IWF WrestleMania 2

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Revision as of 08:02, 1 March 2014

WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (although the first WrestleMania was only on pay-per-view in select areas). It took place on April 7, 1986 at three venues: the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.

Each venue had one main event match with a large undercard. As with the first WrestleMania, the matches were shown on closed-circuit television across North America. The event was also the first WrestleMania to air on the national ppv market. This was the first WrestleMania to use cardinal numbers (Arabic numerals). The commentating teams consisted of Vince Matteson and Susan Saint James in New York, Gorilla Monsoon, Gene Okerlund, and Cathy Lee Crosby in Chicago and Jesse Ventura, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Elvira in Los Angeles. The ring announcers were Howard Finkel (New York), Chet Coppock (Chicago), and Lee Marshall (Los Angeles).

The main event at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was a boxing match where Mr. T defeated Roddy Piper by disqualification. Matches on the undercard were Brady Savage versus George Steele for the IWF Intercontinental Championship, Jake Roberts versus George Wells and Paul Orndorff versus The Magnificent Don Muraco. The main event at Rosemont Horizon was a 20-man battle royal which included IWF wrestlers and NFL footballers. The undercard featured a IWF Tag Team Championship match where British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) defeated champions Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) to win the titles, a IWF Women's Championship match between The Fabulous Moolah and Velvet McIntyre and a flag match between Corporal Kirchner and Nikolai Volkoff. The main event at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a IWF Championship match where Hulk Hogan defeated King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match to retain the title. The undercard featured Terry Funk and Hoss Funk versus Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana in a tag team match, Adrian Adonis versus Uncle Elmer and Ricky Steamboat versus Hercules.

Background

WrestleMania 2 featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Championship Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling Saturday Night's Main Event and Prime Time Wrestling — the International Wrestling Federation's (IWF) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.

Three of the main-event feuds were set up on the March 1, 1986, broadcast of Saturday Night's Main Event:

• The main feud heading into WrestleMania 2 was between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy, with the two battling over the WWF Championship. Although they had wrestled occasionally beforehand, their first nationally televised encounter was on the November 2, 1985, edition of Saturday Night's Main Event where Hogan teamed up with André the Giant against André's rivals Bundy and Big John Studd. Hogan and André won the match. On March 1, Hogan defended his IWF title against The Magnificent Muraco. Just as Hogan was about to pin Muraco, Bundy ran into the ring and -- with Muraco's help -- initiated a 2-on-1 assault on Hogan, repeatedly crushing him with his body weight (with a move called the "Avalanche") to break his ribs. Hogan had a very serious scripted injury, while Bundy (gloating over his actions) challenged Hogan for the title. With revenge on his mind, Hogan decided not to heed his doctor's advice and accepted the challenge; a match was then booked between the two in a steel cage for the IWF title.

• The second feud heading into the event was between Mr. T and Roddy Piper. Piper established himself as the top heel in the IWF in 1984, and a year later joined Paul Orndorff and Cowboy Bob McAlmond to feud with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Hogan and T defeated Piper and Orndorff in the main event of the first-ever WrestleMania. The Piper-Mr. T feud restarted in 1986 after their real-life hatred for each other became known, prompting the IWF to turn their animosity for one another into a feud. Piper and others disliked Mr. T because he was an actor and unskilled wrestling ability. In response, Mr. T became a special IWF boxer and began competing in boxing matches. On the March 1 Saturday Night's Main Event, Mr. T defeated McAlmond in a boxing match. After the match, Piper distracted Mr. T, allowing McAlmond to attack from behind and start a 2-on-1 assault. Mr. T then demanded revenge, leading to his boxing match against Piper.

• The third main feud heading into WrestleMania was between Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) and American Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) over the IWF Tag Team Championship. On August 24, 1985, Beefcake and Valentine won the tag titles from U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Branscum). Immediately after their title win, they were challenged by British Bulldogs for the titles. They retained their titles against Bulldogs at a house show on September 11 by getting disqualified. They defended the titles against Bulldogs again on Saturday Night's Main Event, where they emerged victorious against Bulldogs. After Bulldogs failed in winning the titles twice, Dream Team agreed to defend their titles against Bulldogs for a final time with a title match set at WrestleMania.

Event

WrestleMania 2 emanated from three arenas: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.

New York

In the first match of the show and the New York arena, Paul Orndorff faced The Magnificent Don Muraco. Both men fought to a double countout.

Next was a IWF Intercontinental Championship match between Brady Savage and George Steele. Savage was seconded by his real-life wife Miss Elizabeth. He pinned Steele with a roll-up and put his both feet on the ropes for leverage. As a result, Savage retained the Intercontinental title.

The third match from the Coliseum was between Jake Roberts and George Wells. He hit a DDT on Wells and pinned him to win the match. After the match, Peterson allowed his snake Damian to slither over Wells, who vomited.

