10 Shocking Moments from Wrestlemania 1

With Survivor Series 2017 now in the history books and with the Royal Rumble just over the horizon, our thoughts are collectively turning towards Wrestlemania 34. Despite how much the company might irritate and isolate you as a fan, there's no denying that everyone who claims to be a wrestling fan gets a tinge of excitement whenever Wrestlemania is approaching.

In this new series, we look back at the history of the event, picking out 10 of the most shocking moments from each instalment. Here we take a look at the very first Wrestlemania show which took place on Sunday 31st March 1985 from Madison Square Garden.

Here are the top 10 most shocking moments from Wrestlemania I:

#1 King Kong Bundy squashes SD Jones in seconds

As much as the first edition of Wrestlemania would become an entity in its own right, Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWF were still in the process of building a wrestling conglomerate for the remainder of the 80s and beyond. This meant using the huge platform that Mania provided to showcase his stars, most notably the ones he saw as instrumental for the future.

In the mid-80s, King Kong Bundy most certainly fit the bill. A huge tower of a man, Bundy turned heads wherever he went, carrying with him a cruel demeanour that made him an excellent and effective heel.

By this time, Vince already had plans in place for his monster to eventually meet Hulk Hogan, which is what happened a year later at Wrestlemania 2. In order to get Bundy to this position, he needed to have a few dominant victories under his belt.

Unluckily for 'Special Delivery' Jones, he was the man chosen as the sacrificial lamb, lying down for Bundy after a matter of seconds. Bundy's stock on the roster was elevated immediately, letting the fans know just how seriously they needed to take him going forward.

#2 Andre wins $15,000

With the WWF Champion Hulk Hogan in the main event, and with younger, promising stars making up the bulk of the mid-card, Vince needed to find a place on his Wrestlemania show for arguably the most infamous pre-Hulkamania superstar on his roster.

Two years before main eventing Wrestlemania 3 with Hogan, Andre the Giant found himself in a programme with Big John Studd, a man almost as big and intimidating as the Eighth Wonder of the World himself. Ironically, Studd was being managed by Bobby Heenan at the time, the man who later convinced Andre to turn heel and face his best friend at Mania 3.

Rather than a straight-up wrestling match, the two behemoths were engaged in a mini-competition of sorts, with the requirement being that Andre needed to bodyslam Studd or else face having to retire from wrestling.

After a little back and forth, Andre eventually succeeded, sending the crowd into a frenzy and picking up $15,000 dollars from Heenan as his prize. Rather than keep the money for himself, the ever lovable Giant began throwing notes into the audience before Heenan grabbed it off him, sprinting his way to the backstage area.

#3 Mohammed Ali is chosen to be a special guest enforcer

As well as providing solid in-ring action, Wrestlemania I was also about showcasing the cultural relevance of the WWF, with Vince McMahon's ability to transcend professional wrestling and kickstart the trend of 'sports entertainment'.

One way to achieve this was to secure the involvement of big-time celebrity names, able to bring in eyeballs to the product whether they were particularly interested in wrestling or not. Some of the names involved included Liberace, Cyndy Lauper and, of course, Mr T. Quite the impressive cross-section of 1980s megastars.

Another name that Vince managed to acquire was Mohammed Ali, perhaps the greatest and most notorious boxing legend of all time. Having Ali on the show was a huge deal for the WWF, especially considering his involvement in the main event alongside Hogan and Piper.

Ali was given the role of special guest enforcer, similar to the contribution made by Mike Tyson at Wrestlemania 14. The initial plan was apparently to have Ali referee the tag-team main event but a change was made at the 11th hour, eventually bringing in Pat Patterson instead.

#4 Hogan and Piper wrestle on MTV to promote Wrestlemania

If it hadn't been for the fact that Vince McMahon was so eager to fill his first Wrestlemania main event with celebrities, we could have had a straight up singles match between Hogan and Piper for the WWF Championship closing out the show instead.

Before his legendary feuds with Andre, Savage and Warrior, Piper was the ultimate villain providing the contrast to Hogan's All-American white meat babyface persona. The two had exceptional chemistry together and could have provided a classic showdown for Wrestlemania I's finale.

Instead, the two ended up facing each other at a lesser known WWF event called 'The War to Settle the Score' in February 1985, just months for Wrestlemania was launched. And while most fans no longer tend to speak regularly about the match itself, it did prove to be invaluable to the future fortunes of the company going forward.

The WWF actually teamed up with MTV to in order to showcase the event, tying into the 'Rock and Wrestling' connection which was highly prominent at the time. Hogan and Piper were thus entrusted with promoting the idea of Wrestlemania to an entirely new audience, a highly effective move considering the amount of attention eventually given to Mania from outside the world of pro wrestling.

#5 Mr T and Roddy Piper nearly come to blows backstage

The importance of Mr T's involvement at Wrestlemania I cannot be exaggerated. The A-Team actor didn't just make a passing contribution to the show as a timekeeper or ring announcer, he actually immersed himself in the very thick of the action, teaming up with Hulk Hogan to take on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.

Despite how useful T proved in the long run, his involvement didn't come without resistance and controversy. The details have become rather sketchy over the years, but the consensus seems to be that Piper was not entirely happy with a celebrity taking on such a prominent in-ring role.

This did not go unnoticed by T who openly expressed his concerns that Piper and Orndorff would make him look foolish during their tag match. T wasn't exactly in bad shape for the show, but his wrestling talents were all but minimal and if his opponents were unwilling to play ball, he could have been made to look like the ultimate fish out of water in front of the Madison Square Garden audience.

