Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection
While Crockett created a nationwide company, Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation would go on to a period of unprecedented success in the mid 1980s.[3] The success was in part precipitated by the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection", a period of cooperation and cross-promotion between the WWF and elements of the music industry.[3] The idea was formed by WWF employee Lou Albano who met singer Cyndi Lauper on a plane to Puerto Rico.[3] Lauper asked Albano to appear as her father in her video for the single "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in 1983.[3] McMahon later booked Lauper and Albano on a segment of Piper's Pit.[3] During the segment, the Rock 'n' Wrestling storyline began when Albano called Lauper a "broad", while Lauper retaliated by hitting him with her purse.[4] She then challenged Albano to a match, where the female wrestler of his choice would fight the female wrestler of her choice.[4] Lauper chose Wendi Richter, while Albano chose The Fabulous Moolah.[4] The match was scheduled for July 23, 1984 at The Brawl to End it All, broadcast live on MTV.[4][5] During the match, Lauper interfered on Richter's behalf by hitting Moolah in the head with her purse, dubbed "The Loaded Purse of Doom".[4] At the conclusion of the match, Richter had defeated Moolah for the WWF Women's Championship, which the WWF had promoted as Moolah holding for the previous 28 years.[6] Meanwhile, the connection between Lauper and the WWF continued with the video for the song "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", "Time After Time", and "She Bop", all of which featured WWF wrestlers.[6] Richter later had a match with Moolah's protégé Leilani Kai at The War to Settle the Score, with Lauper and Moolah in their respective corners.[7] Kai won the title with the help of Moolah.[7] Richter and Kai had a rematch at the inaugural WrestleMania, where Richter regained the title.[8]
On January 3, 1984, Hulk Hogan returned to the WWF. Hogan had been fired from the company by Vince McMahon, Sr. for appearing in the film Rocky III (seen by the elder McMahon as a breach of both etiquette and kayfabe), but was welcomed back to the company by Vincent K. McMahon. McMahon was able to parlay the mainstream popularity Hogan had gained from his role in Rocky III into an even greater level of celebrity. On September 14, 1985, Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, an animated television series starring the character of Hulk Hogan, premiered on CBS. The series ran until June 6, 1987, in the process expanding Hogan's young fanbase.[9]
The inaugural WrestleMania
Main article: WrestleMania I
To counter the NWA's primary supercard, Starrcade, the WWF created its flagship show, WrestleMania, held at Madison Square Garden and available on 135 closed-circuit networks. The future of not just McMahon's national experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA, and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking sports entertainment concept. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (most areas of the country saw WrestleMania available on closed-circuit television) that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of a wrestling super card was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running Starrcade a few years prior to WrestleMania, and even the elder McMahon had marketed large Shea Stadium cards viewable in closed circuit locations. However, since McMahon wanted to take the WWF to the mainstream, he tried to target to a public who were not regular wrestling fans. He drew the interest of the mainstream media by inviting celebrities such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event. MTV, in particular, featured a great deal of WWF coverage and programming at this time. The show was a huge success with Hulk Hogan, who won in the main event, going on to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. After the swimsuit issue, it was the magazine's best seller. Professional wrestling began to become mainstream, thanks, in large part, to the appeal of Hulkamania among children. Large television networks took wrestling into their weekly programming, including Saturday Night's Main Event, premiering on NBC in 1985.
WrestleMania's popularity and ratings appeal made wrestling a television mainstay. Professional wrestling, now synonymous with the WWF, began to throw more grandiose matches. In 1985, the first-ever pay-per-view wrestling event, "The Wrestling Classic", took place. The concept, a one-night tournament, was a huge success and would become a regular event, titled King of the Ring. Later, Pat Patterson would invent the Royal Rumble match, another grand invention showcasing the most talent.
