Just what I expected

An Exercise In Nonsense

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

(03.31.85)Live from NY, NY (Madison Square Garden)Attendance‎: ‎19,121Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Jessie VenturaTito Santana Vs The ExecutionerSantana wins with the Figure Four Leg Lock. It's way too short for me to call this a good match or give it a good rating, but they managed to cram in some decent stuff for a glorified squash match. *1/2King Kong Bundy (W/Jimmy Hart) Vs SD JonesSD Jones goes for a shoulder block, but Bundy catches him in a bear hug, then rams him in the corner. An avalanche, followed by a big splash ends SD Jones night in 9 seconds! That was a new record for the time. SD Jones was a jobber and this was done to put over Bundy as unstoppable. DUDMatt Borne Vs Ricky SteamboatSteamboat wins with a flying cross-body off the top turnbuckle. This was far too short to be anything spectacular, but it was somewhat exciting for the time that it got. Despite that his status was JTTS (Jobber to the stars). Borne certainly didn't phone it in and he got in a reasonable amount of offense. **David Sammartino (W/Bruno Sammartino) Vs Brutus Beefcake (W/Johnny V)The match ends in a double disqualification when both Bruno and Johnny V get involved. This match was fairly plodding with too many rest holds and not enough action. I can't recall an excellent Beefcake match and David wasn't good enough to carry a match. The best thing about this match was the hot ending. The fans went nuts for Bruno getting involved. It's sad to say, but the real attraction here was Bruno Sammartino Vs Johnny V. *Intercontinental ChampionshipGreg "The Hammer" Valentine (C) (W/Jimmy Hart) Vs The Junkyard DogValentine pins JYD by putting his feet on the ropes. Tito Santana comes in and complains about Valentine's chicanery and the referee reverses the decision, making the match continue. Valentine leaves and JYD wins by countout....A pretty bad match that consisted of mostly headbutts and punches. As solid as Valentine was, there isn't much he could do. No disrespect to JYD, but wrestling wasn't his greatest asset. It was charisma that really carried him over the years. The finish was really unnecessary as well. 3/4*Tag Team ChampionshipThe U.S Express (C) (Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham) (W/Lou Albano) Vs Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik (W/Freddie Blassie)Volkoff & The Iron Sheik win the Tag Team Titles when The Iron Sheik nails Barry Windham in the back of the head with Blassie's cane. This was an OK tag match. Volkoff and Sheik aren't exactly the most nimble, Sheik and Volkoff were heat magnets with the "anti-usa" stuff, and giving the titles to them wasn't a bad choice by any means. **15 Thousand Dollar Bodyslam ChallengeBig John Studd (W/Bobby Heenan) Vs Andre The GiantThe stipulations are that if Studd can slam Andre, Andre will retire from wrestling. If Andre slams Studd, he gets 15 thousand dollars. Naturally, Andre easily slams Studd. Afterwards, Andre starts throwing the money away to the fans, but Bobby Heenan sneaks up from behind and grabs the bag full of money. The buildup to this was far better than the match. It was really boring, to be honest. Even though it wasn't a true match, nothing exciting happened during the match at all. The fans were into it, but I was bored to tears. N/RWomen's ChampionshipLeilani Kai (C) (W/The Fabulous Moolah) Vs Wendi Richter (W/Cyndi Lauper) This match was treated as a pretty big deal with Lauper's involvement. Wendi Richter wins the title back from Kai after reversing the momentum from a flying cross-body from the top turnbuckle by Kai. This match was nothing special. There was nothing really truly bad about it, but it lacked the needed excitement. There was far too much hair pulling and nothing stood out about it. It started to improve a bit near the end, but it was too little too late. *1/2Wendi Richter says winning the title back is the happiest moment of her life and celebrates some more with Cyndi Lauper backstage.Billy Martin, Liberace, and Muhammad Ali are introduced as the guest celebrities for the main eventHulk Hogan & Mr. T (W/Jimmy Snuka) Vs "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (W/Cowboy Bob Orton)Hulk Hogan and Mr. T win after a heel miscommunication commences when Orton drills Orndorff in lieu of Hogan. This was the biggest match in the history of wrestling at this juncture, at least in my opinion. This match really helped the WWF take off and give it legitimacy as a global phenomenon. I wouldn't exactly call it a great match, but it's a terrific spectacle and fairly fun to watch. Mr. T certainly didn't embarrass himself in the ring and held his own when it came to wrestling. Paul Orndorff would turn face shortly after Wrestlemania because of the heel miscommunication. I'm gonna go ahead and gives this three stars just because of the historical importance. ***Final Thoughts.This is essentially a glorified house show. It's a pretty unremarkable event if you think about it. There is only one above average match on the entire card with the rest being either forgettable or awful. The only reason this is special is because of the historical value. Without Wrestlemania, WWE wouldn't be where it is today. As a wrestling fan, you must see it once because of that, but it really is a bland show for the most part4/10

