All language subtitles for EP-09 - Wrestlemania 1

[dramatic music]

- Welcome!

- Welcome!
- Welcome!

- Welcome!

- To wrestle...
- Mania!

♪ ♪

- It's very rare
that you meet a person

Who has never heard
of wrestlemania.

- At&t stadium,
in dallas, texas,

Home to over 70,000 members
of the wwe universe!

- However many people
the building can hold,

That's how many people
are going to be there.

- It was incredible
that people traveled

From all across the world
to be part of wrestlemania.

- When you get
into this business,

I think the first goal
that goes into your head is,

"I want to main event
wrestlemania."

- This has all of the makings

Of one hell
of a wrestlemania match.

Oh, what a slap!
- Oh, my gosh!

- Vince mcmahon
has created something

That has withstood
the test of time,

Where you kind of
have to watch it,

'cause everybody's
gonna be talking about it.

- Wrestlemania showcased
the world's finest athletes

And the world's
most entertaining sport.

- And they go eye-to-eye.

The austin era has begun.

- Look at this!

He slammed him! Oh!

- My dad had a vision.

He saw hollywood.

- And he knew cable,

And he knew that that would
help execute the plan

To get us everywhere,
all at once.

- The date:
March 31, 1985.

- If wrestlemania didn't work,

The wwe would have tanked.

- My dad
literally bet the farm.

He mortgaged everything
my parents owned.

- The world wrestling
entertainment outdoing itself

In presenting
this unbelievable card

Of wrestling.

- Wrestlemania 1
was a missile fired

At the rest of the industry.

- I'd been in the business, and
I'd felt those vibes before,

But this was
something different.

- Unbelievable.

We're seeing
the greatest spectacle

In wrestling history
right now.

- There was electricity
that just--

It surrounded the ring.

- What an unbelievable ovation

As they're hanging
off the rafters, jess,

Here at madison square garden.

- Well, I had chill bumps
up and down my arms.

- And this is
the biggest crowd in history.

1.2 million.

- When hulk hogan
entered the ring,

It was insanity.

You can't replicate that.

- He covered brett patterson.

He got him.
- He got him.

- That one spectacular moment
in time,

Of wrestlemania 1,
doesn't happen,

Arguably you can say
none of this is here.

- Because that was
the launching point,

And everything sprung out
and happened from there.

- Now you know
what it's all about, brother!

Oh, boy.
We gonna be changing the game.

- What a move by macho man.

- He's the greatest, isn't he?
Nobody like him.

Believe it!
- Razor ramon is

The undisputed
intercontinental champion.

The boyhood dream
has come true.

The undertaker is 18 and 0!

- This is
a wrestlemania moment.

[airhorn blares]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- On the way to wrestlemania,
this past year,

We were in at&t stadium,
in dallas, texas.

And we were driving to the
stadium with a police escort

And ac/dc blaring
on the car speakers.

And I turned the radio down
and asked vince,

"is this
what it was like 38 years ago

"as you made your way
to madison square garden,

Not knowing whether you would
be in business the next day?"

[bell dings]

- Greetings,
wrestling fans,

And welcome
to another action-packed card

Of all-star wrestling
promoted by phil zacko.

- Before wrestlemania 1,
there were territories.

Our territory was Monday
night, the metro coliseum.

Tuesday night,
louisville gardens.

Wednesday night,
evansville, indiana.

You know what? It's just
like ef hutton, baby.

When jimmy hart talks,
everybody listens.

You understand that?

- Wwe, of all
the regional territories,

Was geographically
the largest.

These territories were carved
out like mafia fiefdoms.

- Hello, everybody.
Vince mcmahon here,

At ringside,
in madison square garden,

Waiting
for a tremendous evening

Of professional wrestling.

- The way things were
during the territory days

Is basically
you would run your territory,

And the other folks
ran their territories,

And there was no crossover.

- I've heard him say this
a million times.

If my dad had known what I was
going to do with the business,

He would have
never sold it to me.

- Vince mcmahon,
back then,

Was a young, little,
wobbly-dobbly promoter.

- And I remember the story

Of my grandfather speaking
to my dad and saying,

"vinny, vinny, why do you have
to rock the boat, vinny?"

My dad likes to rock the boat,
in case anyone hasn't noticed.

- Vince mcmahon decided
to go ahead,

Violate
all the gentlemen's agreements

That his father subscribed to,

And just go nationally,
and pay people money.

It was criminal
in people's minds.

- Everybody looked at it as,
"freaking vince mcmahon,

"he's trying
to take over the world.

He's trying to put us all
out of business."

- Vince became probably
the most hated man

In the history
of our business.

He had death threats
against him.

He was buying
all the top stars.

- Jesse "the body" ventura.

- The junkyard dog.

- It is sergeant slaughter.

- "rowdy" roddy piper.

[bell dings]

- 320 pounds.

From venice beach, california,
hulk hogan.

- Take a look at the immense
proportion of hulk hogan.

- The wrestling business
really needed an attraction.

[cheers and applause]

- There had been some history

Between vince and james mcmahon
and hulk hogan.

Hogan was firmly entrenched
in the awa,

The rival wrestling promotion
in minneapolis.

And vince mcmahon had
just started a magazine,

So steve taylor,

Who was the photographer
for wwe's magazine,

Was dispatched to minneapolis
to an awa show.

He walks up
to hulk hogan,

Slips him
a little piece of paper

With vince mcmahon's
phone number on it.

- He handed me a card and said,
"call vince."

I said, "okay,
I'll give him a call

And see what's up,"
'cause I like vince.

I'm going to the top
of the ladder,

And I thank each
and every one of you!

When vince started
talking to me,

I knew the momentum I had--

If I could pull the same plug
in new york,

It would be worth going back.

And it was basically
the perfect storm.

- A lot of people
believed that,

Without hulk hogan,
there wouldn't have been a wwe.

- America needed a hero
they could believe in.

- They needed a superhero,

And they needed
a live superhero

That was tangible
and right in front of them.

He just needed
to find the right one.

- Bob backlund had been
a dependable champion,

A highly athletic champion...

- A dream come true!

- But he didn't have
the razzle-dazzle,

The color that vince mcmahon
was looking for.

- They're out cheering for you
and getting behind you.

It makes you reach down
and get something extra

To maybe win that match.

- It really made it easy

To go from black-and-white
to full spectrum color.

This is a different hulk hogan,

And hulkamania
already running wild!

Just check it out, man.

It just turns me on, brother.

- Hulk hogan, at the time,
had this pristine image.

300 pounds of solid muscle,

You know,
the 24-inch pythons.

"say your prayers.
Eat your vitamins."

The epitome poster child

Of what you would put up
as your american hero.

- And indeed,
the fans go wild

Every time they witness
this extraordinary athlete.

- The way he could
relate to the fans

On talking on the mike.

That was his attribute.
That was his ace card.

- Sometimes,
when you get on a roll, man,

It seems like
you can't do nothing wrong.

Whether we're talking
about "rocky iii,"

Little,
skinny sylvester stallone.

- The movie
sure didn't hurt him at all.

What a character he played.

He just had everything
going for him.

- Hulk hogan
could ignite a room

Just by walking into it.

- There was nobody bigger
than hulk hogan.

- History could be made
in madison square garden.

There he is,
hulkamania.

- January of 1984,

Something happened that night
in madison square garden.

- The hulk...

Coming down the hallway.

- And I came
through the curtain.

I was spinning, and...

- He is enormous!

♪ ♪

- Went to the ring,
and it's the iron sheik.

♪ ♪

I could feel the volcano
getting ready to explode.

- I don't know
if there's ever been

A more perfect
good guy/bad guy situation

Than the iron sheik
and hulk hogan.

- The iron sheik!

- You know,
this is patriotism.

This is hulk hogan
with the american flag

Against the most hated villain
in the business.

- He'll use any means,
in any way, in his power,

To win this match,
and the fans love it.

- You have the all-american
hero coming at him

Like a hurricane,
to take our people back,

Our country back,
and our belt back.

I mean,
it was the perfect storm.

It does not get better
than that.

- The fans are going wild,
and I'm so excited.

I don't even want to talk.
I want to watch the match!

- Sheik going up.
Hulk hogan.

And he drops a big leg on him.

He's down for the count!
Hold the leg.

One. Two.
He got him!

[cheers and applause]

We have a new champion
as hulk hogan.

Lowered the bull
on the iron sheik.

History made
in madison square garden,

And the fans on their feet.

Hulkamania is here.

- It changed the wrestling
world, without a doubt.

- Oh! Oh!

- It exploded.
It just went wild.

It went from being
a closet wrestling fan

To everybody talking about
how they were hulkamaniacs.

- Whether you were in chicago
at the rosemont horizon,

Philadelphia spectrum,
seeing the smiles

On all the people's faces.

This is our savior.
This is our hero.

This is the man that we
bought a ticket to see.

We love him.

- World wrestling
entertainment

Heavyweight champion
hulk hogan!

♪ ♪

- Hulk just mesmerized you
in a way that nobody else did.

♪ ♪

That's what it's about.

Like, what are you feeling
during that moment?

He was born to be that guy.

- I feel the energy.
Hulkamania's running worldwide.

- Hulkamania was without peer.

To me, it was a combination

Of just wackiness
and mainstream star power

That just somehow intersected

And launched it
into a stratosphere

That nobody saw coming.

- One thing my father
has always understood is,

In order to have
a successful product,

You need a big star.

There was no such thing as
social media or digital,

So how were you gonna get your
product/your star

In front of as many people
as possible?

What were we gonna
hang our hat on?

And that became wrestlemania.

- People are tuning in
and turning on

To cable television.

The potential
for cable tv is endless.

- Cable television arrived,
and the landscape of our sport

Changed forever.

