Egnomac's WrestleMania 1 Review
egnomac Egnomac here to do a review of the very first WrestleMania held at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on March 31, 1985 as I will be going over the matches ranking them on a scale of 1 to 5.WrestleMania 1 opens with a video that goes over all the matches on the card, with the commentators on that night being Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "the Body" Ventura as Howard Finkel welcomes the fans to the WrestleMania as Mean Gene Okerlund opens up the show by singing the National Anthem instead of America the Beautiful as later WrestleMania's would do.
First Match: Tito Santana vs The Executioner
WrestleMania opens up withTito Sanatna going up against the Executioner (Buddy Rose) though not the best it did exactly what it was meant to do which is to warm up the crowd for the rest of the card. The match ends with Tito placing the figure four leglock on Executioner who gives up as Tito wins her first and only WrestleMania match.
Well it was what it was a decent opener, give it a 3 out of 5.
SD Jones vs King Kong Bundy
Not much to say as it was a squash match, the match starts with SD Jones launching himself towards Bundy who grabs him in a bear hug position then rams him into the turnbuckle then hits the avalanche followed by a splash and the match was over. An contrary to what Howard Finkle says the match was nowhere near 9 seconds but was near 23 seconds.
Despite not going very long it was still memorable regardless I give it 2 out of 5.
Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne
Next up is Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne and to be honest a much better match then the opener especially since Ricky Steamboat can have a good match with just about anyone a really solid match as Steamboat picks up the victory with a cross body for the win.
Good match 4 out of 5
David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake
Next up is David Sammartino occupied by his father the Living Legend Bruno Sammartino taking on Brutus Beefcake accompanied by his manager Johnny Valiant. For the most part it was a pretty even match with both men alternated having the advantage, the match ends when David gets thrown out by Brutus as Johhny Valiant bod-slams him on the outside which leads to Bruno to get involved as a wild brawl breaks out between the four men as the match ends in a double Disqualification.
Overall a decent match and the ending was pretty good as well 3 out of 5
Intercontinental Championship Match: Greg Valentine vs The Junkyard Dog
WrestleMania's first title defense as the champion Greg "The Hammer" Valentine occupied by manage Jimmy Hart against the Junkyard Dog, JYD began the match in the offensive postilion as the two went back in forth in a pretty solid match until the ending when Jimmy Hart tried to get involved distracting the referee as JYD grabs him as Valentine rushes after him and accidentally knocks down Jimmy Hart as JYD opens up a barrage of punches at Valentine who then scoops him up while having his legs on the ropes for the win, Valentine picks up the win and retains the title until Tito Santana comes out and protest the referee's decision telling him Valentine's legs were on the ropes as the match is restarted as the referee begins the count while Valentine doesn't even bother to get back in and lets himself get counted out.which leads to Junkyard Dog being declared the winner much to Valentine's dismay.
The match started good but the ending was a bit of a letdown especially since it was the first tittle defense at a WrestleMania 2 out of 5
WWE Tag Team Championship Match Barry Windham and Mike Rotando vs The Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkoff
Next up is the tag team championship match while not great it was decent as manager Freddie Blassie aided in helping Sheik and Volkoff win the tag team against Windam and Rotando.
3 out of 5
15,000 Slam Challenge Andre the Giant vs Big John Stdd
As the match stipulates it was a body slam challenge where the winner is determined by being the first to bods slam their opponent as Big John Studd and manager Bobby Heenan put up a bag with 15,000 dollars against Andre the Giant's career, the match as you would expect was very slow paced with not much going on until the finish as Andre scooped Studd up for a body-slam for the win as Andre grabbed the bad of money and began throwing it into the crowd before Heenan stole back the money.
3 out of 5
WWE Women's Championship Match Lelani Kai vs Wendi Ricter
First title defense of the women's title at a WrestleMania between Lelani Kai accompanied by the Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Ricter accompanied by Cindy Lauper, overall a really good match that saw Richter capturing the women's championship again
4 out of 5
Main Event: Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. vs Paul Orndorff and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
An now for the main event a tag team match between Hulk Hogan and Mr. T with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff with "Cowboy" Bob Orton in their corner. With the former manager of the New York Yankees Billy Martin as guest ring announcer, Liberace as the time keeper accompanied by the Rockettes and Muhammad Ali as guest referee on the outside. The match did not disappoint as it truly lived up tot he hype as the match started with Mr. T and Piper who really hated each other in real life, half way through the match all four men begin brawling in the ring and referee Muhammad Ali attempted to maintain order as he punched Piper then attempted to get at Orton who tried to get in the ring at one point Piper and Orndorff tried to leave the match but returned, Hogan carried most of the match for his team with T getting in a few offenses the match ends with Orndorff having Hogan in a full nelson lock as Orton climbed onto the top turnbuckle and attempted to hit Hogan but hit Orndorff instead leading to Hogan to pick up the win for his team and Hulk Hogan and Mr. T celebrate in the ring along with Snuka as Piper and Orton leave the ring leaving Orndorff alone who gets up and sees that his teammates have ditched him.
Easily the best match on the card though not perfect and had its flaws overall I give it a 5 out of 5.
Overall despite being the very first WrestleMania it was not all great and while most of the matches were decent its nothing really to write home about, not great but still enjoyable for the most part, I give WrestleMania 1 a 5 out of 10.