Today in Wrestling History, 3/31: HBK's Famous WrestleMania Entrance, More
Source: PWInsider.com
1973 - At a WWWF event at the Boston Garden, Moondog Mayne won a battle royale for a title match when the bout came down to himself and Fred Blassie. The two refused to fight each other, so a coin toss was held with Moondog winning. Moondog would go on to challenge, and lose, to WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales.
1985 - Wrestlemania I was held. Mike Johnson penned the following:
WRESTLEMANIA 1
Location: New York City
Arena: Madison Square Garden
Announced Attendance: 19,121
RESULTS
*Tito Santana pinned The Executioner with a flying forearm, followed by a figure four leglock for the submission. The Executioner was Buddy Rose, who promised to work on Santana's "bad knee" from his feud with then-Intercontinental champion Greg Valentine.
*King King Bundy (then managed by Jimmy Hart) pinned SD Jones in 9 seconds after an avalanche in the corner.
*Ricky Steamboat pinned Matt Borne with a flying bodypress.
*David Sammartino (with Bruno Sammartino) fought Brutus Beefcake (with Johnny Valiant) to a double disqualification. The finish of the bout saw Beefcake throw David out of the ring, where Valiant attacked him. Bruno made the save and destroyed Valiant, setting off a brawl and the DDQ.
*The Junkyard Dog defeated WWF Intercontinental champion Greg Valentine by countout. Valentine, then managed by Jimmy Hart, pinned JYD with his feet on the ropes. Tito Santana, who had lost the IC belt to Valentine and been "injured" in the process hit the ring to tell the referee. The bout was restarted but Valentine walked and was counted out. Santana would eventually regain the belt from Valentine to blow off their feud.
*The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff defeated WWF Tag Team champions The U.S. Express, Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham after manager Freddie Blassie hit Windham with his cane to set up a Volkoff pin. In a great post-match interview, Blassie denies ever having a cane.
*In the $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge, Andre the Giant slams Big John Studd to win the money. Andre starts tossing it out to the fans at ringside, and Studd's manager Bobby Heenan grabs it and runs off.
*Wendi Richter (with manager Cyndi Lauper) pinned Leilani Kai (with The Fabulous Moolah) to win the WWF Ladies championship. Beyond the Mr. T connection, Lauper was the biggest celebrity tie-in WWF had at the time as the connection built to WWF's relationship with MTV. The relationship backfired on Lauper who lost credibility as an artist and never recovered. Richter rolled up Kai for the pin after Kai went for a bodypress and it was reversed. Richter regained the belt from a previous bout where Moolah interfered to cause the loss. Richter would later lose the belt to Moolah, under the mask as The Spider Lady, and leave WWF never to return.
*Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (with Jimmy Snuka) defeated Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (with Bob Orton) when T pinned Orndorff after Bob Orton, sporting a cast on his arm, accidentally hit Orndorff. The match was a backdrop for a calvacade of celebrities (see below). Mr. T did an airplane spin on Piper, which got a lot of photo coverage in the newspapers.
NOTES: The show featured Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura on commentary and was a huge hit on the video rental market....Gene Okerlund, of all people, sang the national anthem to open the event....Pat Patterson worked the main event as a referee, likely to help Mr. T keep up with the program....There was a story in both Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper's autobiographies that noted Hogan had to literally drag T. to the locker room after he refused to work the show because he wasn't allowed to bring two limos full of guests into the Garden....One longstanding story surrounding the show is that a rival promoter offered the late Bruiser Brody, considered to be among the toughest men in the sport at the time, $100,000 if he would go to the Garden and attack T in the aisle as he entered the ring to ruin the show. Brody turned down the offer.
CELEBRITIES: Beyond Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper performing on the show, former New York Yankees manager Billy Martin was the guest ring announcer, the late Liberace was the guest time keeper, and boxing legend Muhammad Ali was the guest referee outside the ring.
JOHNNY VALIANT ON WORKING EARLY WRESTLEMANIA EVENTS: It was like "The Birth of A Nation" to the movie business because it was something totally new. They chose to do it in NYC as it is the entertainment capitol of the world and the first time they went out of the business to get names as big as Ali, Liberace, Lauper. If Liberace or Ali or Lauper would be a part of a wrestling show, it gave it a lot of show business legitimacy and it was electric and you could feel the spark. Even as a manager I felt it. There was so much hype that went into it and there was a grand party afterward in the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center in the NBC building and I was drinking with Billy Martin. He was a fan and Liberace came up to meet me. Muhammed Ali wanted to take a picture with me and he knew who I was! It was very flattering. I managed Beefcake on the first one and then Beefcake and Valentine on the second and then Bravo & Valentine for Wrestlemania 3. I can't believe it was 20 years ago! Time certainly flies.