- Cable is kind
of like somebody

That's been blind
their whole life,

And then, all of a sudden,
you open your eyes.

"oh, my gosh."

- Welcome, everyone.

This is gorilla monsoon

Welcoming you
to the usa network.

- Vince jr.
Knew about cable tv.

He saw that as an
opportunity to expand.

- On behalf of wtbs,
it's a pleasure to welcome

The world wrestling
entertainment.

Exciting new matches.

Great competitors
from all over the world,

And here's the man
to tell you all about it.

Here's vince mcmahon. Vince?
- Thank you very much, freddy.

- Welcome aboard.
- Thank you.

It is indeed a pleasure
to be associated with wtbs,

And we promise
to bring you the greatest

In professional
wrestling entertainment

In the world today.

- I don't think my father
gets enough credit

For what he was able
to do and how

We've been able
to pioneer the business.

When you look
at wtbs and usa network,

They were primarily
the only two

Major cable stations
at the time.

- Usa was going
across the country.

Tbs was going
across the country.

This was totally different
than what

Was seen before
syndicated television

Where it was just
really local markets.

- But to leverage
those platforms,

To reach as many people
as possible,

My dad has always been
ahead of the curve.

- All of a sudden,
vince said, "my tv show

"is showing not just
in new york

"where I can run
madison square garden.

"my tv show is showing
in california,

"and it's showing in florida,

"and it's showing
all over the country.

"why can't I run
a live show in los angeles?

"why can't I run
in miami, florida,

Instead of just staying
in the northeast?"

And that's what
he started to do.

- Fans, the great stars

Of the world wrestling
entertainment will be here.

- Vince figured all these
things into the equation.

It was a sum of all the parts,
and he knew cable,

And he basically
knew that that would

Help execute the plan to get
us everywhere, all at once.

- Vince mcmahon
has always been really good

At figuring out
ways to incorporate

His product into pop culture.

No better example exists
than the relationship with mtv.

- People ask me, you know,
what was one

Of the biggest moments
in your career?

I would say
the rocket blastoff

August the 1st, 1981,
12:01 midnight,

Was probably the biggest.

[upbeat rock music]

[imitating rock music]

- To do that every hour,
at the top of the hour

With da da-da.
[imitates rocket blasting off]

The whole thing.
Still gives me cold chills.

- Mtv was really fresh
back then,

And it was the
hottest thing on tv.

- Mtv was the new kid in town,

And it showed pretty quickly
the effect

It could have
on someone's career.

- We would watch
the newest videos

From artists
we'd never heard of,

So we pop in the video
for cyndi lauper.

[cyndi lauper's
"girls just want to have fun"]

[upbeat pop music]

- "girls just want
to have fun."

The whole room
started having fun.

I remember it
brought us to life,

And it just had this momentum,
and it had this energy.

- We needed somebody in that
video to play cyndi's dad.

There was only one
person that could

Play cyndi's dad in that video,

And that was
captain lou albano.

- ♪ the phone rings
in the middle of the night ♪

♪ my father yells ♪

♪ "what you gonna do
with your life?" ♪

- Where did she meet
captain lou albano?

- Oh, captain lou.
There he is.

- I met lou on a plane
coming back from puerto rico.

- And they just struck up
a conversation on the plane

And swapped numbers.

And that was that.

- That's when I felt like,

"oh, we could do
something fun.

We'll use captain lou albano."

- The producer of the video,
a guy named ken walz,

Knew vince.

And he called vince and said,
"would it be okay

"if captain lou appeared
in this new artist's video

Named cyndi lauper
and played her father?"

And he said yes.

That was the beginning.

That was the
beginning of it all.

- All of a sudden,
we're seeing captain lou,

Not only with us every night,
but all of a sudden,

He's a music star.

- It kinda made sense that a
man with a rubber band

Stapled to his cheek might
be the father

Of that bizarre creature
known as cyndi lauper.

- Cyndi lauper
will be the greatest

Entertainer of all time!

- Her debut album is
called "she's so unusual."

Would you welcome,
please, cyndi lauper.

[cheers and applause]

- Cyndi lauper, cyndi lauper,
cyndi lauper.

All over the world,
you'd see cyndi lauper.

- I think you dress unusual.

- Really?
[laughter]

- Look, wrestling
is rock and roll,

And rock and roll,
in a way, is wrestling.

It's theatrical.
It's entertaining.

Why not have
this bizarre mashup

Of this gal from queens

Who had a mouth on her,
you know?

[in queens accent]
she talks like she could maybe

Smack you good!

- Cyndi was the central figure
in making this

At all possible,
and then, of course,

The rest is,
as she puts it, herstory.

♪ ♪

- It was really dave wolf
who kind of said, "you know,

Maybe we could do
a cross-promotion here,"

And he loved wrestling
since he was a little kid.

- Here I am with captain lou,
and we bonded

From the minute we shook hands

And hugged each other
and said hello.

And that would grow to be

This incredible rock
and wrestling connection.

- Cyndi, get over here!

- I want to see cyndi lauper.

I got my pass here.
Let me talk to cyndi.

- Hey, how are you?

- Cyndi, how are you,
sweetheart?

How have you been?

- An idea to do something
with world wrestling on mtv

Never crossed my mind,
which you would probably think

It would have been obvious that
it might have, but it didn't.

Not until I saw that video
with captain lou.

So I arrive
in new york city in 1981.

A dear friend of mine said,
"you gotta come

To wrestling with me
on Monday night."

I'm like, "uh, what?"

"you've gotta come
to the garden.

There's this wrestling thing,"
and I go, "really?"

I met vince.

Met the iron sheik,
hulk hogan,

And I'm mind-blown by what's
going on just backstage.

The energy.
It was a rock concert.

It's like I was at a festival
or something.

It was crazy.

I go, "that's the mtv crowd
out there."

- Pandemonium
and excitement here

At madison square garden.

- Us five vjs,
as the faces of mtv,

Were constantly
being hit with,

"wait, what?
We're gonna do what now?"

We are here with captain
lou albano and cyndi lauper.

And that was kind
of the ethos of mtv.

"let's do something new."

"oh, yeah.
Let's get in bed with the wwe."

[laughs]
it was like, "what?"

- Yes, sir.
History is being made.

You have just tuned in to the
rock and wrestling connection

Right here on mtv,
and I'm your guest vj,

The incredible hulk hogan.

Every time I'd guest vj
with mtv, it was something

That kinda,
like, raised my stock.

Right here on mtv.

Just being here with all
the rock and rollers,

I'm already wound up tight,
and I want you

To stick around all night long.

- Mtv in 1985 is not
24 hours of "teen mom"

And "ridiculousness," okay?

This is what everyone's
talking about.

- I want my mtv.

♪ girls, they wanna have fun ♪

All: I want my mtv!

- I want my mtv.

- I want my mtv.

- Everyone is watching
videos on mtv,

And now they can
find wwe there too?

- And so stick around, because
there's a lot going down,

Daddy, and there's a lot more
video music coming up here

On the mtv
rock-and-roll connection.

- And find mtv personalities
on wwe?

- The greatest entertainer,
pound for pound,

In the world today,
in the universe.

My friend. Your friend.
Our friend, cyndi lauper.

- And I gotta credit
cyndi's video,

Really reignited pretty much
the world's interest

In professional wrestling.

- We've talked about it.

The rock and wrestling
connection.

The hottest ticket in town.

- I think I was on the phone
to vince every three days.

"hey, I got an idea,"
and he was searching

For those mainstream ways
to build wrestling.

And in walks this insanity,
and bang, zoom.

Away we go.

- Tell me something,
do you think that

You could bring
cyndi lauper on my pit?

- Why not, roddy?
- [laughs]

- The first time we saw
cyndi lauper in wwe

Was when she appeared
on "piper's pit."

- Ladies and gentlemen,
I want to introduce to you

The female entertainer
of the year,

Ms. Cyndi lauper herself!

[cheers and applause]

- Cyndi lauper, she had
suddenly burst on the scene.

You're like,
"what is she doing here?"

- First of all, I would
like to say to you,

You look wonderful, cyndi.

- The number one pop singer
in the country

On a wrestling show?

That never happened before.

- It's nice to see
all the wrestling fans,

And you, roddy.
How are you?

- And everybody kinda knew
what was about to happen.

- Cyndi, tell all
these people out here

How I took you, cyndi,
and found you

In new york city and queens,
and how I made you a superstar.

Tell 'em what I did
for you, cyndi.

- Albano just starts talking
this really sexist talk.

- Tell 'em how women--shouldn't
they belong in the kitchen

And pregnant, cyndi.

That no woman's ever
accomplished anything

Without a man behind her.

Cyndi, tell them that.
- Wait, wait, wait. Lou.

Lou, you know
I don't like that.

You're only fooling around,
right?

Because I don't
like that stuff.

- The crowd is like, "wow, why
is cyndi going off on lou,"

Just 'cause he's saying things
that wrestlers say."

- Tell 'em how I took you,

A broad hanging
around new york--

- What? A broad?

- Go ahead, tell 'em!
A barroom broad!

Make it, cyndi.
Go ahead, cyndi.

Tell 'em the truth, cyndi.

- Man!

- And the fight that ensued

Was really
the theatrical setup.

The first real craziness
that was gonna be happening

With the wrestling world
and the rock-and-roll world.

And it was real,
and she nailed it.

Just nailed it.

- And that is the
beginning of a number

Of incidents
that will ultimately

Culminate in wrestlemania 1.

- We will take you now
to rowdy roddy piper,

And again, his very special
guest, ms. Cyndi lauper.

- We wanted to create
an event

That would be
the perfect lou against cyndi.

- Let me tell you something,
mr. Albano.

I challenge you,
you fat bag of wind.

- You know what, cyndi lauper?

You're a disgrace to your
mother, to your family,

To your grandmother,
and to anyone in rock.

