The Wrestling Classic facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Wrestling Classic |
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| Information | ||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | |||
| Date | November 7, 1985 | |||
| Attendance | 14,000 | |||
| Venue | Rosemont Horizon | |||
| City | Rosemont, Illinois, United States | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
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The Wrestling Classic was a special professional wrestling event. It was shown live on pay-per-view, which means people paid to watch it at home. The event was put on by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which is now known as WWE. It happened on November 7, 1985, in Rosemont, Illinois, USA. This was only the second time the WWF had a pay-per-view event, with the first being WrestleMania.
In the main match, the WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan wrestled against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Hogan won by disqualification, which means Piper broke a rule, so Hogan kept his championship title. The event also had a big tournament with 16 wrestlers. Junkyard Dog won this tournament by beating Macho Man Randy Savage in the final match. Plus, one lucky fan won a Rolls-Royce car in a competition!
Contents
How the Event Was Made
The Idea Behind It
After their first big pay-per-view, WrestleMania, was a huge hit, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) decided to plan more special events. They called this new series "WrestleVision."
In 1985, the head of WWF, Vince McMahon, said that the first WrestleVision event would have "the most important wrestling tournament ever." He even mentioned that famous wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant would be there.
The first WrestleVision event was called The Wrestling Classic. It took place on November 7, 1985, in Rosemont, Illinois. Even though it was the WWF's second pay-per-view, it was a one-time event. The other WrestleVision shows that were planned didn't happen. It seems the first one wasn't as popular as WrestleMania.
The Stories Leading Up to It
The matches at The Wrestling Classic were part of exciting stories. In wrestling, these stories are planned out. Wrestlers play characters, either good guys (called heroes) or bad guys (called villains). These stories build up excitement for the matches.
The WWF started promoting the event in October 1985. They announced a tournament with 16 wrestlers and the big prize for a fan: a Rolls-Royce! Most of the wrestlers announced for the tournament ended up competing. However, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan did not join the tournament, even though they were mentioned earlier.
The biggest story leading into The Wrestling Classic was the rivalry between Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. They were fighting over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Piper was one of the top villains in the WWF at the time. He often spoke out against the popular "Rock 'n' Wrestling" trend, which led to many clashes with Hogan.
They had faced each other before, and Hogan usually won by disqualification. This meant Piper broke a rule, so Hogan kept his title. Their rivalry was so big it even helped create WrestleMania! At the first WrestleMania, Hogan and celebrity Mr. T teamed up to beat Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Their championship match at The Wrestling Classic was a big deal, even though the tournament got more attention in the weeks before the event.
The Event Itself
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Presenters | Vince McMahon |
| Lord Alfred Hayes | |
| Susan Waitkus | |
| Commentator | Gorilla Monsoon |
| Jesse Ventura | |
| Interviewer | Gene Okerlund |
| Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
| WWF President | Jack Tunney |
The pay-per-view event featured a big 16-man tournament called "The Wrestling Classic."
In the first round, Adrian Adonis (with his manager Jimmy Hart) beat Corporal Kirchner with a move called a DDT.
Next, Dynamite Kid faced Nikolai Volkoff. Dynamite Kid quickly attacked Volkoff after he finished singing his country's anthem. Dynamite Kid hit a missile dropkick and pinned Volkoff in just nine seconds! This was one of the fastest matches ever.
Macho Man Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) then defeated "Polish Power" Ivan Putski. Savage used the ropes to help him get the pin, which is against the rules.
Ricky Steamboat wrestled Davey Boy Smith. Both were fan favorites. Smith got hurt during the match and couldn't continue, so Steamboat won by forfeit.
Junkyard Dog then faced The Iron Sheik. Junkyard Dog quickly hit a headbutt and pinned the Sheik to win.
The match between Moondog Spot and Terry Funk (with Jimmy Hart) was unusual. They both left the ring. Funk tried to get back in for a win, but Spot stopped him. Spot then got back into the ring before Funk, winning the match by countout.
Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion Tito Santana then beat The Magnificent Muraco. Muraco thought he had won, but Santana quickly rolled him up for the pin. Santana hurt his leg in this match, which would affect him later.
The last match of the first round was Paul Orndorff against Bob Orton. Orton was disqualified because he hit Orndorff with his cast, which is against the rules.
The quarterfinals started with Adrian Adonis against Dynamite Kid. Adonis accidentally ran into his manager, Jimmy Hart. Dynamite Kid took advantage of this and pinned Adonis to win.
Ricky Steamboat then faced Macho Man Randy Savage. Savage's manager, Miss Elizabeth, distracted the referee. Savage then used brass knuckles (a hidden weapon) to hit Steamboat and pin him for the win.
Junkyard Dog then defeated Moondog Spot with a headbutt. There was no referee for this match, but the announcers said a judge at ringside made JYD's win official.
