Welcome to my first classic pay-per-view review. What I've decided to do is do a classic pay-per-view review every Sunday when there isn't a new one that Sunday. Today I take a look at the first ever WrestleMania from the Madison Square Garden. With that being said, let's get into this.
The commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura kick off by welcoming us to the first ever WrestleMania. Before the show starts, we get a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by Mean Gene Okerlund...it's not very good. Mean Gene asks the crowd to sing along with him, which I'm fairly certain is the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do during the Star Spangled Banner. From here, you can see that the crowd is not lit well whatsoever.
There were over 19,000 people at this show, but it looks like there were barely 2,000 tops based on the way this was lit. Backstage interviewer Lord Alfred Hayes stumbles his way through his lines as he announces to us the first match of the night. Hayes appears before every match, and he doesn't improve at all throughout the night. Before the match, we get pre-recorded interviews with the competitors You can tell these are pre-recorded not only because Hayes says so before hand, but because you can see one of them walking past Hayes to the ring while he's saying this.
Tito Santana defeated The Executioner-Santana is able to control the match for the majority of the match, to the point where it's basically a squash match. The finish comes after Santana hits a flying forearm before locking the figure-four leglock for the win in 4:50. This really isn't anything worth watching. There's nothing that exciting, but there's nothing dreadfully bad either.
Rating: 2 Stars
King Kong Bundy defeated SD Jones-Not much to say. Bundy catches Jones in a bear hug, rams him into the corner, splashes him in the corner and hits another splash for the win in 24 seconds. Or, as the WWF put it, nine seconds. Yeah...no. It's not even close to nine seconds.
Rating: None (It was 24 seconds)
Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne-In what is probably the best match on the night on a technical level, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated Matt Borne, the future Doink the Clown, with a crossbody off the top rope in 4:37. The two worked well together and everything looked nice and crisp. Steamboat is great, of course, but Borne held his own in this match. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's still a solid match.
Rating: 3 Stars
David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake ended in a double disqualification-In his pre-match promo, Beefcake's manager Johnny Valiant tells a pre-barber Beefcake to say something, but he just blows a raspberry into the mic. That was funny. Sammartino is accompanied to the ring by his father, the legendary Bruno Sammartino. If you want to know how David was booked in the WWF, he gets announced before his father does. That's how much of an afterthought he is. As for the match, if you've ever wondered what an average professional wrestling match was...this is it. It's pretty much and forth affair for 12 minutes until Valiant bodyslams Sammartino on the outside. Bruno attacks Valiant, leading to the Sammartino's brawling with Beefcake & Valiant and causing a double disqualification. Like I said, it's a pretty average professional wrestling match.
Rating: 2 Stars
Junkyard Dog defeated Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine by countout-Interesting note, Junkyard Dog is the first wrestler tonight to get entrance music. This was another standard back and forth match, but this one was overbooked like hell. The finish came when JYD was beating down Valentine in the corner. Valentine did a double leg takedown and pinned JYD with his feet on the ropes for the win. However, Tito Santana ran down sprinted down to the ring and told the referee that Valentine had both feet on the ropes. For some reason, the referee believes him and re-starts the match without even waiting for Valentine to get back in the ring. Valentine ends up getting counted our, giving JYD the win, but not the title since he won by countout. This leads to a big pet peeve of mine, where JYD and Santana celebrate despite JYD not winning the title. So yeah, the bad finish really takes away from the match in my opinion.
Rating: 1.5 Stars
Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik defeated WWF Tag Team Champions The US Express to win the titles-Before the match, we get a bizarre pre-match promo where the US Express Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham say they're on their way to the ring right now despite being in normal clothes and not their ring gear.
So yeah, it's the All-Americans Rotundo & Windham facing off against the evil foreign heels Sheik & Volkoff. Volkoff gets pelted with garbage during his rendition of the Russian National Anthem. During Windham's hot tag, Rotundo dropkicked Sheik out of the ring. While the referee was admonishing Rotundo, Sheik took his manager Freddie Blassie's cane and smashed it over Windham's back, allowing Volkoff to get the win in 6:55. The match was fine, a fairly decent back and forth affair.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Andre the Giant defeated Big John Studd in a $15,000 Body Slam Challenge-This match also had an added stipulation, where if Studd was able to slam Andre, Andre would have to retire. Here's the problem with body slam challenges...they're really boring. Especially when you've got two big guys going at it. Also, another problem is that Andre, the babyface, has the advantage over the heel. He's 100 pounds heavier than Studd, he should be able to win this match easily. He does end up winning, bodyslamming Studd to a huge reaction in 5:53, but it was a slow, plodding affair. Andre ended up throwing the money into the crowd before Studd's manager Bobby Heenan stole it back. So nothing was accomplished. Poor.
Rating: 0.5 Star
Wendi Richter defeated WWF Women's Champion Leilani Kai for the title-Oh boy. I've already talked about this match in more detail as part of the Worst in the World, so it's pretty obvious how I feel about this match. Before the match, both heels mess up their promos, with Moolah stumbling through her single line before Kai says she'll have "her hand raised in victor." The finish came when Richter sloppily rolled through on a crossbody by Kai and pinned her for the win in 6:12. Like I said the first time I reviewed it, it's a nothing match. The only thing I can really say is that it's a little sloppy at times.
Rating: 1.25 Stars
Hulk Hogan & Mr. T defeated Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff-In the main event, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, accompanied to the ring by Superfly Jimmy Snuka took on Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff with Cowboy Bob Orton. They call him Mr. Wonderful, and he knows it too. The first half of this match is basically a squash, with Hogan & Mr. T easily dominating the match before Piper & Orndorff actually walk to the back. However, security actually forces them back to the ring, where there is more of the same. It might just be because I've become so used to the Hulk Hogan formula where he gets his ass kicked for 90% of the match, then he Hulks Up and wins, but it was pretty refreshing. Mr. T did very well by celebrity standards of wrestling. The second half of this match is more like the typical Hulk Hogan match, with the heels working over Hogan and to a lesser extent, Mr. T. All hell breaks loose at one point and that brings on the finish. Orton goes to the top rope as Orndorff holds Hogan in place so Orton can hit him with his cast. However, Hogan was able to move out of the way, causing Orndorff to take the cast shot. Hogan covers Orndorff and gets the win. In the end, the match is nothing special on a technical level, but it was still an entertaining main event in my opinion.
Rating: 3 Stars
And that's about it. Overall, the first WrestleMania isn't really anything special. There are a few good & enjoyable matches, but the majority is just pretty standard wrestling with a few bad matches in between. I'd say check it out, simply for the fact that it's the first WrestleMania and it's historic.
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