- In one week, I will
have a female wrestler,

And you can get anybody
you want, fat man.

You can get anybody you want.

- I accept.
I accept, roddy.

I accept!
Got it, lauper?

- The champion
at that time was moolah.

Lou would manage moolah.

- You know who I'm
gonna pick, moolah?

- No. Tell me.
- I'm gonna pick you!

- That's great.
- I'm gonna pick a champ!

- Well, I found myself
a wrestler.

I got wendi richter.
What do you say?

Wendi, show 'em what you got.

- At the time, I was,
like, 22, 23.

It was, like,
the highlight of my life.

There were wrestlers that
had been around for decades

That kind of look haggard
and tired,

So I was easy on the eye,
I guess. [laughs]

- When wendi richter
popped up on the screen,

It was a little more appealing
than when moolah

Popped up on the screen.

- Cyndi has really helped me.

Like, I'm proud to be a woman.

She's really
for women's rights,

And she's told me
a lot of things,

And I just--I don't know.

I feel like I'm a new person
and everything.

- Cyndi lauper
had wendi richter.

Beautiful, young.

It was youth versus
the establishment.

They were gonna collide.

What better place
than mtv to do it?

- We're gonna now set the stage
for the first big event.

The brawl to end it all.

And we had to have
a press conference for that.

The show is a disgrace
to professional wrestling

And to journalism.

Your so-called interviews
are nothing more

Than ridicule, humiliation--

- Alan did an amazing job.

- Wait a second.
Wait, wait, wait.

- Bang, he was in the middle
of a roddy piper situation.

- Obviously fake.
Taking female steroids.

- That's roddy piper
standing over me

Saying he's going to kill me.

- You ain't nothing
but a piece of garbage!

- We'll take that
outside, okay?

- We don't have
to take it no place!

We can do it right here!

- I thought, "well, he's not
gonna do anything dangerous.

"this is like a disney ride.

"it's scary, but you know,
no one's gonna die.

Maybe."

- Hey, you skinny, little geek!
I can do it right here.

I don't have to take this!

Answer to nobody.
You want it, [indistinct]?

- Totally lifted me
off my feet.

And after the press conference,
I had people coming up

Asking if I was okay.

And they were into it and
couldn't wait for the brawl.

And I was like, "me either."

If you have small children
in the house,

Lock them in the basement now.

On to the garden.

- When we did this
together and took it

Out of just vince's stations
into the mainstream...

- Hey, paul.
- How you doing, gene?

- This has gotta be
the moment that everybody

Has been waiting for.
- I'll tell you, gene.

- Especially cyndi
and yourself.

- We are definitely ready
for this fight.

There is no question about it.

- Man, this is fantastic.
- Yeah.

- Look how entertaining
this is.

Marrying these two
industries together.

It's a natural.

- Hey, "I want my mtv"
and our wrestling connection

Were the biggest
impactful incidents

In programming history of mtv.

- Vince sees opportunity.

What's hot? What's popular?
What are people watching?

Mtv was the perfect
opportunity to then

Promote wrestlemania 1.

- Just moments from now,
the fabulous moolah,

To defend the ladies' crown

Against challenger
wendi richter.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this title belt

Will be on the line
at madison square garden.

Just moments from now,

This lady to defend.
- I'm ready!

- ♪ momma dear,
we're not the fortunate ones ♪

- Oh, my! There she is.
- Lauper.

- Cyndi lauper!

- ♪ oh, girls just wanna
have fun ♪

- With wendi richter

And then
her manager, dave wolf.

- I was pumped.

Very excited.

Very excited, and just hearing
the roar of the audience.

[audience cheering]

- My dad,
he was trying to think of,

"how can I get my product

"in front of as many people
as possible

And hopefully turn them
into fans?"

And he saw mtv
as that vehicle.

- 20,000 people in the garden,

And it was just
complete mayhem.

- Wendi richter has got things
under control.

- Oh, there she goes!
- Oh!

I don't believe it.

- Oh, my god.
She's gone nuts too.

What has happened
to sweet, little cyndi?

- Wendi is in excellent
physical condition

And is just pummeling
the fabulous one.

- Oh, look at that.

- I felt fantastic,
because I'm seeing

It unfold in front of my eyes.

This is happening,

And it was incredibly exciting.

- Our new world's
women's champion,

Wendi richter!

[cheers and applause]
- oh, my word.

Wendi richter

Guided to that title
by cyndi lauper.

Oh, my.

- Well, I don't really have
to say nothing,

'cause this belt right here
says it all.

- Hey!
- Hold it. Wait a minute.

I see one man here that
I know was in the wings.

Hulk hogan,

World wrestling entertainment
heavyweight champion.

- I love it. I love it, man.
You are so fine.

This is the marilyn monroe

Of the professional wrestling
world.

The real champion, daddy.

♪ ♪

- Everybody was wondering how

This rock and wrestling
connection

Was gonna work,
and as it turned out,

It was the highest-rated show
on mtv, up to that point.

- The ratings went ten
times bigger than they were

At any other part of the day.

The broadcast--
cable cast station.

- On a music station.
- On a music channel.

- We're doing wrestling.
- Yes.

On this new thing called cable.

- This has gotta be a big
moral victory for you, cyndi.

- It certainly was.

- That gave it a lot of
legitimacy very quickly.

- And all of a sudden,
we stated hearing about

Vince is setting up
this mega show.

- Vince said,
"I went on a vacation,

"and I was lying there
on the beach,

And then when I came back
I had the idea."

- My father was talking
to my mother,

Coming up with this idea,

And it was,
"what is our super bowl?

What is our oscars?
What's our grammys?"

I mean what was it?

What was that big, special
event to put wwe on the map?

- He was trying to come up
with a name

For what we could call
the event.

I said, well, the beatles,

When they came to the
united states back in 1964,

Their phenom was dubbed
beatlemania.

Why can't we call our
event wrestlemania?

- When vince had come out

That he was gonna do
a "wrestlemania,"

And I'm going, "what the
hell is a wrestlemania?"

- There were a lot of people
who thought,

"this thing is not gonna fly."

- There was a lot of wrestlers
that had got it in their heads

That vince had overextended
himself,

And that he'd spent everything
on this one show,

And if it wasn't
a huge success,

Everything was gonna go under.

- Vince had actually purchased
the company from his father

And from his father's partners.

And the deal that vince made
was

That he would make payments

And then make one large
balloon payment at the end.

- Vince didn't have the money,

So it was all
smoke and mirrors.

You know, borrowing from
this guy to pay that guy

So he could pay his dad.

- If wrestlemania didn't work,

The wwe would have tanked.

- My dad literally
bet the farm.

He mortgaged everything
my parents owned.

- I was hoping
that it would fail

Because we felt like
if it was successful,

That would spell the end
of our territories

And life as we knew it.

- Vince needed to expand

The whole rock and wrestling
connection,

'cause that was kinda
the launching pad.

- I have one more award

For a guy
who's really turned around.

Captain louis albano!

[cheers and applause]

- Cyndi,
brothers and sisters,

I don't know what to say.

I'm so grateful
to receive this award--

- And here comes roddy piper.

- But just a minute, roddy.
Just a--yeah. Roddy.

- Inserts himself
into the equation.

Takes over the scene.

- Even though it was me
that set this up,

And it was me
that started it,

I want to present you
with this.

- Oh!
Look out!

Look at roddy piper's
just gone bananas!

- You got cyndi lauper,
you know,

Getting thrown around the ring.

I mean just think about that.

Getting physically assaulted
by a grown man.

- David wolf trying to come to
the rescue, but he's no match.

Oh, he pile-drived him
right down into the canvas.

- Just picked me up
and body slammed me to the mat.

- Cyndi lauper is down!

David wolf is down!

- Every great hero
needs a foil,

And there was no foil
as devious

As "hot rod" roddy piper.

- Piper just went bananas!

- Well, let me tell you
how to be roddy piper.

[chuckles]
have a nice [bleep] day.

Go [bleep] yourself.

Give me the microphone,
and get out of my way.

The future of
professional wrestling is me.

When rp talks, people listen.

You think you got
something, hot shot, huh?

Just when they think
they got the answers,

I change the questions.

Just imagine this.

I had kicked the female
vocalist of the year,

Cyndi lauper, in the head.

I had tortured hogan.

I chased dick clark back
to the dressing room.

- What a despicable,
disgraceful display,

On the part of roddy piper.

- Roddy piper had
this uncanny ability

To infuriate you

And ratchet up your emotions

Without stepping foot
in the ring.

And then eventually,
he got in the ring.

You're like, "oh, this
guy's also a badass too."

- February 18, 1985.

There's another show
at madison square garden,

Also broadcast on mtv.

- Tonight, on mtv,

The war to settle the score.

- This is all leading
to wrestlemania.

- I'm alan hunter,

And tonight it's
the war to settle the score.

A wrestling match
with social, political,

And artistic implications

Far beyond any wrestling match
in history.

A wrestling match with
social, political,

And artistic implications

Far beyond any wrestling match
in history.

Was that serious
enough for you? [chuckles]

♪ ♪

- Everybody was involved.

Wrestling is going down.

It's the rockers.
We're gonna win this.

- Well, don't mess with
the rock-and-rollers, bro.

We'll snuff you out.
Under my thumb.

It's you, rod.

- Well listen, piper.

Rock and roll's
gonna get you, man.

There were a lot
of people out there

Who were talking about how
evil rock and roll was,

And rowdy roddy piper
was backing their play.

He was speaking
to those people.

- Roddy piper is not
gonna get away with this.

Roddy, you're a ratbag.

- Patty smyth.
I mean so adorable, you know.

"rowdy roddy piper,
you ratbag."

I think she must have
made that word up.

- When this rock and wrestling
thing started happening

There were people who
just seemed to clamor.