Tito Santana and Paul Orndorff fought to a double count-out. This meant both wrestlers were eliminated from the tournament. Because of this, Junkyard Dog got to go straight to the finals!
In the main event, which was not part of the tournament, Hulk Hogan defended his WWF World Heavyweight Championship against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Hogan used a bearhug, and Piper used a sleeper hold. The referee got knocked out. Piper hit Hogan with a steel chair, but Hogan then put Piper in a sleeper hold. Bob Orton came out and hit Hogan with his cast. The referee saw this and disqualified Piper, so Hogan won and kept his title. Piper and Orton kept attacking Hogan until Paul Orndorff came out to help Hogan.
The semi-final match was between Randy Savage and Dynamite Kid. Dynamite Kid hit a superplex from the top rope, but Savage quickly turned it into a pin to win.
During the show, a fan competition was held. One lucky fan out of over 250,000 entries won a brand new Rolls-Royce car!
In the final match of the tournament, Junkyard Dog wrestled Randy Savage. Junkyard Dog threw Savage out of the ring. Savage couldn't get back into the ring before the referee counted to ten, so Junkyard Dog won the match by count-out and became the tournament champion!
What Happened Next
This tournament helped many wrestlers become more famous. Junkyard Dog, as the winner, became known as the first person to win a major WWF tournament. Macho Man Randy Savage went on to win the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship in 1986 and later the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1988. Ricky Steamboat also won the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship in 1987. Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith, who were a tag team called the British Bulldogs, won the WWF Tag Team Championship in 1986.
Match Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Adonis defeated Corporal Kirchner by pinfall | First round tournament match | 3:20 |
| 2 | Dynamite Kid defeated Nikolai Volkoff by pinfall | First round tournament match | 0:09 |
| 3 | Randy Savage defeated Ivan Putski by pinfall | First round tournament match | 2:45 |
| 4 | Ricky Steamboat defeated Davey Boy Smith by forfeit | First round tournament match | 2:53 |
| 5 | Junkyard Dog defeated The Iron Sheik by pinfall | First round tournament match | 3:25 |
| 6 | Moondog Spot defeated Terry Funk by countout | First round tournament match | 0:27 |
| 7 | Tito Santana defeated The Magnificent Muraco by pinfall | First round tournament match | 4:17 |
| 8 | Paul Orndorff defeated Bob Orton by disqualification | First round tournament match | 6:28 |
| 9 | Dynamite Kid defeated Adrian Adonis by pinfall | Quarter final tournament match | 6:00 |
| 10 | Randy Savage defeated Ricky Steamboat by pinfall | Quarter final tournament match | 4:00 |
| 11 | Junkyard Dog defeated Moondog Spot by pinfall | Quarter final tournament match | 0:45 |
| 12 | Paul Orndorff vs Tito Santana ended in a double countout* | Quarter final tournament match | 8:00 |
| 13 | Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Roddy Piper by disqualification | Singles match for the WWF Championship | 7:00 |
| 14 | Randy Savage defeated Dynamite Kid by pinfall | Semi-final tournament match | 5:00 |
| 15 | Junkyard Dog defeated Randy Savage by countout* | Tournament finals match | 9:00 |
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- After Paul Orndorff and Tito Santana were both counted out, Junkyard Dog got a BYE and went straight to the finals.
Tournament Bracket
Pin-Pinfall; Sub-Submission; CO-Countout; DCO-Double countout; DQ-Disqualification; Ref-Referee's decision
| First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||||||
| Adrian Adonis | 03:22 | |||||||||||||||||
| Corporal Kirchner | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Adrian Adonis | 06:00 | |||||||||||||||||
| Dynamite Kid | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Dynamite Kid | 0:09 | |||||||||||||||||
| Nikolai Volkoff | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Dynamite Kid | 05:00 | |||||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Ivan Putski | 2:47 | |||||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | 4:00 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ricky Steamboat | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Davey Boy Smith | 2:53 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ricky Steamboat | Ref | |||||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | 9:00 | |||||||||||||||||
| Junkyard Dog | CO | |||||||||||||||||
| The Iron Sheik | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Junkyard Dog | 3:25 | |||||||||||||||||
| Junkyard Dog | 0:45 | |||||||||||||||||
| Moondog Spot | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Terry Funk | 0:17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Moondog Spot | CO | |||||||||||||||||
| Junkyard Dog | ||||||||||||||||||
| BYE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Don Muraco | 4:17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Tito Santana | Pin | |||||||||||||||||
| Tito Santana | 8:00 | |||||||||||||||||
| Paul Orndorff | DCO | |||||||||||||||||
| Paul Orndorff | 6:28 | |||||||||||||||||
| Bob Orton | DQ | |||||||||||||||||
See also
In Spanish: The Wrestling Classic para niños
