Wrestlemania The Early Years

Wrestlemania, a fixture for The WWE for 29 years now, shaped the way major live sporting events are broadcast to the world. After being shown on closed-circuit television for the first “Mania”,  Pay-per-view began with the 2nd Wrestlemania  and the early success of this venture led the way for professional boxing, MMA and many other events that are not covered by the major sports networks.

Wrestlemania 1 was a bold move for Vince McMahon and the WWE. It helped usher in the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling gimmick that helped propel the company into the undisputed number 1  wrestling promotion in the world. WWE teamed up with MTV and brought in an entire new audience of viewers.

Held at the historic Madison Square Garden on March 31, 1985 – Wrestlemania 1 featured Hulk Hogan and actor Mr. T taking on Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff with “Cowboy” Bob Orton, father of current WWE Superstar Randy Orton, getting involved in the match as well.

Results of Wrestlemania 1:

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	Tito Santana defeated The Executioner.	Singles match	04:50
2	King Kong Bundy (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Special Delivery Jones.	Singles match	00:21
3	Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne.	Singles match	04:37
4	David Sammartino (with Bruno Sammartino) fought Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny Valiant) to a double disqualification	Singles match	12:43
5	Junkyard Dog defeated Greg Valentine (c)(with Jimmy Hart) by countout.	Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship	07:05
6	Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik (with Freddie Blassie) defeated The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) (c) (with Lou Albano).	Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship	06:55
7	André the Giant defeated Big John Studd (with Bobby Heenan)	$15,000 Body Slam Challenge	05:53
8	Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper) defeated Leilani Kai (c) (with The Fabulous Moolah)	Singles match for the WWF Women’s Championship	06:12
9	Hulk Hogan and Mr. T (with Jimmy Snuka) defeated Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (withBob Orton)	Tag team match with special guest refereesnMuhammad Ali and Pat Patterson	13:13

 

Wrestlemania 2 was held in three separate venues – in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Rosemont Horizon, and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena and as earlier mentioned helped usher in Pay-per-View as we now know it.

However, it was Wrestlemania III that many people still talk about today. The event was held on March 29, 1987 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan and set a record attendance of 93,173, the largest recorded attendance for a live indoor sporting event in North America. That record held until 2010.

The featured match was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant in a match the is probably most remembered for Hogan body slamming the 520 pound Giant – a video clip that is still regularly seen today.

These early days of Wrestlemania have morphed into the annual event that is the highlight of the year for most fans of professional wrestling.