Two larger than life super heroes taking on a disgraceful enemy. A huge build up including Hulk Hogan and Mr T hosting Saturday Night Live and heavy cross promoting with MTV. Celebrity appearances from Liberace, Muhammad Ali and Cyndi Lauper. It's not hard to see why the first ever Wrestlemania. shown on closed circuit venues throughout America, was a success.Just how big a success this inaugural event was financially is not as clear. What is known is that the WWE made back all the money it invested in the show and then some, and that Wrestlemania has since become the single biggest Wrestling show on the planet every year.But, looking back now, there just isn't anything to get fussed about. The crowd was into the action, but it's tame by today's standards. We're not looking at any technical clinics of high thrills matches, just on the whole short, slow, fun typical of WWE at the time which few modern wrestling fans would enjoy.The night started off with Tito Santana defeating The Executioner with the figure four leglock after about 5 minutes. And that's pretty much the whole story with this one. Same can be said of the next match where King Kong Bundy, accompanied by Loud Mouth Jimmy Hart destroyed Special Delivery Jones in well under a minute. Beating him with one move.The next match was the most back and forth of the night as the future NWA and WCW legend Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne in another short match. Probably the most likely match to be appreciated by the younger fans.Next up we had David Sammartino accompanied by his legendary father Bruno and fighting to a draw with Brutus Beefcake, who was accompanied by Johnny Valiant. Longest match so far. MSG crowd were into Bruno.The next match saw Greg "The Hammer" Valentine retain his Intercontinental Championship by getting himself counted out when he wasn't faring very well against the Junk Yard Dog. This was the first Championship match in Wrestlemania history.The next match saw the first Championship change in Wrestlemania history as hated heels Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek defeated Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham after Sheik hit Windham with a cane. What's a good wrestling event from 1985, or even now, without controversy? In our next match, Andre The Giant defeated Big JOhn Studd in a $15000 Bodyslam Challenge. I believe there was some type of retirement stipulation on the match, but it was all nonsense. Andre was never going to lose here. He took his $15000 and started throwing the money to the crowd, but Studd's manager Bobby Heenan ran off with the money bag, cutting his losses.Next was the infamous womens' Championship match in which Wendy Richter pinned Leilani Kai to win the women's championship. Cyndi Lauper an former Women's Champion the Late Fabulous Moolah got involved.Finally is our main event as WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr T our two larger than life heroes, defeated Rowdy Rod Piper and Paul Orndorff despite the interference of Cowboy Bob Orton and his trusty cast. This match had happened because of some dastardly events in what was supposed to be a one on one title match between Hogan and Piper a month or so earlier at "The War to End it All". Shenanigans occurred, Orndorff, Orton and Mr T got involved. Lines were crossed. Dastardly stuff. The crowd was hot for the action. Everyone did what they were supposed to do and the match and evening were a success.If you're one of those casual fans of wrestling, give this one a miss. It was made for fans of 80s wrestling and hasn't aged very well. If you are really into wrestling workrate and technical stuff, skip this and get an old NWA Video. If you watched this as a kid and love it, it's a nice trip down memory lane and a great bit of nostalgia. And that, in the end, is the main selling point of this event 20+ years down the line.

The grand daddy of them all, Wrestlemania live from Madison Square Garden on March 31, 1985. Let me tell you that the WWF circa 1985 was a lot different than what people would see even a few years later. Wrestling was a regional promotion back in 1985 with the WWF having dominated the northeastern United States. But, McMahon had bought the WWF from his fater a few years earlier and had an idea to take wrestling to new heights along with his champion, Hulk Hogan.I almost saw this card fitting. At the beginning you saw a lot of what I thought was old school wrestling. You had the wrestlers simply appear in the ring with very technical matches. But towards the end you started to see the sports entertainment factor.The card itself isn't the greatest by today's standards. Tito Santana is always nice to watch and I suppose it was nice to see him at a time where he wasn't a jobber. David Sammartino didn't last long to warrant any significance and The Junkyard Dog showed that he could've possibly been one of the most popular guys in the company aside from Hogan himself.This card was also unique in the fact that one of the focal points was the Ladies Championship up for grabs between Lelani Kai and Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper). Today a ladies match wouldn't warrant much attention, but Lauper was a key factor in turning the WWF into the promotion it is today.Finally, the main event between Hogan/Mr. T vs. Piper/Orndorff. Piper is a monster heel here something that would turn 180 in a few years. The match itself wasn't great hilighted by the refereeing of Muhammed Ali, but it still had a feeling of excitement to it.Wrestlemania started it all.

Vince McMahon's Wrestlemania is a classics in sports history. Maybe not the greatest moment, but it is way up there (right up there with Mays throwing the ball from outfield and the 1994 Rangers Stanley cup victory). McMahon's vision of a true sports event in wrestling is pure genius, in which he has Mr T fight the "American hero" Hulk Hogan in one of the most memorable matches ever. Great fun, with McMahon there to produce and star in this spectacle that is only matched (maybe even greater) by the super bowl. A++