Things even got to the point where Hogan had to verbally convince T to stay after his tag partner threatened to walk out. Luckily for the generations of WWF/E fans to come, cooler heads prevailed and the match went by without a hitch.

#6 America is humbled by the Tag-team title match

As well as being a wrestling supercard with high profile celebrity involvement, Wrestlemania was also a celebration of American culture. With the All-American WWF Champion Hulk Hogan in the main event, and the Star Spangled Banner being sung to open the show, Vince was obviously keen to demonstrate his patriotism through his chosen art form.

This is why, when it came to the WWF Tag Team Championship match, fans were so shocked to see the babyface American team, made up of Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham lose out to the allied powers of the Iranian Iron Sheik and the Soviet, Nikolai Volkoff.

The team's whole gimmick was designed to create as much heat as possible amongst the fanbase, with Sheik spitting at the very mention of the USA while claiming that Iran and Russia were 'number one'.

Typically, a hostile foreign gimmick like this normally lends itself to a big feelgood moment at the conclusion of the match where the Patriots eventually squash their foes, reaffirming America's greatness over its enemies.

Instead, Vince decided to go a different way at Mania and placed the belts on Sheik and Volkoff instead. This was a useful springboard for the team who would go on to feud with some of the company's biggest babyfaces in the following months and years.

#7 Greg Valentine and Junkyard Dog's rivalry gets personal

In many ways, Wrestlemania I did prove to be a solid wrestling card, despite that not being its primary purpose. The opening bout between Tito Santana and 'The Executioner', as well as the terrific showdown involving Ricky Steamboat and Matt Borne both easily contributed to the overall enjoyment of the event just as much as the glitz and the spectacle.

Another match worthy of note was the bout between Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine and The Junkyard Dog. While not possessing the technical wrestling abilities of a Santana or Steamboat, both men were experts at playing up to a particular gimmick and working the crowd.

Their match worked so well because both of them represented such contrasting sections of American culture, with Valentine playing the privileged, upper-class white male and Dog the hardworking, black American role model.

Unfortunately, this match has always been tainted by the backstage promos and interview segments designed to promote it. In the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania I, as well as those following its conclusion, Valentine would throw out racist slurs at his opponent much to the disgust of his interviewer Mean Gene.

Despite Valentine playing the heel, a lot of the language was seen as overtly offensive, even back in 1985. When going back and watching this one, bare in mind just how personal things had gotten between the two men.

#8 Mean Gene volunteers to sing 'Star Spangled Banner' at the last minute

Some of the biggest names in music have been invited into Wrestlemania to sing the USA's national anthem. Amongst these names, perhaps the most famous have been Aretha Franklin at Wrestlemania 3, and Ray Charles a year earlier at Wrestlemania 2.

With that in mind, it has never really made sense that the person entrusted with the opening rendition of Star Spangled Banner at Wrestlemania I was none other than Mean Gene Okerlund. Far from questioning the talents of the man, Mean Gene has never been seen as an all-out singer and his performance at the event, while not disastrous, didn't exactly set the world alight.

If rumours are to be believed, Mean Gene was actually standing in at the last minute after an un-named musical outfit pulled out just before the show's recording. If this is true, it would at least explain why the WWF's signature interviewer was placed in such an awkward position by his employers.

Credit has to go to Okerlund for stepping in and avoiding a potentially damaging situation for McMahon. Mean Gene may have provided us with a multitude of memorable moments over the years, but his singing performance at Mania I probably isn't one he would like us to remember too quickly.

#9 The Hell's Angels bypass security to watch the show live

Much to the relief of Vince McMahon, the first instalment of Wrestlemania was a sold out event. Being broadcast from the spiritual home of the WWF/E, Madison Square Garden, Vince knew that failing to fill out the arena would have been nothing short of humiliating, especially considering he was effectively throwing everything his company had to offer into it.

One of the lesser known backstage rumours surrounding this event was that the infamous biker group, The Hell's Angels actually managed to see the show live, despite there being no more tickets available.

According to sources present on the night, the group bypassed WWF and MSG security and bagged themselves ring-side seats. Perhaps conscious of not wanting any trouble to disturb the overall running of the show, WWF management actually arranged for extra chairs to be brought out to accommodate the group who had sneaked in via a loading bay entrance.

Despite making company security look rather foolish, having a group like the Hell's Angels present at Wrestlemania no doubt helped the WWF's image as something built into US popular culture.

When the most famous and dangerous biker gang in the country are demanding to be let in to see your event, you know it's likely going to be a must-see affair.

#10 Hogan and Mr T present SNL hours before Wrestlemania begins

Wrestling fans of today will be used to watching PPVs that start at around 7pm Eastern, traditionally on a Sunday. Wrestlemania is no different, with the biggest show of the year normally getting underway around this time, or slightly earlier when you take the Pre-show into account.

However, some may not realise that the first edition of Wrestlemania from 1985 actually began at 1 pm. And if this strikes you as a tad on the early side, imagine what time the wrestlers would have been asked to turn up to the venue and begin their final rehearsals. With Vince eager to see his showcase PPV go by without any issues, it's not unlikely that the roster would have started their day not long after the break of dawn.

Two men who may not have appreciated such an early start would have been Hulk Hogan and Mr T, who were busy leading the promotion of the event in the weeks and days leading up to it.

Their final promotional piece took place on Saturday Night Live, a much-loved US entertainment show which hosts some of the biggest names in Hollywood and the world of sport. Hogan and T would have still been there on set less than 12 hours before Mania was due to begin.

Apart from anything else, having Hogan host SNL during Wrestlemania week speaks to the ability of Vince McMahon to crossover into other worlds of entertainment in order to promote his company. Even by McMahon's own high standards, this was quite the strategic maneuver.