I guarantee you they were
calling up the executives

Saying, "can I go on that?"

- This roddy piper is
a disgrace to rock and roll.

He certainly is not fit
to wear a skirt,

And he's gonna pay for what
he's done to cyndi lauper.

- And gloria steinem.
I mean, good god.

- All of a sudden, like,
geraldine ferraro,

Who was running
for the vice president

Of the united states.

- When geraldine ferraro did
her little one-liner,

There was a women's event
in new york.

That's why they were all there.

I went up to her,
and I just said, "hey, man,

"would you mind
just saying a quick thing

And put down roddy piper?"
and she did it.

- Roddy piper, why don't you
come out and fight like a man?

- Her office was calling us
for weeks.

"take that down!
Take that down!"

She thought it was gonna ruin
her whole political career.

- Politics, acting,
tv, film, music.

It just had it all.

["real american" playing]

- ♪ you gotta day a stand,
it don't help to hide ♪

- Guess who's sitting
in the front row?

Mr. T.

The hottest star
in american television.

["a-team" theme playing]

- He was one of the hottest
properties of the time.

I mean, he was on fire,

Just like
the wrestling business was.

♪ ♪

- That's my man.
Told me what he wanted to do,

And so I did it,

And all of the stuff--
we finally got

Everything worked out.
Now okay.

Now, okay,
I said, "I'm gonna bring it.

This is what
you're gonna get with me."

♪ ♪

- Things get pretty chaotic,

And cyndi lauper feels
compelled

To jump into the ring
herself,

To assist her good friend
hulk hogan.

- Mr. T to the aid
of cyndi lauper!

- He slapped her hat off.

You know, I said,
"you can't do that to no lady."

- Inviting him
inside the ring.

That could be a big mistake.

- Oh!
- He nailed him from behind.

- They just pearl harbored
onto him.

- It was on from then on.

That was the start of me
getting into wrestling.

- What is going on?
Ladies and gentlemen--

- It's pandemonium.

- Mr. T and hulk
are fit to be tied.

New york's finest
trying to help out.

- Well, in the ring, we have
two individuals shaking hands,

The hulkster and mr. T.

- Talking about pop culture.

Holy moly.
Mr. T and hulk hogan together.

You couldn't get any bigger
than that.

- As thousands upon thousands
of fans

Continue to file out into
the streets of the big apple,

I'd like to get your
impressions of what happened.

- Well, I think I saw it all,
gene, I don't know.

It was so confusing that
it's hard to have impressions

As to what just happened.

Mean gene sort of spoke like
he did on camera, in person.

"hello, alan.
How are you doing, alan?"

I was like,
"dude, I'm just right here."

[laughs]

- Alan hunter, I'm gonna bring
in a man that defended

The heavyweight title
on this particular occasion,

Here on mtv.

- That room was packed.
It was crowded.

It was tension-filled.

- It was the
rock-wrestling connection.

Everything we stand for.

Everything we believe in, man.

It's not a dream.
It's the way we live, man,

And piper tried to destroy it.

- This was, like, you know,

Faux-serious, and journalistic,

And mean gene knew
how to work that.

- Any time you need me,
I'll be there, brother.

- Well, now, wait.
- Because you my man.

I think you're the greatest
heavy wrestler there ever been,

Man.
- Gentlemen. Gentlemen, please.

- To have mean gene be
the ringmaster

Of the 50-ring circus,

And it didn't matter
whether he knew you from adam

Or knew what you did.

- If I could bring in
other dignitaries,

Who do we have standing by?
Please.

What happened here?
- It was incredible.

- That was really exciting.
I would compare it

To a springsteen concert.
It was pretty hot.

- If he smashes
any more guitars,

He has to answer to me
personally.

- Have you ever seen

Such total bedlam
and pandemonium,

In your entire life?
- Never.

- Gosh. Andy warhol's there.
[laughs]

- It's just so exciting
I just don't know what to say.

- "by the way, andy,
good luck in all your things

And your career,"
you know what I mean.

- Now, wait a minute, now.

I don't know if I want
to conduct this interview

Or not with you.

- I don't really care
what you want, man.

- Piper, you will take
a microphone and dress up,

If you're gonna come on.
This is not--

- Dress up? I can do exactly
what I want to do.

- I'm out in the wings,

Watching mean gene do his
thing, and roddy comes

Hurtling down the hallway.

- Did they see him pin me? No!

All's they saw is
a piece of crap!

That's all they saw, man.

They didn't see him
do nothing to me!

- The lens wet.

- Thank you very much.

- Danny devito
comes walking around,

To wipe the spit
off the camera.

- Alan, I am out of gas.
I am exhausted.

- "the mayhem just happened,
and we're all gonna try

"to calm down now.

Where we go from here,
no one knows."

- I don't think it's over.

I think we have just seen
the tip of the iceberg.

- Vince brought mr. T in
at that moment,

Because it was time

To really take it up

And out of the ballpark.

- The big news: Wrestlemania.

Coming March the 31st.

- Vince's vision of
trying to make this work.

He wasn't gonna let it fail.

- Let's do it.

- He's putting everything
into hulk hogan.

Mr. T. Roddy piper.

All the superstars
that are on that lineup.

I'm putting all my money.
I'm putting all my marbles.

Everything into you,
because I believe in you.

- The greatest wrestling
extravaganza of all time.

- It was vince's game
to win or lose,

And it was all based
on wrestlemania 1.

- Hulk hogan, a world wrestling
entertainment champion,

Has chosen a tag team partner
by the name of mr. T.

- One thing you taught me
a long time ago.

You gotta stay hungry,
and tonight,

I see the eye of the tiger
in you.

I see you're the man that
I always thought you were.

I appreciate it,

And I love you like a brother.
- Thank you.

- I understood this is how
you get attention,

And no one was capable
of grabbing attention,

At that stage in
american pop culture history,

Than mr. T.

- The name is mr. T.

First name is mister.

Middle name is that period.

Last name is t.

- So I remember I got
a mr. T doll as, like,

A little figure
from the "a-team"

With, like,
the fake gold chains.

You're like, "hey, this
dude's involved now too?"

And then he aligns himself
with hulk hogan.

- We did "rocky iii" together,
you know,

'cause he played thunderlips,

And naturally,
I'm clubber lane, you know.

- Well, when I did "rocky iii"

That's when I first
ran into mr. T.

We clicked from the start.

- What team is meaner
than laurel and hardy,

More dangerous
than bonnie and clyde?

Who else but hulk hogan
and mr. T?

- Mr. T was a tv star.

Like, he was on "a-team."

When I heard
he was getting involved

With the first wrestlemania,
I was in.

It's like one channel is mr. T,

And then I flip
to the other channel,

And it's like, "oh, here's
wrestlemania with mr. T in it."

- There was a lot of animosity
among the talent,

Among the boys, you know.

What's this guy doing
coming in there?

- T. Kinda would rub people
the wrong way, you know.

He just--
that's just the way he was.

- Piper. Orndorff.
They dead meat.

I pity the fool.

- The rumor was going around
that mr. T and piper

Didn't get along very much.

They didn't have a good
relationship with each other.

- Roddy didn't like him
too much.

- We got in it a little bit.

More than a little bit.

- Mr. T, hello.
I know you can hear me,

And I don't mean
to bother you--

- Roddy piper was on the set
of "the a-team."

- My name's hot rod.
Of course, you know who I am,

And I know who you are,

'cause your name's written
on the back of the chair,

And I'm assuming that that's
there so you don't get lost.

- Roddy had a bit of a chip
on his shoulder.

Did not like mr. T.

He didn't like
mr. T at wrestlemania 1.

- What we got here
is what we found

Hanging around the restroom.

You see, we have a new feature
now on "piper's pit."

It's called the hot seat.

- He resented mr. T
making the money he was making.

- All the money that you have,

And all the following
that you have.

This is your chance to back out
of the closed-circuit fight

Without getting hurt, man.

- Then he was talking about--he
said, "I'ma do that to mr. T."

He was talking about
my haircut.

- Bring it on.

Give me the best you got.

I'll take it.

Mr. T. We're supposed
to call him "mister."

Are you ribbing me?
T and hogan.

They want to take on
the both of us.

- It doesn't sell
without piper,

Without piper
stirring the pot.

So you've got this whole,
under-the-surface,

Bubbling, blossoming feud.

- The children of america today

Must be sick to look at some--
hey, mr. Hey, hey, hey.

Wait.
Hey, wait.

No, no, no. Hey.

I'll tell you.
You mess with me, t,

I'll put an x on your name,
brother.

- You could tell
roddy piper, again,

Was probably an inch away

From trying to break
this guy's neck.

- How can I say it
without sounding cocky?

They didn't understand
that bringing me in

Would broaden they thing.

- He was thinking, "this is
gonna help me in my career,

"as much as me
being with these guys,

To help them with theirs."

- So if you bring in--
you got cyndi lauper there.

You got the mtv crowd.

You got mr. T
from the "a-team."

Say, "hey, man.
This is good for us.

This is gonna help us."

- So now it's mr. T,
hulk hogan,

And cyndi lauper over here,

And roddy piper,
paul orndorff,

And "cowboy" bob orton, jr.
Over here.

And the stage is set
for wrestlemania 1.

- There are gonna be
a lot of guests at ringside

And some guests involved
in the main event

That's coming Sunday afternoon.

Billy martin,
whom we heard from earlier on,

Is the guest ring announcer.

Muhammad ali the guest
referee in the event.

And of course, liberace,
the guest timekeeper.

We do invite you to see it at
your local coliseum or theater,

Which will carry it
on a closed-circuit

Television basis,
on the giant color screen.

- So at the time
of wrestlemania 1,

Vince was trying to think of,

"how can I reach our fans
in the biggest way possible?"

