411 Ranks The WrestleManias: #20 – WrestleMania

In the WWE’s History of WWE – 50 Years of Sports Entertainment DVD & Blu-ray release, it is stressed that the event was Vince McMahon’s personal mission. Linda McMahon noted her fear because she and Vince had leveraged everything (ever joking that Shane and Stephanie were used as collateral) on the event. While fans today seem to think it’s fun to call the show “Entertainment-Mania”, due to celebrity guests and such, the facts are that celebrities helped make the first event a success, and are the reason we’re discussing the show 30-years later. Liberace, Billy Martin, Muhammad Ali, Cyndi Lauper and most importantly Mr. T made the event a success across closed circuit locations. It all had to start somewhere, and today we look back to the day the Mania was born…

* Tito Santana defeated The Executioner @ 4:47 via submission
* King Kong Bundy defeated S D Jones @ :23 (:09 Kayfabed) via pin
* Ricky Steamboat defeated Matt Borne @ 4:37 via pin
* Brutus Beefcake and David Sammartino fought to a double DQ @ 11:44
* The Junkyard Dog defeated Intercontinental Champion Greg “The Hammer” Valentine via count out @ 5:58
* The Iron Sheik and Nikoli Volkoff defeated The US Express to become the NEW WWF Tag Team Champions via pin @ 5:00
* Andre the Giant won the $15,000 Body Slam challenge when he slammed Big John Studd @ 5:56
* Wendi Richter defeated Leilani Kai to become the NEW WWF Women’s Champion @ 6:13 via pin
* Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated Rowdy Piper and Paul Orndorff @ 13:37 via pin

Scott Rutherford
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Hulk Hogan/Mr T. vs. Roddy Piper/Paul Orndorff [***] This was the culmination of the whole rock n’ wrestling explosions and the all or nothing moment that Vince and the entire WWF was riding on to keep in business or else they would’ve gone bust. It’s a strange bird the exists outside the normal standard for match quality as the match itself is average at best but the heat, the crowd, the occasion and the ability of the three wrestlers in the match to work with all of those elements and create history is a thing of majesty. Very much a “moment in time” match that would be hard to understand if watched by itself today without any context, but in context it’s great.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Brutus Beefcake vs. David Sammartino [-*1/2] This match is horrible and to top it off, it’s completely boring and has no value to it whatsoever. This is all about the blowjob for Hulk Hogan giving his running buddy Brutus a showcase match and Vince greasing Bruno Sammartino by letting his son stink up the joint.

Show MVP And Why: Vince McMahon – The guy had a vision and bet the farm on that vision. For better or worse modern wrestling had its big bang this night and everything changed afterwards.

Your Thoughts on The Show: The card itself is horrible and if it was a normal PPV, it would have been shit on roundly by everyone. However, we are talking about the first WrestleMania and the waves of history that drips out of its every pore. In that respect it’s a perfect 10 all round.

Tony Acero
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: HULK HOGAN AND MR. T VS. RODDY PIPER AND PAUL ORNDOFF: [***] Ok, in all honesty, my personal pick for best wrestling match on the show was the tag match between The US Express and Volkoff/Sheik, but truly no one can deny that there was only one match that this mania was built on and one match that will forever be heralded as the best of this night. This match had the hottest face, the hottest heel, the great Orndoff and Mr. F’n T. What more can make it better? How about Ali as a ref? Or Snuka in the corner of T and Hogan? This match was the epitome of what McMahon was trying to create, tying wrestling with the outside world of celebrities, glitz and glamour. Once the match actually began, it wasn’t the greatest we’ve seen but in rewatching this, you are well aware as to just how amazing this event is and what kind of history was being creative. The crowd was hot, every hit was accentuated by cheers or boos, and it was just all so….good.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: KING KONG BUNDY VS. S.D. JONES: [NR] A 9 second match against a guy that meant little before and would mean little after.

Show MVP And Why: GORILLA MONSOON: Monsoon is just gold on the mic. He made every hit count and every pin matter. I especially love how he would call a pin for what it was. A pin within the first minute simply doesn’t end a match, and he’d be sure to call it out. With gems like “he’d do best to protect his external occipital protuberance” and “In my day, I wouldn’t know where to get tights like Brutus” he brought both importance and humor to the matches that were happening. This wasn’t an announcer focusing on himself, oh no, it was an announcer focusing on accentuating what was going on in the ring. Amazing.

Your Thoughts on The Show: Wrestling has changed quite a bit since the first WrestleMania, so it’s probably pretty obvious that the event wasn’t completely to my liking. However, even in saying that I can’t help but deny the historical significance and the difference in storytelling in a bulk of the matches. Steamboat and Bourne, for example had a flow that I just don’t see much anymore, and the crowd’s consistent interest in everything that was going on just made it a joy to watch, even now. Just a nice trip to the days where….well, hell I wasn’t even born.

Greg DeMarco
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: The US Express (Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham) vs. The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff [***1/2] – This match featured the classic face-heel dynamic, and the Garden crowd ate up every second of it.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff[*1/2] Plain and simple—this was a bad match. Not every WrestleMania is going to have a crazy awesome main event, but this match shows what WM1 was…a glorified house show. Mr. T was passable, and the real story was the extracurricular activities involved. Hindsight is always 20/20, but imagine if the WWF had moved the belt to Piper right after Hogan won it and had Hogan go over Piper at WM1.

Show MVP And Why: Roddy Piper – Roddy Piper had to sell for Mr. T. He had to make sure Mr. T was over with the fans and the viewing audience, and he did an amazing job. In modern day wrestling, Piper would be an amazing heel champion. He really was before his time

Your Thoughts on The Show: This was the event that started it all. But if you take a step back and really look closely, it was a house show with a few celebrities. Cyndi Lauper definitely added to the women’s championship match, but Mr. T’s inclusion kept the world title from being defended and dragged down the quality of the main event. Hogan vs. Piper should have been the match to close the show here.

What will #19 be? Come on back tomorrow to find out…

The List So Far…
30. WrestleMania 9
29. WrestleMania 2
28. WrestleMania 11
27. WrestleMania 4
26. WrestleMania 15
25. WrestleMania 27
24. WrestleMania 29
23. WrestleMania 25
22. WrestleMania 5
21. WrestleMania 13
20. WrestleMania

REMINDER, each 411 writer had the opportunity to rank the WrestleMania events (based on overall quality, historical significance and personal preference), those rankings went into creating the final list.