Wrestlemania I

[Guest bob_barron]

Wrestlemania I

 

For the next 17 days you will get 17 wrestlemanias all from me.

 

Live from MSG. Vince runs down the card. Mean Gene sings National Anthem. Hosts are Jessie and Gorilla. Lord Alfred Hayes previews the first match. Mean Gene is with Chico Santana and Executioner.

 

Tito Santana v. The Executioner

 

Lockup- and they do a criss-cross sequence. Tito takes control and kicks Ex out.  Back in- Tito takes control. Side headlock-2. Ex comes back and takes control. Ex works on the leg. Tito comes back- Ex begs off. Tito works him over but eats backdrop. Ex goes up top but gets slammed down. Splash hits knees. Tito hits Ex and he goes flying out and he brings him back in. Flying Jalapeno and he gets the figure 4. **

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Retired, don’t know.

 

Lord Alfred previews next match. Mean Gene is with SD Jones and Bundy

 

S.D. Jones v. King Kong Bundy (w/Jimmy Hart)

 

Bearhug, avalanche, splash. DUD

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- I think retired, works indies

 

Lord Alfred previews next match. Mean Gene is with Matt Borne and Ricky Steamboat. Jessie and Gorilla talk.

 

Matt Borne v. Ricky Steamboat

 

Lockup- Ricky leapfrogs and gets the chops and gets a chinlock into a headlock. Steamboat flips over and grabs a headlock. Steamboat gets the atomic drop and goes back to the headlock. Borne lifts him up and works him over. Steamboat comes back with the chops and works him over. Borne stomps away and gets a suplex. Borne gets two and hammers away. Steamboat comes back with chops and gets a back suplex. Steamboat works on the head and a knee to the head gets two. Steamboat nails him and the flying bodypress wins it. **

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- I think both retired.

 

Lord Alfred previews next match as wrestlers walk by. Mean Gene is with David and Bruno and Brutus and Johnny Valiant.

 

Brutus Beefcake (w/Johnny Valiant) v. David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino)

 

Brutus struts. Lockup- David overpowers him and trips him up. Both grab waistlocks and Bruti gets takedown but David gets up and Bruti bails. David works him over with some mat stuff. Bruti gets a headlock and works him over but David gets a legtrip and gets a double toe-hold and works on the leg. Bruti blocks figure four but continues to work on the leg. Bruti comes back and kicks his ass. David comes back and gets the backdrop. David works him over and gets the suplex for two. David gets chucked out and Johnny slams him so Bruno kicks his ass. Bruti attacks and the Sammartinos clean house. ½*

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- indies, retired

 

Lord Alfred previews next match. Mean Gene is with Hammer, Hart and JYD.

 

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) v. JYD for the I-C Title

 

Lockup- JYD works on the arm and gets a headbutt. JYD hammers away and headbutts him. Hammer bails. Test of strength- Hammer takes control and works on the leg. JYD blocks figure-4 but Hammer hammers away. JYD comes back and headbutts him. JYD goes after Jimmy Hart and Hammer accidentally nails Hart.  JYD kicks his ass but Hammer rakes the eyes and pins him with the feet on the ropes. Tito runs out and tells the ref what happened and they restart the match. Hammer leaves. ¾*

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- indies, dead

 

Lord Alfred previews next match. Mean Gene is with the heels and Blassie and Cpt. Lou and US Express

 

Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo (w/Captain Lou) v. Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkoff (w/ “Classie” Freddie Blassie) for the WWF Tag Titles

 

Volkoff sings the anthem to huge boos. Rotundo and Shiek start. Shiek gets headlockbut soon Rotundo kicks his ass. Shiek rolls him up in a headlock. Tag Windham who kicks his ass. Heel miscommunication occurs and Volkoff gets tagged in. Tag Rotundo who kicks his ass. Elbow-1. Tag Windham who continues the ass kicking and tags Rotundo. Rotundo soon plays face-in-peril. Rotundo hiplocks Shiek- hot tag Windham who cleans house. Bulldog- Shiek saves. Pier-4 brawl. Shiek nails Windham with the cane and and we have new champions. *

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Windham works TCW, I think Rotundo is retired, the heels were in the Gimmick Battle Royal

 

Mean Gene is with the new champs. Lord Alfred previews next match. Mean Gene is with Big John Studd and Brain.

