31 Days until Wrestlemania 31: Rewriting Wrestlemania I

[LODemolition]

This is an extension of my thread on "Rewriting The Undertaker's Streak", where I went back in time and tried to fix all of Taker's WrestleMania matches to make his 21 match undefeated streak even more impressive.

For the next 31 days, I will go back in time and try to rewrite the best possible WrestleMania card possible from the original clear back in 1985 at MSG, all the way up to WrestleMania XXX in 2014 at the Supderdome. With hindsight always being 20/20, I invite you to give your opinions on what you would have changed to every Mania card in history. What bugs me most looking back, are the lack of the Intercontinental and Tag Team championship matches in the past 10 years. But we'll get there eventually. Today we are rewriting WrestleMania I.

Date: March 31, 1985
Location: Madison Square Garden (New York City, NY)

Results:

Tito Santana def. The Executioner

David Sammartino w/ Bruno Sammartino vs. Brutus Beefcake w/ Luscious Johnny Valiant went to a no contest

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def. Matt Borne

King Kong Bundy w/ Jimmy Hart def. Special Delivery Jones

Bodyslam Challenge

Andre the Giant def. Big John Studd

Intercontinental Championship

Junkyard Dog def. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (c) w/ Jimmy Hart via count-out

World Tag Team Championship

Nikolai Volkoff & Iron Sheik w/ Classy Freddie Blassie def. Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham (c)

Women's Championship

Wendi Richter w/ Cyndi Lauper def. Leilani Kai (c) w/ Fabulous Moolah

Main Event

Hulk Hogan & Mr. T w/ "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff w/ Cowboy Bob Orton

*Rewriting WrestleMania I*

1. Intercontinental Championship Steel Cage Match: Tito Santana def. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/ Jimmy Hart (c)

I feel like this would be a great way to open the very first WrestleMania of all-time. I was a big JYD fan as a kid, but Santana was Intercontinental Champion for over 200 days before losing the title to Valentine in September of 1984. Santana would go on to regain the title in July of 1985 in a steel cage. I'd simply move up that title change to the grandest stage of them all, rather than at a house show.

2. Mr. T & "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka w/ Hulk Hogan def. "Cowboy" Bob Orton & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff w/ "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

I know that the "rock and wrestling" connection was a big part of the first WrestleMania, but I'm very much a traditionalist when it comes to celebrities gettinginto the wrestling ring. It does nothing for me personally, but I understand the attraction of it for the casual fan. However, putting Mr. T in the main event rather than putting Hogan and Piper one on one in the main event is a glaring error to this day in my opinion. Mr. T and Snuka could've taken on Orndorff and Orton and entertained the fans just as easily. The very first Mania is the one and only to not feature a match for the WWF/E Championship. It will never happen again for a reason: it's what the event should revolve around each and every year. I'd have put Hogan and Piper in their respective teams' corners, and have them build up the hatred one last time to fire up the crowd for the main event later in the evening.

3. Bruno Sammartino & David Sammartino def. Brutus Beefcake & "Luscious Johnny Valiant

I'll never understand why Bruno Sammartino wasn't included on the card of WrestleMania, unless it was injury related. Maybe someone can shed some light on that subject. For me this is a simple fix. Instead of putting Bruno in his son's corner, make them tag team partner against Brutus and his manager.

4. Jesse Ventura, Adrian Adonis & George Steele def. British Bulldogs & Special Delivery Jones

Honestly, these are just some guys on the roster that stood out as not being a part of the card, so I just put them together in a six-man tag. Too bad the Hart Foundation wasn't teaming yet or I'd put them here. If memory serves me right, they became a team just a month or 2 after WrestleMania.

5. WWF Women's Championship: Wendi Richter w/ Cyndi Lauper def. Leilani Kai (c) w/ Fabulous Moolah

No reason to change anything here.

6. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def. Don "The Rock" Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji via disqualification

I think Steamboat should have faced a better opponent than Matt Borne (this is the man that went on to play the role of Doink for those who don't know). Former IC champ Don Muraco would've fit nicely here. Steamboat gets the win when Mr. Fuji interferes.

7. King Kong Bundy w/ Jimmy Hart def. Junkyard Dog

This definitely wouldn't be the squash match that Bundy had with SD Jones, but he would've still gone over. Like the Steamboat match, I just feel like I've made an improvement in opponents here.

8. WWF Tag Team Championship: Nikolai Volkoff & Iron Sheik w/ "Classy" Freddie Blassie def. Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham (c)

Everything remains the same here.

9. Bodyslam Challenge: Andre The Giant def. Big John Studd

Again, no reason for change here.

10. WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan w/ Mr. T and Jimmy Snuka (c) def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper w/ Bob Orton and Paul Orndorff

As I said earlier, the gaping hole in this card is the fact that Hogan did not put the title on the line. I think it's safe to say that Hogan and Piper is the match everyone would have rather seen, and they would have put on a much better show by themselves. Hogan would have retained after a hard fought match that resulted in some attempted cheating gone wrong, just as it did in reality when Orton accidentally hit Orndorff with the cast. It could have just as easily been Piper on the receiving end.


Feel free to post your comments and the card to WrestleMania you would have created.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

There was a very interesting series of threads doing a very similar thing on here last year.

In response to your changes, remember that each ppv has time constraints. Although Wrestlemania nowadays runs to 4 hours (main show), that's only been the case since the year 2000; before that, WM was a 3 hour show, and the very early ones I believe were only 2 hours long (I may be mistaken there but I'm sure WM 1 & 2 were only 2 hours each)

In order to fit in your 10 'mega-matches', some of them would have to be very short, negating the big feel of the match. It's for reasons like this that Bundy squashed SD Jones in seconds in reality. Which would be a shame as your potential card seems decent.

The one match I'm surprised WWE didn't go with was the Intercontinental rematch between Santana and Valentine, especially given the WWE title wasn't being defended on the card. That's the major change I would have made.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The main thing I would have changed about Wrestlemania 1 is that the WWF Championship should have been on the line. Even though the main event we got is deserving of respect.... it could still have been very good if done a little differently. I would have had the WWF Championship be up for grabs in the final match of the night between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. Mr T and Jimmy Snuka would be in Hogan's corner while Paul Orndorff and Bob Orton would be in Piper's corner. Hogan wins to close the show.

 

[relentless1]

you have to look back at the time period to understand why they did the tag match; WM wasn't originally thought of as being the crown jewel of WWF or an ongoing thing, sure you'll hear them say in DVDs how they planned on it being their Super Bowl etc but in reality it was just the next step in the Rock n Wrestling connection and the cap on the trilogy of Brawl to End it All and War to Settle the Score, which is why the match had to be the tag match, they already did the World title match previously between Roddy and Hulk so this match with T was the next step for their exposure.

 

[MMK]

Hard to argue with the first Wrestlemania as clearly it was a success or we wouldn't be talking about Wrestlemania 30 years later. I would only make a few minor tweaks to the event

1) 20 MAN BATTLE ROYAL
King Kong Bundy/ Bruno Sammartino/ David Sammartino/ Brutus Beefcake/ Hillbilly Jim/ Uncle Elmer/ Cousin Luke/ Tony Atlas/ Matt Borne/ Terry Funk/ Executioner/ Cpr.Kirchner/ The Missing Link/ SD Jones/ Adrian Adonis/ George Steele/ Johnny Rodz/ Ivan Putski/ Tony Garea/ Rene Goulet
(LOTS of jobbers in this one. But that's okay. More victims for King Kong Bundy who plows his way through the competition to victory. Final 2 would see Bundy eliminate the beloved Bruno, only to hit a few splashes for good measure after the match. David tends to his fallen father while Bundy soaks in the massive heat from the MSG faithful)

Six Man Tag
2)The Junkyard Dog & The British Bulldogs def The Moondogs
(There were in fact many members of the Moondogs stable. Slap 3 of them together to get jobbed out to the Bulldogs and JYD. Anything to get the Bulldogs on the card. They should have been there.)

Steel Cage: Intercontinental Title
3)Tito Santana def Greg Valentine
(I agree with the OP that Tito should have been the challenger against Valentine as that feud was still going strong. I have Valentine retain then begin the feud with JYD. Tito would have put on a much better match than JYD but he doesnt have the charisma to be champion. Keep the title on a heel Valentine. I also like the OP's idea of having it in a steel cage as this had been a lengthy feud and needed a decisive winner)

4)Jimmy Snuka & Ricky Steamboat vs Don Muraco & Bob Orton
(Snuka and Orton's involvement in the main event is made that match feel a little crowded to me. When you factor in all the celebrities involved inside and outside the ring, the main event should have trimmed the fat just a little. I think Snuka and Orton could have been better utilized here.
This tag match would have made sense on several levels. First, Snuka has a history with Muraco at MSG and Muraco had a feud with Steamboat at the time. Plus Muraco and Orton would form an alliance down the line so why not let it begin here, and I like the tandom of Snuka and Steamboat. But most of all I think a Superfly Splash was needed at the first Wrestlemania.)

