/3

Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd (w/ Bobby “The Brain” Heenan) - $15,000 Body Slam Challenge - 20 Minute Time Limit

• Bobby Heenan and Andre the Giant have been feuding for over a year now with Heenan bringing in various hit-men to try and take out the eight foot tall giant. This was different though and Heenan vowed to bring in a big man of his own. Someone that will pick up the giant and slam him to the mat for all to see. Heenan came out to a sea of boos. He told the mouth breathers of New York to keep their mouths shut because the wind from their breath smells like The Fresh Kills Landfill. He introduced Big John Studd as his own giant who could beat Andre for the $15,000 purse. John Studd and Heenan are sporting the same haircut and outfits. This match wasn’t that great. These big guys just pummel eachother with Andre no-selling everything John Studd threw at him. Andre went through his usual attacks and hit some giant slaps to Studd’s chest. They did the best they could and Andre hit Studd with a Giant Headbutt that leveled the blonde big man. Andre sat on his chest for the pinfall. After the match Andre threw money into the crowd, blew kisses to the crowd, and posed in the ring to a lot of cheers and flashbulbs. Winner: Andre the Giant (Pinfall) - 6:12 | Meltzer Rating: ★★

MTV VJ's & Cyndi Lauper Performance

• The MTV VJs were back and they introduced Cyndi Lauper who performed “Time After Time.” the crowd was so excited. Lou Albano was there dancing. When the song stopped Lelani Kai’s music hit and the crowd booed. The WWF Women’s Champion came to the ring with The Fabulous Moolah behind her cursing the crowd. Then Cyndi Lauper, still at the entrance ramp, starts singing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!” and Wendi Richter comes out to a HUGE ovation. Cyndi Lauper sings while walking with Wendi down to the ring. It’s an iconic entrance.

Lalani Kai © (w/ The Fabulous Moolah) vs. Wendi Richter (w/ Cyndi Lauper & Lou Albano) - WWF Women’s Title - 30 Minute Time Limit

• This match had been getting huge promotion before this event. Wendi Richter had been on MTV quite a bit with Cindi Lauper and Lou Albano. Richter appeared in one of Cyndi's videos and has been a featured guest on MTV Top 20 Video Countdown. Lelani Kai was also a featured guest on MTV Top 20 Video Countdown. On their episode, Kai and Moolah tore down the set and left after only one song. That song was, “Time After Time”. This was a great match between these two. Kai was dominant and showed her skill and cunning that led to her being champion in the first place. Moolah tried to interfere and Lauper pulled her down off the apron and the two came to blows, much to the delight of the crowd. Lelani Kai locked in a single leg crab on Richter and it looked pretty bad as she kept dragging the challenger into the middle of the ring a bunch of times. However, Richter got to her feet and when Kai charged in for a big clothesline, Richter reversed it into a nasty Powerslam. She pinned Kai and got the victory! And NEW WWF Women’s Champion, Wendi Richter! Winner: Wendi Richter (Pinfall) - 24:57 | Meltzer Rating: ★★★★★

Women's Champion Pose Down with Cyndi Lauper & Sweepstakes Winners

• The crowd was electric after that match. WWF Women’s Champion, Wendi Richter, Cyndi Lauper, and some choice fans that won a sweepstakes all got into the ring and celebrated. It looked amazing. There are iconic pictures of Wendi crying with Lauper hugging her and fans embracing them both. Quite the WrestleMania moment.

Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (w/ Andre the Giant) vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (w/ Bob Orton Jr.) - Guest Referee Tag Team Match - 30 Minute Time Limit

• Here we are at the Main Event. Vince McMahon was in the ring and thanked everyone for being here tonight. He announced that 19 thousand were in attendance and there were millions of people watching on Closed Circuit TV. Vince announced Billy Martin who came out to the ring and announced the guest referee, Muhammad Ali. Ali came out to a gracious ovation from the crowd. He took the mic and said thank you. The crowd was elated. Everyone shook hands. Then Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Bob Orton Jr. came out. People were literally throwing trash at them. A soda hit Bob Orton who looked like he was going to go over the guardrail at the fan. The place went crazy when Rick Derringer came out and played “Real American” for Hulk Hogan, Mr T. and Andre the Giant. This live rendition, the crowd, and these baby faces made for an emotional and ecstatic entrance. Hogan posed as the music kept playing. The match got underway between T and Orndorff first. It turned into a brawl in Pipers corner before Muhammad Ali got in there and broke it up. Roddy threatened to punch Ali and it almost turned into a shoot. But both starters tagged out and it got down to Hogan and Piper. The crowd was insane. They brawled around for a bit with Hogan throwing Piper over the top rope to the mat on the outside for a hard bump. Orndorff and Hogan brawled, Mr. T got in there and tried throwing some fists. Ali got in Mr. T’s face and they almost started boxing. Finally, Piper got back into the ring at the 9 count and tagged out to Orndorff who got busted open on a Hogan Big Boot but rolled to the outside where Orton consoled him. Hogan grabbed him by the hair and lifted him back into the ring. They fought some more before Hogan eventually hit the Leg Drop and got the pin for the victory. Winner: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (Pinfall) - 17:20 | Meltzer Rating: ★★★1/4

Aftermath

• Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Bob Orton left with their tails between their legs. Piper had his hands over his ears to drown out the cheers. Hogan, Mr. T, and Andre the Giant celebrated in the ring and posed for the fans as Wrestlemania closed out.