IWF WrestleMania 2
From Iwe
| WrestleMania 2 | ||
| Promotional poster featuring Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | April 7, 1986 | |
| City | ||
| Venue | ||
| Attendance | 40,085 (combined) | |
| Tagline(s) | The Premier Sporting Event of the Year! What the World Has Come To! | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| ← Previous The Wrestlng Classic | Next → [[IWF WrestleMania 3|WrestleMania III] | |
| WrestleMania chronology | ||
| ← Previous I | Next → III | |
WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE).[a] The event took place on Monday, April 7, 1986, making it the only WrestleMania that was not held on the traditional Sunday until the two-night WrestleMania 36 in April 2020. The events took place at three separate 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 its own card. The main event at Uniondale, New York, was a boxing match pitting Mr. T against Roddy Piper. At Chicago, there was a 20-man battle royal involving IWF wrestlers and NFL football players. The main event, at Los Angeles, featured WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defending his title against King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match. Matches on the respective undercards saw Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion "Macho Man" Randy Savage defending his title against George Steele. The main event, at Chicago, featured Tag Team Champions The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) losing their titles against The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid).
Contents |
Production
Background
Following the success of WrestleMania I in 1985, a second WrestleMania was scheduled for 1986. WrestleMania would become considered the International Wrestling Federation's (IWF, now IWE) flagship event. It is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. Following the advent of Survivor Series in 1987 and then Royal Rumble and SummerSlam in 1988—WWF's four original pay-per-views—the four would eventually be dubbed the "Big Four". WrestleMania would eventually be described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.
Broadcasters
The event featured separate commentary and announce teams in each location. 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, Alfred Hayes, and Elvira in Los Angeles. The ring announcers were Howard Finkel (New York), Chet Coppock (Chicago), and Lee Marshall (Los Angeles).
Celebrities
Ray Charles sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Celebrity guests in attendance for the New York segment of WrestleMania 2 included: Cab Calloway, Darryl Dawkins, G. Gordon Liddy, Joan Rivers, Joe Frazier, Lou Duva, Herb and Susan Saint James. Celebrity guests in attendance for the Chicago segment of WrestleMania 2 included: Clara Peller, Dick Butkus, Ed Jones, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Fralic, Ernie Holmes, Harvey Martin, Jim Covert, Russ Francis, William Perry, and Cathy Lee Crosby. The Los Angeles segment of WrestleMania 2 included celebrity guests Ricky Schroder, Robert Conrad, Tommy Lasorda, and Elvira.
Storylines
The card featured 12 matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the IWF. Building to the event, storylines between characters played out on IWF's primary television programs, Championship Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling, Saturday Night's Main Event and Prime Time Wrestling.
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