We used closed-circuit
television,

Which basically means that
you would go to an arena

To watch big,
giant television screens

Of what was happening
somewhere else.

- I'd been to several
closed-circuits,

And one of the closed-circuits
I'd been to

Was the evel knievel
snake river canyon jump.

♪ ♪

- Come on.
- Okay.

Evel, stay with the bird.
Stay with the bird.

Looks like you're gonna
go into the canyon.

♪ ♪

- You know who that
was promoted by?

Vincent kennedy mcmahon, jr.

- You lost a spring?

- It went sideways.

♪ ♪

- Vince had done
a lot of other things.

He'd dabbled
in other promotions

With
closed-circuit television.

The evel knievel
snake river canyon

Closed-circuit event
bombed terribly.

- He lost his ass on that,
so we figured,

"well, here goes another one."
[laughs]

- Closed-circuit television
was the only delivery system

To get wrestlemania out
to the masses

And do it live
and be able to have a gate

And have revenue
from that gate.

It was as if you were
running a live event

Simultaneous
in over 100 locations

Across the country.

- You're gonna go to this
theater or something,

And then it's gonna be on
closed-circuit television,

And you're gonna sit
and watch television

With all these other people.
It just--

It was so odd to think
of it in that manner.

- Movie theaters.

People are gonna pay a ticket
to go to a movie theater

To watch professional
wrestling?

It ain't gonna happen, baby.

Vince has lost his mind.

- Is vince crazy? Yes.

Vince is crazy.

Vince is absolutely insane,

But it takes an insane,
crazy man

To come up with these ideas
and bring them to fruition

And make them a reality.

- When I first heard
the term "closed circuit"

It felt like trying to watch
this thing on saturn.

- Nobody had done it before,
and it was kinda like

Vince was this ringleader
with this vision

That pushed everybody
to make these moves.

- Vince mcmahon,
he didn't care,

Because he wanted
to make his statement,

And there's no way to make
that statement better

Than putting
wrestlemania in theaters

All over north america.

- We will be rolling,
underneath our commentary,

A number of locations
coast to coast

In which you can
see wrestlemania.

You will not be able
to see wrestlemania

On your home television set.

- Every major arena
where we wrestled

Had set up the giant screen,
you know,

And people were
beating each other up

Trying to get a ticket.

- Many stating it as the
greatest sports entertainment

Closed-circuit extravaganza
of all time,

And I'd certainly agree
with that.

- And our imaginations I think
ran wild,

Like vince's did.

As it got closer and closer,

More and more ideas
kind of popped into his--

"how can I make this bigger?"

- Liberace
is the guest timekeeper.

- You know, I come from
a long line of wrestling fans,

Of which number one
was my mother.

- And the ring
announcer billy martin.

- Billy martin was a character
like no other character

I've ever run into before.

Billy martin.
Good to see you again.

- Hey, nice to see you.

- World wrestling
entertainment.

You're gonna be a part
of that big extravaganza

Called wrestlemania.

- Vince is gonna get
muhammad ali.

- And special guest referee--
listen to this--

Former boxing great
heavyweight champion

Of the world, muhammad ali.

- Oh, my gosh.

I took pictures with him.

- This is an event.

Wrestling history
will be made.

- It made the event more than,

"oh, are you going
to the wrestling matches?"

No. You're not going
to the wrestling matches.

You're going to wrestlemania.

It's bigger
than a wrestling match.

This is an event
that is a can't-miss event.

- Like ed sullivan would say,
this is a really big show.

Hey, hulk, look here.

Everybody know we
started training

For the March 31st date, man.

- You know what's so funny
about this team, man?

The whole world knows
about this, man.

Hulk hogan and mr. T start
to train for the 31st.

- Right.
The dream team, man.

Both: The dream team.

- Want to a thing with me
doing 'em, or t doing 'em, or?

- Both combination.

You know, one
helping the other one

Or encouraging the other
one on type of thing.

- In the buildup
to wrestlemania 1,

Hulk hogan and mr. T made
a lot of media appearances.

- And the best new artist is...

- The moment we walked in,
and our asses hit the seats...

- Cyndi lauper.

- For about three seconds,
they were calling

Us up for best new artist.

It was magic.

It just added on
to everything else.

- This was just another
wall that came down

When hulk hogan shows up
as cyndi lauper's

Escort to the grammys.

The hallowed grammys.

- And a little special thing.

[cheers and applause]

- Cyndi lauper,
when she got her actual award,

The last thing
cyndi lauper says,

"roddy piper,
you're going to get yours."

- Every dog has his day,

You know what I'm
talking about?

And that one's gonna get his.

- People would come in cars
beside me, and they'd see,

And they'd turn up
"girls just want to have fun."

It was crazy.
- I got to get ready.

This ain't no joke.

I said,
"my reputation's on the line."

- I've burned off many
training partners,

But I can't get
rid of you, man.

- I'ma keep up with you,
brother.

- The training montage
with mr. T was kinda brutal.

Get your head right!
Look.

- Ugh!

- I was young.

Could run fast and jump high,
back then, and you know,

Mr. T wasn't on that training
schedule that we were on.

We'd run from here
to the corner.

"that's it. I'm done. Okay.

No more jibber-jabber.
I'm done."

Wait! Don't give up, 'cause
that's your motion.

Keep coming.
- Ugh!

Ugh! Ugh!
Get me pumped, brother.

Get me. Get me, for the piper.

I think maybe two weeks
before the wrestlemania

We were doing press
and stuff like that.

- Hulkamania
hype-a-mania is going

Full bore for Sunday's
tag team wrestling match.

- The night before
wrestlemania,

Me and hulk hogan,
we was the hosts

Of "Saturday night live."

- Ladies and gentlemen,
mr. T and hulk hogan!

- Hosting "Saturday night live"
was putting

The icing on the cake, for us.

We got a really big
match coming up.

About 12 hours from now.

Madison square garden.

Wrestlemania that is.

Hulk hogan. Mr. T.

- They call it the world's
most famous arena.

- It's madison square garden.

It is the legendary place.

- The garden is the coliseum
where all the gladiators fight.

- Mr. Mcmahon, in honoring
his dad's legacy, said,

"my father told me,
'vinny, the garden

Will always be the garden.'"

- Good morning.
50 degrees.

March 31st.
Here's what's happening.

- We're staying at a hotel
over here in midtown,

Going over to the garden.

I'm riding with
jesse "the body" ventura.

- Took a cab.

Picked me up at the hotel,
and I said,

"take me to the garden."

- When king kong bundy
and myself were

Driving to the garden,
bundy goes,

"this is gonna be big, jimmy."

- Tickets for Sunday's
sold-out tag team

Brawl at the garden
have been going

For as much as $100 a pop.

- All right, herb.
Why are you here?

- I'm here because this is
the best entertainment around

In the city of new york.

This is where it's at.
Forget the super bowl.

The super bowl is super boring.

This is exciting.
- The place was packed.

People were telling
us that people

Had snuck into the garden
overnight

Waiting on till the event.

- Wrestlemania
is the thing of today.

Hulkamania's running wild.

[dramatic electronic music]

♪ ♪

- From madison square garden,

World wrestling entertainment
presents wrestlemania.

♪ ♪

- That day of the garden,
t comes rolling in,

You know, about 10:00
or 11:00 in the morning,

And I went,
"where have you been?"

You know, t, this is
what it's all about, man.

"I was sleeping in the park.

"central park. With the bums.

Had to get my head right."
um, what?

- Man, we've been training
for six weeks, man.

And we ready now, man.
All these people,

They want to see us get down,
man.

- He either needed
a break from us,

Or he might have had
some second thoughts.

And I grabbed him.

I sat in the dressing room,
and I just stared at him.

I would not let him
out of my sight,

Till it's time
to go to the ring,

'cause I was afraid he'd say
he's going to the bathroom,

And then go down
and get in a car or something.

I'm gonna look into your eyes.
You look into mine.

- That's right, man.
- You stay hungry!

- We gonna be ready.
We gonna be ready!

We gonna be ready!

- It's the eye of
the tiger, man.

♪ ♪

- Backstage, of course,
all the wrestlers had

Where they were getting ready.

- I open one door where
our dressing room was,

And in the room, in there,
there was john studd

Putting his boots on.

Then it was "rowdy" roddy
piper hanging his kilt up.

- We got there,
and you know, nosed around.

See what we could find.

Got a glimpse
of the rockettes.

- I didn't even
see the rockettes.

I was, like, awe-stricken
with muhammad ali.

- I remember walking
down the hall

And saw muhammad ali's
name on the door.

And I knocked on it,
and I said,

"I'm just one
of the wrestlers here.

"ricky steamboat.

"you know, just wanted to
pop in and just say hello

To, you know, the great one."
- all right.

At 1:00 p.M. This afternoon,
it is wrestlemania.

The biggest wrestling
extravaganza of all time.

- And you felt it.

The hair on the back of
your neck was standing up.

There was electricity
in the air, no doubt,

For that one point in time.

March 31st.
Madison square garden.

♪ ♪

- Vince is in the backstage,
and vince

Is negotiating with talent,
back and forth,

And trying to lay out
a show unlike anything

That had ever been done before.

- What was it like to sit
ringside for wrestlemania 1?

This electricity that
just surrounded the ring

And emanating from the fans,
and it was unprecedented.

- I was only eight years old,
and I remember

Right where I was sitting
for wrestlemania 1.

I do remember thinking
and feeling, really,

That it was something
different.

There was a different
kind of energy.

♪ ♪

- Welcome, everyone.

Gorilla monsoon here
at ringside

With my colleague jesse
"the body" ventura,

As world wrestling
entertainment presents

The wrestling extravaganza
of all time, wrestlemania.

Right now, let's go up to our
ring announcer howard finkel.

- I'll never forget
getting in that ring,

In madison square garden,
and performing

And doing what I do best.

Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to wrestlemania.

[wild cheering]

- When I saw the monstrosity,
like, the overhead view,

The zoom-in of the garden,
it felt like hollywood.

- We're seeing
the greatest spectacle

In wrestling history
right now.

- We had 15,000 people
in the original miami arena,

Downtown in miami.

- Fans packed the
miami beach convention center

To watch the show.

- Rowdy roddy piper's
gonna kick his butt!

- This is world history
made right here.

[wild cheering]

- Wrestlemania
is something very important.

You have mixture of movie
stars, singers, and wrestlers,

So you combine
the whole thing together,

And you have a lot of fun.

- This is the greatest
card I've ever heard of.

[wild cheering]

- I mean, we're just
in madison square garden,

But the way it went down
with the closed-circuit,

The overhead, the celebrities,

Everything was on the line.

It had to work,
or we would have tanked.

- I can only imagine
vince pulling

Into madison square garden,

And having everything
on the line,

And what happens in the
next few hours of his life

Is going to be instrumental
in what happens

For the rest of his life.

- The card has been
scheduled for one fight.

- What an unbelievable ovation
as they're hanging

Off the rafters, jess,
here in madison square garden.

- Madison square garden
was the mecca.

For wrestlemania 1,

You couldn't have had it
any other place.

- I mean this is the biggest
crowd in history.

1.2 million.

Nobody wants to lose in front
of that many people, gino.

- Absolutely.

- You could just see, like,
cameras going off,

And there was this palpable
buzz that just did not leave.

You need everything
to be perfect.

You've gotta be so far
ahead of the curve,

In terms of having
an idea that nobody's

Even conceptualized before.

And we were hungry for it,
and it was on.

- Wrestlemania.

It's living up to everything
I expected it to be,

Gino monsoon.
- It was unbelievable.

I had chill bumps
up and down my arm.

- Introducing first,
to my left, the manager.

The mouth of the south,
jimmy hart.

- My knees were so weak.

I'm telling you I always keep
my hair like this, right?

Freeze and shine, right?

My hair, all of a sudden,
it went from this tall

Up to about, like, here.
I was like, "wow."

I was sweating profusely,
you know.

- Just crushed him!
Oh, my god.

- And a giant smash.
- It's over!

- And I was so excited I ran
and jumped in bundy's arms,

And I went, "number one!
Number one!"

- The opposing corner,
ricky steamboat.

Big test for you
this afternoon.

- It's the big test in my life

And everybody's wrestling
career that's involved

In this particular day.

This is the biggest
wrestling extravaganza.

It's coming across the nation.

I remember walking
out to the ring

For the madison square garden
wrestlemania 1.

- Ricky steamboat!

- I think the fans were
starting to gravitate

Towards the dragon.

- Wow! Jumped 15 feet
across the ring.

He got him.
- He got him.

- Getting the nod
of being able to get

A win at the very
first wrestlemania--

It meant a lot to the dragon.

Yeah. It did.

- Take a look at
the fantastic crowd here,

At madison square garden,
for this wrestlemania...

- Unbelievable.
- Extravaganza.

- Working with the caliber
of talent

That was on that card--

Andre and studd
and king kong bundy--

And it's just like main event,
main event, main event,

Main event all the way
to the end.

And it just kept getting
better and better.

- Weighing 273 pounds,

Brutus beefcake!

[wild cheering]

- Brutus beefcake was
dressed to the nines,

And you know, blowing
kisses to the girls.

And I got a big
smile on my face,

'cause I'm just--
that's bruce beefcake.

I'm the cocky sob.

- Sometimes people
say it's better

To be lucky than to be good.

250 pounds, baby.
The biggest day of our life.

Well, let me tell you
how lucky jimmy hart was,

At wrestlemania 1.

I didn't go out just one time.

I went out two times.

King kong bundy, of course,

And greg "the hammer"
valentine.

- He's got jimmy hart,

But he's taken his eyes
off the hammer.

- Look out!

Valentine throws his own man

Over the top.

Jimmy hart fell.

- All right, fans.
One of the big feature matches

This afternoon,
windham and rotunda

To defend against
these two men,

Nikolai volkoff
and iron sheik,

With fred blassie
in their corner.

- You know what you need?

This is my best time of life!

- The iron sheik was a figure.

When you go back to those real
important years for the wwe

Transforming from little
gyms and, you know,

Territorial venues to--
[makes boom sound]

This monstrosity
of what it became

And what it is today,

The iron sheik
was a big part of that.

This is the height
of the cold war,

And you've got this guy
coming out and spitting.

"iran number one! U.S.--"
[spits]

- Iran number one!

U.S.A.--[spits]

[wild cheering]

- And you couldn't stand--
you wanted to ring his neck.

- From the soviet union,
nikolai volkoff.

- When he would sing
the national anthem...

- [singing in russian]
[crowd jeering]

♪ ♪

I don't care how old you were.

You wanted to put your
hand through the screen

And suffocate the guy.

- The finish called
for the iron sheik

To grab the walking stick
from his manager

"classy" freddie blassie

And bust it over the head
of one of his opponents.

- Referee now just
admonishing mike rotunda.

Look at this. Oh!

He nailed him with a cane!

- And the iron sheik
told me this.

He was so fired up.

He was so excited
about being there,

He literally busted that cane
over the guy's head.

- Look at this.

Iron sheik climbing up
on the apron

With blassie's cane and just
nails windham from behind.

- And there was this palpable
buzz that just did not leave.

- Holy mackerel.

This wrestling extravaganza,
wrestlemania,

Has been nothing short
of sensational.

- If the gentleman
to my left is slammed,

He loses $15,000 in cash.

If his opponent does not
slam this man in the ring,

He will retire
from professional wrestling.

♪ ♪

- The sheer threat of andre
having to retire--

Those things were gripping.

- Bell is rung,
and we're underway here.

- You really fed into that,
as a fan,

So you were on the
edge of your seat.

"oh, come on, dude.
Don't get slammed."

- Look at this.

Scott trying to slam andre.

Forget about it.

- I mean, it felt so real.

It felt so final, so there
was angst to that whole match.

There was real tension,
and there was real theater.

- You know, I was so
nervous for my friend andre.

If he couldn't slam
big john studd,

Andre was gonna have
to retire and go away.

And I believed it.

Oh, my god.
What was gonna happen?

- Look at this!

Andre picks him up!

He slams him!

[bell dings]
it's all over!

- Unbelievable!

[wild cheering]

- Andre looking for the money.
He's got it.

♪ ♪

25,000-plus on their feet,
as andre slams.

Look at this!

He's throwing the money out.

- But then bobby heenan,
that weasel,

Grabbed that bag of money.

- Uh-oh. Look at that.

Bobby "the brain" heenan
grabbed

The bag with the money!

- And nobody knew this
was going to happen.

Bobby was going into
business for himself.

My dad's in the back losing
his mind that this money's

Just being thrown around,
and finally,

Andre was able to grab
the bag out of heenan's hands.

And so goes the story.

- It's the ladies'
wwe title match,

And it is also the first
of our--

Good gracious, or good luck.

Something like that,
but it is the first

Of our wrestling rock
connection matches.

- Cyndi lauper, wendi richter,
a big one for you.

- That's right, mean gene.

Shmoolah, lani kai,
you better watch out,

Because these
are powerful words,

Because this is a powerful
woman,

And I'm a powerful
manager now,

Because I was taught
by "captain" lou albano

Just how to manage.

- It's something that
I trained for, for years.

I started wrestling
when I was 18,

And even though
that was wrestlemania 1,

It had never happened before,

It was the biggest event
I'd ever wrestled.

- Wrestlemania.

The greatest thing
in the world.

Like I said before, woodstock
was to rock and roll

What wrestlemania
is to wrestling today.

- It's an adrenaline
unlike any other.

Nothing replaces
how I felt in wrestling,

Especially that night.

I wanted to be a role model
for the girls,

So I tried very hard
to be that role model.

- Punch comes back
with a right of her own

And sends leilani
flying across that ring.

- It was like a dream.

I knew what was going on,
but yet,

It was kinda like I was
floating almost.

I was that excited about it.

- Boom. Whoa.

Throwing us a little
power move there.

- Just like an athlete
for the olympics,

You train to peak.

At that time, I was peaked.

I was prepared that night.

- Wendi richter now.

- Well, it was the first time
my father ever saw me wrestle,

So having him, you know,
one-on-one sport like that,

And at madison square garden,
and cyndi lauper.

It was probably
the highlight of my life.

I'll never forget it.

♪ ♪

[wild cheering]

- I know it was electric
at the garden.

Just--it was wired.

- The winner of this bout--
wendi richter!

- Ecstatic as cyndi lauper
and wendi richter,

And the fabulous one bent
completely out of shape.

[upbeat music]

- Look at the flashes going
all over the garden, gino.

[wild cheering]

- And the masses were
loving it.

The people--young, old.

Wrestling fans. Rock fans.

Everybody was just
rolling with this.

- History made again here,
at wrestlemania.

- I mean it was just amazing.

I could feel the rumbling.

You'd have to be dead
not to feel it.

- Man, the energy
and the people.

- There he is!
- God, it was something.

I will never forget that.

- What's it gonna be like
for that main event?

♪ ♪

- I started going,
"oh, my god."

Now that I realize what's
going on here--

This is not a dress rehearsal.

This is actually happening,
and you have an opportunity.

You better take it and run
with it, because you don't

Go around the block twice.

- Can he wrestle?
- Soon we'll find out.

It won't take long
to find out.

He'll be put to the test
immediately.

- Oh, my gosh.

If I have a bad match,
you know,

And wrestlemania falls flat
on its face,

We're done.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
in just a few moments,

We will have our main event.

- I have thought many times

About what it would have
been like

To be at the garden
for wrestlemania 1.