I wouldn't make any changes to the rest of the card....

Bodyslam Challenge
5) Andre the Giant def. Big John Studd

World Tag Team Championship
6)Nikolai Volkoff & Iron Sheik def. Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham (c)
(I would have perhaps had Sheik and Volkoff coming in as champions and facing higher quality opponents, but the tag division was pretty weak here and the US Express were probably the best option)

Women's Championship
7) Wendi Richter w/ Cyndi Lauper def. Leilani Kai (c) w/ Fabulous Moolah

Main Event
8) Hulk Hogan & Mr. T def. Roddy Piper & Mr. Wonderful

 

[willross]

They sold WM1 based on Mr.T's potential confrontation with Piper and the fact he was teamming with Hulk Hogan. You can't change greatness man, just can't. The rest of the card minus Andre/Studd is 100% interchangable but do not under any circumstances touch the main event.

 

[roipdh123]

Wrestle Mania I:

1.Steel Cage Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Tito Santana def. Greg Valentine {C}.

2.Singles Match
King Kong Bundy def. The Junkyard Dog

3.Tag Team Match
Adrian Adonis and George Steele def. The British Bulldogs.

4.Singles Match
"Cowboy" Bob Orton def. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.

5.Tag Team Match
Bruno Sammartino and David Sammartino def. Brutus Beefcake and Johnny Valiant.

6.Singles Match
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def. Don "The Rock" Muraco via a Disqualification.

7.WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff def. The U.S. Express {C}.

8.15000 $$$ Body Slam Challenge
Andre The Giant def. Big John Studd

9.WWF Women's Championship match
Wendi Richter def. Leilani Kai {C}.

10.Tag Team Match
WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr. T def. Roddy "Rowdy" Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.

 

[Judah's Lion]

totally love these type of threads. I know that it's unfair to be an arm-chair booker AND have hindsight, but here's how I would write Mania 1.

keep in mind, Mania 1 was a HUGE risk for the WWF and the McMahon family personally. even though the event was considered a success in every way, the company just broke even financially with it. so that's why you see all the celebrity involvement that you do on this show; to get those casual fans or even non-fans to watch in the first place. from what I've read and heard over the years, Mr. T specifically was brought in as he was literally the biggest star in America at the time. he was the ultimate pop culture phenomenon and the idea of seeing him in an actual wrestling match and not just in the ring is what had the country tuning in. there's more there, but that's why I keep the main event as is. in previous threads like this, I've said that I would do Hogan vs. Piper with Mr. T as the special referee, but EVERYONE wanted to see Mr. T wrestle, and more than that, EVERYONE wanted to see Mr. T kick Piper's @$$. and Hogan then got a huge rub as the World Champion since he was the one teaming with Mr. T and doing SNL with him and some other media appearances. plus, Piper would not let Hogan pin him. he knew that Hogan would never return the favor, so you needed a tag match so that the faces could get that clean pin. anywho, that's a lot of backstory... on to the card as I would write it.

David Sammartino and Bruno Sammartino vs. Brutus Beefcake and Johnny Valiant. given that this was MSG, Bruno absolutely should have been in the ring. have father and son win the match with stereo bear hugs.

Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine for the IC Title is an easy change. I really don't know why this match didn't happen as they were in the middle of a really hot feud at the time. I like the idea of the Steel Cage, but I would actually save that for these two at SummerSlam and just keep this a regular singles match. and here's why...

Superfly Jimmy Snuka vs. Don Muraco in a Steel Cage. these two had several great Cage Matches in their feud together. I would have one here on the very first WrestleMania as I think it would be a great moment, especially for those first-time viewers. as iconic as Superfly coming off the cage is, imagine if we got to see that at Mania inside of MSG.

I would leave the Tag Team Titles, Women's Title and Slam Match all the same. no reason to change those as they all made sense.

King Kong Bundy vs. Junkyard Dog would have been more fun than the squash match that we did get. I like that change as suggested by the OP so I'd stick with that.

Steamboat should be on this show also, but I can't think of a good opponent for him. I don't think Dibiase or Rude are in the WWF at this time, but both would work for opponents. maybe a match with Jesse Ventura as Ventura was always dogging on the Dragon, calling him a cheater and stuff.

as I stated above, as much as I personally dislike it, I would also leave the main event alone. Hogan/Mr. T vs. Piper/Orndorf had to be the main event. I wish this could have been Hogan vs. Piper, one-on-one, for the World Title, but the majority of America would not have cared. so this match, for better or for worse (worse in my opinion, keeping in mind that I'm just a fan and not a businessman with everything to lose) stays as my main event.