WrestleMania 2

Following the success of WrestleMania I in 1985, a second WrestleMania was scheduled for 1986. WrestleMania would become considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship event. It is held annually between mid-March to mid-April.[7] 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".[8] WrestleMania would eventually be described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.[9]

The event featured separate commentary and announce teams in each location. The commentating teams consisted of Vince McMahon 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).[2]

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.[10] 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.[10]

Hulk Hogan faced King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania

The card featured 12 matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF. Building to the event, storylines between characters played out on WWF's primary television programs, Championship Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling, Saturday Night's Main Event and Prime Time Wrestling.[11][12]

Three of the main-event feuds were set up on the March 1, 1986, Saturday Night's Main Event V. The main feud heading into WrestleMania 2 was between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy,[13] with the two battling over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Although they had wrestled occasionally before, their first nationally televised encounter was on the November 2, 1985, Saturday Night's Main Event III where Hogan teamed up with André the Giant against André's rivals Bundy and Big John Studd. Hogan and André won the match by disqualification.[14] On March 1, Hogan defended his WWF 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.[13][15] 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 WWF title.[13]

The second feud heading into the event was between Mr. T and Rowdy Roddy Piper. Piper established himself as the top heel in the WWF in 1984. A year later he joined Paul Orndorff and Bob Orton to feud with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T[16] who defeated them in the main event of the first-ever WrestleMania.[17] The Piper-Mr. T feud restarted in 1986 after their real-life hatred for each other became known, prompting the WWF to turn their animosity for one another into a feud. Piper and others disliked Mr. T because he was an actor and had no wrestling skills. In response, Mr. T became a special WWF boxer and began competing in boxing matches. On the March 1 Saturday Night's Main Event V, Mr. T defeated Orton in a boxing match.[15] After the match, Piper distracted Mr. T, allowing Orton to attack from behind and start a 2-on-1 assault. Mr. T then demanded revenge, leading to his boxing match against Piper.[10]

The third main feud heading into WrestleMania was between The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) and The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) over the WWF Tag Team Championship. On August 24, 1985, Beefcake and Valentine won the tag titles from The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo).[18] The British Bulldogs challenged Beefcake and Valentine for their titles immediately after their win. They retained their titles against the Bulldogs at a house show on September 11 by getting disqualified.[19] They again defended the titles against the Bulldogs Saturday Night's Main Event V, where they emerged victorious against them.[15] After the Bulldogs twice failed to win the titles, Dream Team agreed to defend their titles against them for a final time with a title match set at WrestleMania.[15]

The other major feud heading into WrestleMania 2 was between Randy "Macho Man" Savage and George "The Animal" Steele. Its genesis came after Steele, who used a Neanderthal, "missing link"-type gimmick, became smitten with Savage's manager, the beautiful Miss Elizabeth (Savage's real-life wife, although unacknowledged on television). Their first meeting took place on a Saturday Night's Main Event IV aired shortly before Savage won the Intercontinental Championship. Steele would frequently be distracted by Elizabeth, which Savage used to his advantage. Along with former champion Tito Santana (who was on the Los Angeles segment of the event), Steele became one of Savage's top challengers for the title.[20]

Macho Man Randy Savage vs. George Steele for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship

In the first match of the show in the New York arena, Paul Orndorff faced "The Magnificent" Muraco. In the early part of the match, Orndorff body slammed Muraco. As the crowd reacted and Orndorff celebrated, he turned towards Mr. Fuji and made a racist slanty-eyed gesture followed by an Italian salute.[21][22] This controversial moment is edited out of most home video versions of the match and is edited out of the version shown on the WWE Network. Both men fought to a double count-out.

Next was a WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship match between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and George "The Animal" Steele, where Savage was seconded by his real-life wife Miss Elizabeth. Late in the match, Steele became the first man to ever kick out of Savage's signature elbow from the top turnbuckle.[23] Savage pinned Steele with a roll-up and put both of his feet on the ropes for leverage. As a result, Savage retained the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title.

The third match from the Coliseum was between Jake Roberts and George Wells. Roberts hit a DDT on Wells and pinned him to win the match. After the match, Roberts allowed his snake Damian to slither over Wells, who foamed from the mouth.[24]

The last match was a boxing match between Mr. T and Rowdy Roddy Piper. T was seconded by boxer Joe Frazier while Piper was seconded by boxing trainer Lou Duva. Piper was disqualified for bodyslamming T at 1:15 in the fourth round.[25]

The first match from the Chicago portion of WrestleMania 2 was a WWF Women's Championship match between The Fabulous Moolah and Velvet McIntyre. McIntyre attempted a splash on Moolah from the second turnbuckle, 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. Freddie Blassie seconded Volkoff. He threw his cane to Volkoff, but Kirchner caught it and hit Volkoff with it and then successfully pinned him for the victory.[26]

The third match was a 20-man battle royal involving WWF wrestlers and National Football League players including: Jimbo Covert, Bill Fralic, Russ Francis, Ernie Holmes, Harvey Martin and William "The Refrigerator" Perry. The WWF stars included: André the Giant, Ted Arcidi, Tony Atlas, The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell), Hillbilly Jim, The Iron 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 Hart Foundation were the final three participants. André first eliminated Neidhart and then Hart to win the battle royal.[23]

The last match was a WWF Tag Team Championship match between The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) and The Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake). Ex-Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and Lou Albano seconded the Bulldogs. Smith pushed Valentine into the corner where Valentine knocked heads with Dynamite Kid. Kid fell to the floor while Smith pinned Valentine to win the tag titles and end Dream Team's seven-month reign.[26]

In Los Angeles, there were four more matches. Ricky Steamboat faced Hercules in the first match. Hercules tried to hit a flying bodypress but missed it. Steamboat followed by hitting a flying body press of his own for a successful pinfall victory.[23]

Adrian Adonis, seconded by Jimmy Hart, defeated Uncle Elmer after a diving headbutt.[26]

The Funk Brothers faced Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana in a tag team match. Jimmy Hart accompanied the Funk brothers. Hoss Funk distracted the referee. Hart took advantage and gave his megaphone to Terry Funk, who hit Junkyard Dog and then pinned him to get the win.[23]

Hulk Hogan faced King Kong Bundy for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Finally, the main event of WrestleMania 2: a WWF World Heavyweight Championship steel cage match in which Hulk Hogan defended his title against King Kong Bundy.[13] Hogan's ribs were heavily taped due to an assault by Bundy on the March 1, 1986, edition of Saturday Night's Main Event V where Bobby Heenan seconded Bundy.[26]

At the start, 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 power 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 down to the floor to win the match and retain the title.[13][25][27] 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.[28]