The first main event of WrestleMania 2 was a boxing match between Mr. T and Roddy Piper. T was seconded by real life boxer Joe Frazier. Piper was disqualified for bodyslamming T at 1:15 in the fourth round.

Chicago

The first match from the Chicago portion of WrestleMania 2 was a IWF Women's Championship match between The Fabulous Moolah and Velvet McIntyre. McIntyre attempted a splash on Moolah but Moolah sidestepped and McIntyre missed the move. Moolah took advantage and pinned McIntyre to retain her title.

The second match was a flag match between Corporal Kirchner and Nikolai Volkoff. Volkoff was seconded by Classy Freddie Blassie. Blassie threw his cane on Volkoff but Kirchner caught it and hit Volkoff with it and then successfully pinned Volkoff for the victory.

The third match was a International Wrestling Federation (IWF) versus National Football League (NFL) battle royal. It featured 20 men including the IWF wrestlers and NFL superstars; NFL stars included Jimbo Covert, Bill Fralic, Russ Francis, Ernie Holmes, Harvey Martin and William "The Refrigerator" Perry, while IWF stars included André the Giant, Ted Arcidi, Tony Atlas, The Heart Foundation (Bret "Hitman" Heart and Jim "The Anvil" Furlong), The Killer Bees, Hillbilly Jim, The Sheik, King Tonga, Pedro Morales, Bruno Sammartino, Danny Spivey and Big John Studd. In the end of the match, André the Giant and both members of the Heart Foundation were the final participants. André first eliminated Furlong and then Heart to win the battle royal.

The second main event of WrestleMania was a IWF Tag Team Championship match between British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) and Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake). Bulldogs were seconded by Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and Captain Lou Albano. Aldrich pushed Valentine into the corner where Valentine knocked heads with Dynamite Kid. Kid fell to the floor while Aldrich pinned Valentine to win the tag titles and end Dream Team's seven month reign

Los Angeles

Ricky Steamboat faced Hercules in the first match from Los Angeles. Hercules tried to hit a flying bodypress but missed it. Steamboat followed by hitting a flying bodypress of his own for a successful pinfall victory.

Adrian Adonis, seconded by Jimmy Heart defeated Uncle Elmer after a diving headbutt.

Terry and Hoss Funk faced Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana in a tag team match. Funk brothers were seconded by Jimmy Heart. The referee was distracted by Hoss. Heart took advantage and gave his megaphone to Terry who hit it on JYD and then pinned him to get the win.

Next was a IWF Championship steel cage match which was the third and final main event of WrestleMania 2. It was the only steel cage in WrestleMania history. Hulk Hogan defended his title against King Kong Bundy. Hogan's ribs were heavily taped due to an assault by Bundy on March 1, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. Bundy was seconded by Bobby Heenan. In the beginning, Bundy removed the tape from Hogan's ribs. However, Hogan fought back and rammed Bundy's head into the steel cage. He tried to hit a scoop slam on Bundy but missed it. Bundy hit an avalanche and a big splash on Hogan. However, Hogan "Hulked up" and hit a scoop slam on Bundy followed by a leg drop. He climbed the steel cage but Bundy caught his legs. Hogan kicked Bundy and climbed over the top of the steel cage and climbed on the floor to win the match and retain the title. After the match, Hogan caught Heenan inside the cage; as Bundy was reeling from the match, Hogan rammed Heenan's head into the cage before atomic dropping him outside.

Aftermath

Production

Results

The other participants included were: Jim Covert (NFL player - Chicago Bears), Pedro Morales, Tony Atlas, Ted Arcidi, Harvey Martin (Former NFL player - Dallas Cowboys), Danny Spivey, Hillbilly Jim, King Tonga, The Iron Sheik, Ernie Holmes (Former NFL player - Pittsburgh Steelers), B. Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Big John Studd, Bill Fralic (NFL player - Atlanta Falcons), Jim Furlong, Russ Francis (NFL player - San Francisco 49ers), Bruno Sammartino, and William "Refrigerator" Perry (NFL player - Chicago Bears).

Other on-screen talent

• Commentators: Ed Darfler (New York), Gorilla Monsoon (Chicago), Gene Okerlund (Chicago), Jesse Ventura (Los Angeles), Lord Alfred Hayes (Los Angeles)
• Ring announcers: Howard Finkel (New York), Chet Coppock (Chicago), Lee Marshall (Los Angeles)
• Guest ring announcers: Joan Rivers (New York), Tommy Lasorda (Los Angeles)
• Guest announcers: Susan Saint James (New York), Cathy Lee Crosby (Chicago), Ernie Ladd (Chicago) and Elvira (Los Angeles)
• Guest timekeepers: Herb (New York), Clara Peller (Chicago), Ricky Schroder (Los Angeles)
• Referees: Dick Kroll, Jack Lutz, Dick Butkus (guest referee, battle royal), Ed "Too Tall" Jones (guest referee, battle royale), Dave Hebner
• NY vocalist: Ray Charles

References

External links