Honestly, I don't think I could
have physically handled it.

I think I probably
would have combusted.

I would have had
to be hospitalized.

- Big scores
to be settled here,

As the happening
of the century

Is about to go down here
on wrestlemania.

- After my match, I remember
standing behind the curtain

Watching the main event.

- I was peeking through
that curtain,

'cause I didn't want
to miss this main event.

- May I introduce to you
the guest ring announcer,

New york's number one
billy martin!

[wild cheering]
[bell dings]

- Liberace about to make
an appearance here

In the garden.

- Here we're at
a wrestling match,

And you've got liberace
and the radio city rockettes

Doing "new york, new york."

♪ ♪

- He's got a pretty
fair kick there, gino.

♪ ♪

- Give me a break.

- You can hear the
fans chanting, "ali! Ali!"

For whom I consider the
greatest heavyweight champion

In the world.
- There he is!

[wild cheering]
unbelievable individual.

The greatest.

- The mere presence of muhammad
ali validated wrestlemania.

- Ali stepping through
the ring ropes

To a standing ovation.

- Because think
about what muhammad ali

Meant to that ring.

Meant to that venue.

To the world.

- I hear the drums, gus.

[cheers and applause]

- Sounds like
bagpipe city, baby.

[crowd jeering]

[bagpipes playing]

- Then the building exploded,
because here comes

Mr. T and hulk hogan,
and jimmy "superfly" snuka.

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- This can be none
other than you-know-who.

World wrestling
entertainment champion.

There he is.

The incredible hulk hogan
with bad man himself, mr. T.

- How about a tag team for the
main event of wrestlemania 1?

Has there ever been a tag
team match in the main event

Of wrestlemania since?

- 25,000-plus hundred.

Pete, the electricity
is unbelievable!

- So there was this
palpable trepidation

The day of wrestlemania

Where nobody knew
what was gonna happen.

- Look at the bell
by liberace.

Oh, and look at that bell.

Just unbelievable.

- Both teams
precision trained.

Unbelievable.
Coming to this moment.

This moment.
The biggest moment.

The biggest match
in the history of wrestling.

- So now it's piper
and hulk hogan

In the middle of the ring.

Then I'm jumping on the side.

"now, I want him. I want him.

Let me get him!
Let me get him!"

- Well, the crowd's now
telling the hulkster.

You look, and t says,
"please let me in."

Can you believe this?

- Then you point toward him.

Want me to tag him, huh?

You want me to tag
this guy here?

♪ ♪

He wants a piece of--
both: There's the tag!

- When those two stepped into
the ring for wrestlemania,

Roddy piper
was watching himself.

He was expecting mr. T
to double cross him somehow.

- Here's the thing
about piper.

Piper is so smart.

He's smart like a fox.

Sometimes he didn't let the
guys in the dressing room

Even know what he was
thinking or what he was doing.

- Fans are chanting,
"t! T! T!"

And they're
going nose-to-nose.

- Look at nose-to-nose.

- Mr. T and "rowdy" roddy
piper nose-to-nose,

In the center of the ring.

- When piper and mr. T
go nose-to-nose,

I mean it was electric, dude.

- Mr. T had a skill set
from being an amateur wrestler,

And we accentuated his,
you know,

Strong points and just stayed
away from any weaknesses.

- With the wrestlemania 1,
with vince,

Vince was, "oh, there's many
ways to do this, hot rod."

I said, "no, vince.

With mr. T, if he comes in
and starts banging heads,

And throwing, you know,
hokey punches,

It's gonna kill it.

I'm telling you, vince.
I've been there before.

Keep it amateur with t,"
and we did.

- He slapped me. Bang!

- Oh, slapped across the face!

- And I slap him. Bang!

- And a return slap by mr. T!

- And he slapped me again.
Bang!

- Look at this.

They're exchanging slaps. Oh!

- We were like fools, you know.

We was enemies.

- One point, he put mr. T
in a front face lock,

Just to keep him honest.

He just wanted mr. T to know,

"I'm the one in charge
over here."

- My job was to make sure
he didn't get hurt

And get killed, because,
you know,

I hate to say it this way,

But piper and orndorff
didn't like him.

- Later on in the match,

It was roddy piper
who told mr. T,

"pick me up
in a fireman's carry,"

And mr. T put him over his
shoulders and spun him around.

- Whoa! Nice fireman's carry.

Another amateur move
put to good use here,

As mr. T hoists up piper.

What's he gonna do with him?

Oh!
- Oh!

- Drops him like
yesterday's newspaper!

- And that was the photo
that went all over the world.

- Look out, t.
Now in the wrong corner.

Here comes the hulk.

- And all four of 'em are
going at it, in the corner,

And it's [inaudible] already.

- Lost control here.

Ali's moved in.
- Ace is up there.

Muhammad ali
is getting into the ring,

And look at chaos five minutes
into the match, gino monsoon.

- Here comes ali in the ring,
and he's swinging.

He's trying to get orndorff.
He's trying to get piper.

- Ali stepped right in there.

Oh, look at ali.
Took a shot at piper!

- We're all standing
behind the curtain,

And when muhammad
took the shot,

And piper went down,
I cringed.

I cringed.

And when he came through
the curtain backstage,

He just--

"okay," and I went, "roddy!"

I said, "man, it looked
like he caned you!"

"ricky, his knuckle did this."

And he just tapped my chin.

That's how good he still was.

- Muhammad ali chasing ace
out of the ring.

The former champion
of the world

Is taking control
of the ring and driving

"ace" bob orton
back to the floor.

- There was a decision made

To let pat patterson
be the referee in the ring

And put ali on the outside.

He took a couple wild swings,
you know,

That if he'd have connected,
it'd been party over.

- I had to control
this whole goddamn thing.

Man, man. The pressure.

- It was unbelievable.

And then finally the
finish comes to the match,

And the place explodes.

[inaudible] would say,
"man, the crowd gonna pop."

- Double team,
maybe triple team effort here.

- Well, in my mind, there
was always the threat

Of--who's the threat?

Cowboy bob.

- Paul had hogan hooked,

And I went
up on the top roof,

And come off,
and hogan moved,

And I hit paul.

- As piper was about
to lower him--look out!

- Oh, and then orndorff.
Unbelievable!

- With the cast.

Going for the cover,
pat patterson.

- He got him!
- They got him!

- Unbelievable pandemonium
here in the garden.

[wild cheering]

- They were lucky.
They were lucky, gino,

That hulk hogan moved
out of the way,

And "cowboy" bob orton hit
mr. Wonderful,

Paul orndorff, with the cast.

- I stayed there
as long as I could,

And I said,
"I've gotta remember this.

I've gotta remember this
the rest of my life,"

And I still do, to this day.

- Wrestlemania 1
was a missile fired

At the rest of the industry.

If you were doing
anything else that day

But watching wrestlemania,
you were a sucker,

Because you were
missing something.

- What an ending
to wrestlemania.

The most phenomenal
wrestling card

Ever put together,
in the history

Of professional wrestling.

- It's hard to grasp what hulk
hogan meant at that point.

And we all know
what muhammad ali means,

In hindsight, obviously.

But to have those two
in that ring,

In the center of new york city?

I mean this is top-shelf stuff.

- Muhammad ali.

He would always
put his arm around me,

And he would whisper
in my ear,

"you're the greatest
of all time, hulk hogan.

You're the greatest
of all time."

Every time I saw him,
he'd do that.

I said, "no. You're the
greatest of all time."

- Everything that a kid
could want in 1985

Happened at wrestlemania 1.

Hulk hogan. Mr. T.

Cyndi lauper. Muhammad ali.

It was just bananas.

[soft dramatic music]

- Pandemonium.

Bedlam breaking
out at the garden.

Wrestlemania. And what
a fitting conclusion.

Jimmy "superfly" snuka,
hulk hogan,

And mr. T, what was it like?

What was going
through your mind?

- It was rough.
Like I said, I trained hard.

We've been training
a long time.

World wrestling entertainment.
Hulk hogan.

And I'm glad to be a part.
It's rough out there.

Like I said, I didn't
take the guys lightly.

- I came from the traditional
wrestling group

That was very skeptical
about wrestlemania,

And how dare they allow
outsiders

And celebrities
to get into our ring.

- But you know something?

Wrestlemania, hulk hogan,
mr. T,

"superfly" jimmy snuka,
we reign supreme.

Can you dig that? [chuckles]

- At the same time,
very intrigued.

From an insider's
point of view, it was like,

"okay. They did that.
Now what?"

- There's a new craze
sweeping the nation,

But it's nothing more
than the old-time

Professional wrestling,
but with a new twist.

- The morning after
wrestlemania 1,

The associated press reported
that 1 million people

Watched the spectacular
on closed-circuit television.

- And I come into
school the next day.

I'm like, "dude, it was sick.
It was crazy.

Hogan. Mr.--"
it was wild. Oh, my god.

It was the super bowl.

- And once this thing hit,
you know,

It's like pushing
the nuclear button.

We didn't realize that once
vince pushed that button

The rockets were launched.

That we were going
to the moon.

- The promoters say the
combination of bear hugs,

Rock and roll, glamour,
and brutality

Always means a sellout house.

- Lately, it's been emerging
from second-rate arenas

To attract
a whole new generation of fans.

- As soon as wrestlemania hit,
and we had all that publicity,

And we were on every damn
media show or every tv station,

I don't care what
network or what--

- Available this June,
in a video retailer

In your area--wrestlemania.

The world wrestling
entertainment home video

Series presents
a two-hour cassette

Of the greatest professional
wrestling event of all time.

- Yes.
I've seen wrestlemania 1.

I had the vhs tape.

I watched it till it
basically stopped working.

- All of the merchandising
that came after wrestlemania 1

Was a star marketing scheme.