1986 - At a WWF television taping in Poughkeepsie, New York, Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy challenged Andre The Giant and a partner of his choosing for a tag team match. It was announced that Andre had selected Hillbilly Jim, but when the match took place, Andre The Giant didn't appear, and Hillbilly Jim & Ted Arcidi defeated Studd & Bundy via DQ after Studd & Bundy hit the referee. As a result of Andre not appearing, he was suspended by the WWF, setting up the introduction of the masked "Giant Machine".
1989- Sting defeats Mike Rotunda for the NWA World Television Title in the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. This was Sting's first singles title victory.
1994 - The Quebecers defeat Men On A Mission for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Sheffield, England, after losing the belts only two nights earlier in London. This would begin the third title run for the Quebecers.
1996 - Wrestlemania XII takes place. Mike Johnson penned the following:
WRESTLEMANIA XII
Location: Anaheim, CA
Arena: The Arrowhead Pond
Announced Attendance: 18, 853
RESULTS
*Vader & Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith managed by Jim Cornette defeated Yokozuna & Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson when Vader pinned Roberts after a powerbomb. This would be the Wrestlemania debut for the former WCW World champion and the final Mania appearance for Yokozuna, who's babyface run never took off.
*Roddy Piper fought Goldust in a "Hollywood Backlot Brawl." They go back and forth with the fight, leading to Goldust peeling off in a car with Piper following in a white bronco. Piper would chase Goldust across LA in a cute usage of news footage from the OJ Simpson police chase. When they finally got the Arena, it ended with Piper beating Goldust down and stripping him of his clothes (cue Rocky Horror Show outfit), as well as planting a kiss on his lips. Piper was the winner by default in what would be his final Wrestlemania match appearance.
*Steve Austin defeated Savio Vega with a cobra clutch. A very good back and forth match that served as Austin's Wrestlemania debut, but doubly served as the background to the Piper-Goldust car chase using the OJ footage.
*The returning Ultimate Warrior pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Warrior just destroys Triple H, kicking out of the Pedigree, and hits a gorilla press, drops the future McMahon family member and splashes him for the pin. Rena Mero was Helmsley's valet (at the time he had a bevy of beautiful women walking him to the ring.) Helmsley would end up in a backstage confrontation with the debuting Wildman Marc Mero (Imagine that) to set up a feud. Warrior would be gone within 6 months from the company, never to return. Helmsley would...what did ever become of Helmsley, anyway?
*The Undertaker pinned Diesel with a chokeslam and tombstone in Kevin Nash's final Wrestlemania match.
*Shawn Michaels pinned Bret Hart with a superkick in overtime of a 60 minute Iron Man Match. Michaels did the famous zip line entrance from the top of the Arena here. Highlights of the bout saw Shawn take a sick backwards bump over the ringpost to the floor, nearly killing a cameraman along the way. Timekeeper Mark Eaton was superkicked "accidentally" by Michaels when Hart moved out of the way. The finish saw Hart have Shawn in the Sharpshooter but time ran out. WWF President Gorilla Monsoon announced
Celebrities: None. Zilch. Nada.
Notes: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler handled commentary....During the countdown show of the PPV, there was a sketch where "The Huckster" fought "The Nacho Man" with McMahon and Lawler handling Mystery Science Theatre 3000-esque commentary to make fun of WCW....The Bodydonnas, Skip and Zip defeated The Godwins to win the WWF Tag Team championships during the PPV preview as well....The marketing of the main event featured Michaels training under Jose Lothario while Bret returned to the dungeon. They teased it would be hard hitting wrestling vs. almost a Lucha Libre style....Razor Ramon was the original opponent for Goldust, but was suspended due failing a drug test. Ramon would serve out the suspension, then head for WCW with Nash....Wrestlemania weekend events including a Slammy Awards at the Anaheim Marriot. The black-tie presentation aired on the USA Network. As a rib on Kevin Nash, he was seated next to the WWF's Ted Turner parody Billionare Ted. Afraid to offend his new bosses, Nash refused and walked away....This event was the first Wrestlemania where the company began issuing main event plaques featuring signed photos of the victor and a piece of the actual ring mat from the show.
2003 - Kane & Rob Van Dam defeat champions Lance Storm & Sean Morley and The Dudley Boyz in a three way match for the (Raw) World Tag Team Title in San Jose, California during an edition of Raw. On the same show, Bill Goldberg made his WWE debut, interrupting a promo by The Rock and informing him that "He's next" before spearing him.
2008 - WWE gives Ric Flair a "farewell" on Raw the night after Wrestlemania, including a reunion with the Four Horsemen (Tully Blanchard, JJ Dillon, Arn Anderson, Barry Windham).
|
ShoppersHideout.com - Get the latest Sting T-Shirts, Replica Belts, Lifesize Standups, Accessories and more
|