 

Andre the Giant v. Big John Studd (w/Brain) in a $15,000 Slam Match

 

If Andre wins he gets $15,000. If Studd wins- Andre retires,Studd attacks to start but Andre lays in the chops- Studd bails. Back in- Andre chokes him out and kicks his ass. Studd with a lowblow but he can’t slam Andre. Andre gets a bearhug and works him over and gets the bodyslam to win. DUD Andre throws the money to the crowd but Brain takes the money and runs.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- both dead

 

Mean Gene is with a happy Andre. Lord Alfred previews next match as someone kisses him. Mean Gene talks to Wendi Richter, Cyndi Lauper, Moolah and Kai.

 

Lelinai Kai (w/Fabulous Moolah) v. Wendi Richter (w/Cyndi Lauper) for the ladies title

 

Lockup- Wendi hammers away and gets near-falls. Wendi kicks her ass. Kai gets the hair and gets some near falls. Kai works her over. Wendi comes back with a body scissors but Kai uses the hair but Wendi gets some near-falls.  Kai uses the hair. Blind charge misses and it gets two for Wendi. Moolah beats on Wendi and her and Cyndi fight. Kai gets a boot but Wendi kicks her ass and a splash gets two. Kai gets double knee into sternum and pins her-2. Backbreaker-2. Crossbody by Kai but Wendi rolls through for three. Crowd goes batshit. * Post-match Wendi and Cyndi go after Moolah

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- no clue

 

Mean Gene talks to a happy Wendi and Cyndi. Billy Martin is guest ring announcer, Liberace (w/Rockettes) is guest timekeeper and they kick their legs up. Muhammad Ali is special outside ref, Patterson is inside ref.

 

Paul Orndorff and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (w/Cowboy Bob Orton) v. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T (w/ “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka)

 

Fans throw shit at the heels. Orndorff and Hogan start but Piper gets tagged in so Mr. T gets tagged in. They go nose to nose and they slap each other. Piper gets a waistlock but T breaks it. They lock up and Mr. T powers out. Mr. T gets fireman’s carry. Piper spears him and we got a pier-4 brawl. Ali restores order. Piper and Orndorff head for the back. Hogan calls them back and hear they come. Pier-4 brawl- faces clean house. Hogan atomic drops Piper and pounds him. Hogan tags Mr. T and they beat up Piper. Mr. T kicks both their asses. Tag Hogan. Slugfest- Hogan wins. Big boot- Piper goes flying out. Orndorff nails Hogan and he flies out. Piper chairs Hogan. Back in- Hogan plays face-in-peril as the heels work him over and get some near falls. Orndorff misses flying knee, hot tag Mr. T who cleans house but Piper attacks and they kick his ass. Mr. T plays face-in-peril. T powers out of a front facelock- hot tag Hogan who cleans house but Orndorff suplexes him. Orton tries to interfere but Snuka stops him. We get a big wild brawl and Orton accidentally hits Orndorff with his cast and Hogan and Mr. T win. They check on Orndorff who gets pissed off and leaves.  Match is ***1/4. Mean Gene is with winners. Gorilla and Jessie wrap it up.

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW- Piper is in XWF, Orndorff is retired, Hogan is in WWF, Mr. T does 1-800-COLLECT.

 

The Bottom Line- A pretty ‘eh’ card with only match above ***. It maybe the first Wrestlemania but there are better ones out there but if you want some history- this is it.

 

Mild Recommendation to Avoid

[Guest Daredevil21]

I'm usually a big fan of most of your reviews, but I don't know, this one seemed like it was a but rushed. I'm not sure if that's the case, but that's how it came off. You should throw in your opinion in there throughout the review, too. I think that would help the review seem a little more like a rant than just a recap. Good luck with Wrestlemania 2.

[Guest bob_barron]

Yea it was a bit rushed cause I kind of wanted to get it done. My Wrestlemania 2 review will be better. Thanks for your fair criticism.

[Guest goodhelmet]

In all fairness, the show felt rushed so I don't blame you.

 

I strongly disagree with you on the main. Any match with Mr. T is not above a star. I actually enjoy the match and the heat was amazing but the match is not a *** match. just my opinion. Good Job!

[Guest bob_barron]

While the match may not have been a great 'wrestling' standpoint it was a really fun match and Mr. T wasnt that bad of a wrestler. The amazing heat really made it a fun match to watch so thats why I gave it ***1/4

[Guest TheHulkster]

The last i knew, Rotundo was working in one of the major japanese promotions. I liked the WM1 main event too.

[Guest RetroRob215]

I thought Rotuno became a road agent.