- Wrestling superstars
take on a whole new twist,

With the new wwe
stretch wrestlers!

- I remember linda mcmahon
telling me

That they were
driving somewhere,

And vince was looking
at his son shane

Playing with gi joes,
in the back seat.

And he said, "one day,
people are gonna be playing

With wwe action figures."

- With wrestling super stars.

It's like having a real
match right in your own home.

- Did I have any
wwe merchandise?

Boy, did I.

Any time I went
to the toy store,

I was going straight
to the action figures.

- The iron sheik,

Hulk hogan,
and big john studd.

- I got t-shirts.
I had towels.

They made an ice cream
bar with me on it.

Superstars ice cream bars.

Go to the store.
Go to the 7-11.

Get a big gulp, and you
turn the cup around.

"well, jeez.

There's brutus
beefcake on the cup."

- Now, you're asking mom
and dad and santa

For all these toys,
and the hot rod shirts,

And the hulkamania shirts,

And everything else
that they sold.

It was a wwe takeover.

- Really reeled the
kids in, and of course,

They went to the parents,
to buy merchandise.

And vince just went crazy with
it, because everything sold.

Everything worked.

- Wrestling entertainment
heavyweight

Champion hulk hogan!

Oh, my!

Yes, sir.

Hulkamania is running wild!

- Man, after that,
we were like,

"this ain't nothing, man.

We can do this."

Wrestling every night.

Wrestling twice
on saturdays

And twice on sundays
sometimes.

Wrestlers had never
seen anything like that.

- Wendi became
a household name.

I went to visit
my grandparents,

Right after wrestlemania,

And I was jogging
with my father.

People ran out of
their houses, and said,

"there's wendi richter," and
I'm thinking, "oh, my gosh."

♪ ♪

- The country took off
with us as superstars,

As rockstars,
as movie stars,

As every star
under the universe.

- We were part of
this unbelievable pop culture

That was taking place.

- Prior to the
wrestlemania year,

There were families
that didn't allow

Their children to watch wwe.

Now, their kids are watching
cartoon shows

Featuring roddy piper
and the iron sheik.

- Is his name mr. King?

- How did you know?

- Because he invited us
for a free cruise too.

- Oh, no.

He's going to sign us.

- They kind of, like,
made me the superhero

That vince wanted me to be.

The "rock 'n' wrestling"
cartoon.

This thing's catching on, man.

It's like a fever, and there
are thousands and thousands

Of hulkamaniacs around.

- It is deafening in here,
in the skydome!

- Seeing hulk hogan all of
a sudden go from hulk hogan

To "hulk hogan."

- Hulkamania
is running wild,

And the hulkster giving 'em
exactly what they want.

- He is the focal point
of the entire

United states of america
and most of the free world.

- After wrestlemania,
you couldn't stop me.

I mean, I was invincible.

- I don't know if
anybody's ever been over

Like hogan was at that time.

Gosh almighty.
People just loved him.

- Their champion.

The world's champion,
hulk hogan.

- Hulk hogan was box office.

Hulk hogan was ratings.

- That's why I'm carrying the
red, white, and blue, brother.

I'm proud of america.

I stand for this country.

- He was everywhere.

"sports illustrated."
I mean my gosh.

You couldn't turn a tv on
without seeing

Hulk in everything.

♪ ♪

- I loved hulk hogan.

I was saying my prayers.

I was taking my vitamins.

I mean I was a hulkamaniac.

- Hulkamania needs to
be fought for every day.

Training, saying your prayers,
and eating your vitamins.

- Anybody could
point to a crowd.

Anybody can do that, but
he punctuated it perfectly.

He had the perfect physique.

The perfect presentation.

The perfect connection.

He just resonated
with everybody.

♪ ♪

- Well, I jumped on this
crazy lightning bolt

That vince had sparked,
and I was riding it.

It just never, ever stopped.

Hulkamania shall live
forever,

Long after I'm gone!
- All right.

He is the heavyweight
champion of the world,

Ladies and gentlemen.

He is number one, hulk hogan

[cheers and applause]

- Look at the stare
of the champion

Against the challenger.

- Wrestlemania
has kind of become

That visual point of wwe.

- Look at this!

- He slammed him!

I don't believe it!

- Wrestlemania
is a phenomenon,

And it kinda transcends
pro wrestling.

Like, the average
person who doesn't

Pay attention
to wrestling, at all,

Knows what wrestlemania is.
- Oh, look at this!

- It's a household name.

- Hulk presented
the belt and raised

The hand of the warrior!

- It was vince
expanding the business.

Taking over the whole world.

- Elizabeth. Tears flowing.

She loves him.

- It takes so much hard work.

It takes so much creativity.

So much vision.

He really saw a product that
would appeal to the masses

In a way that it
never had before,

And that was what his goal
was when he started

To make changes in wwe,
and he coined the phrase

"sports entertainment."

♪ ♪

- Some of these
insiders hate the term

"sports entertainment."

You know, screw them.
I was in rasslin'.

It didn't pay any money.
Sports entertainment does.

- Pro wrestling
wasn't a thing.

Wwe was a thing,
and it was all at once,

There was a shift in
how people thought about it.

And wrestlemania--
that was the stamp.

- That was the launching point
to take the business

Of what we call
professional wrestling.

They're watching
what vince mcmahon

Created and saw,

On this one day,
March 31, 1985,

Wrestlemania,
in madison square garden.

Everything sprung out
and happened from there.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to wrestlemania.

- He had a dream, and
buddy, the dream came true.

♪ ♪

- Wrestlemania--
while the name itself

Conjures up images
of celebrity, of pageantry,

Of extraordinary athleticism,
of pomp, of circumstance,

It is the quintessential
sports entertainment event.

- Vince was 38 years
old when he presented

The first wrestlemania.

- You know, I didn't
realize that 38 years later,

Things would still
be rocking as they are today.

- 70,000-plus here,
at at&t stadium.

- A lot of the superstars that
I've spoke to, over the years,

Privately about it, thought,
"this is just a one-and-done.

I'm gonna do this big event.
Cool.

Get a bit of publicity.

Get a big payday,
and we'll move in,

But this is never
gonna happen again."

Little did they know.

- Welcome to wrestlemania!

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- What people thought was
gonna be the thing

That killed wrestling

Is what took it
to the next level,

And that was deciding
to come out

And tell people it was
entertainment.

- This entire
building has become unglued,

As once again, the hulkster
holds up the gold!

- It's very rare that
you meet a person who has

Never heard of wrestlemania.

- When you really think about
how far wrestlemania's come,

100,000 people in some of the
stadiums that we're in now.

- Wrestlemania
is not one night.

It's two nights.

However many people
the building can hold,

That's how many people
are going to be there.

And that is the staple.

That's how far we have come,

And it's only gonna
get bigger,

And it's only gonna
get better.

- When the rock says wrestle,
the people will say mania.

Wrestle.
All: Mania!

- Wrestle.
All: Mania!

- Wrestle.
All: Mania!

- The super bowl is cool,
but the game might suck.

Wrestlemania never sucks.

You are always going
to have multiple moments

During wrestlemania where
you go, "that was awesome."

- I'm still stunned
at how big it is.

It has gone from being
wrestlemania, a lone show,

To wrestlemania weekend,
to wrestlemania week,

To wrestlemania season.

It's a season.

- When you get into
this business I think

The first goal that
goes into your head is,

"I want to main
event wrestlemania."

- Roman reigns
will main event.

- It's such a dangling
gold carrot

That everybody is chasing.

It gets in your blood,
and you want to do it

Again, and again, and again.

- Every year,
is this gonna sell?

Is it gonna do well?

Are people gonna dig it?

Is it gonna be as big
as it could be?

Every year, vince still holds
his breath at wrestlemania.

- Every year, I go,
"there's no way

We're gonna top this year,"

And then the next year comes,
and I go, "oh, wow.

We just topped it."

- Vince was creating
the ultimate spectacle,

And the success
was mind-blowing.

- I mean it literally takes
every single different person,

From so many different
walks of life,

To make an event
like this happen.

And all of these
people bet their money

And their passion
and their heart

On vince mcmahon
making it happen.

And like usual,
he came through.

♪ ♪

- You know, it's amazing how
you can sit back sometimes

And think about
how lucky we are

To be part of wrestlemania 1.

- It was amazing and an honor
to be able to participate,

And be part of the show,
and be part

Of those special group
of guys.

- History made again here,
at wrestlemania!

- Remember those
who dug the hole.

- It's true, because without
those that came before us,

We wouldn't have
what we have today.

- We're just
getting down to just

The last handful of guys that
were at the very first mania.

- It's just amazing
to look around

And see that I'm one
of the last people left,

Of the original crew.

- Sounds like bagpipe city,
baby.

- I get choked up sometimes
when I think about it,

Because sometimes
I sit back and think,

"you know, I'm peeking
through a curtain,

And there's
'rowdy' roddy piper,"

Who's no longer with us.

- I really loved lou and roddy
as brothers.

- Hey, I gotta say
I miss lou a lot.

- My friend, your friend,
our friend, cyndi lauper!

- When they passed,
that whole era

Kind of passed, for me,
as well.

♪ ♪

- It's one of the
few things in my life

Now that brings me back
to a place in my childhood.

I remember the presentation
of wrestlemania

Almost more than I do my
earliest world series memory.

It's seared into my mind.

It's seared into my heart.

- Going for the cover.
Pat patterson.

- If that one moment,
that one event,

That one spectacular moment
in time of wrestlemania 1

Doesn't happen, arguably you
can say none of this is here.

- The date--March 31, 1985,
and the greatest happening

In the long
and illustrious history

Of professional wrestling.

It's known as wrestlemania.

- Well, wrestling fans
around the world,

We certainly want to thank
everyone for being with us

This wrestlemania.

This wrestling event
of all time.

♪ ♪