24. WRESTLEMANIA II
It’s a pretty universal truth that WrestleMania II sucks, but you have to hand it to the WWF circa 1986 – they really went all out trying to promote their brand of sports entertainment to anyone with a pulse, using massive amounts of celebrities to expand WrestleMania into a cross-country phenomenon.
While it sounds like a production nightmare, taking the act simultaneously to Chicago, New York and Los Angeles is bold. Bringing Mania to both closed-circuit television and national pay-per-view for the first time was yet another shift in the right direction. Add Ray Charles, Joan Rivers, Joe Frazier, Dick Butkus and the Chicago Bears, Ozzy Osbourne, Elvira and dozens more celebrities and you’ve got one heck of a globally recognized super party.
Somewhat predictably, celebrity endorsement does not a night of excellent pro wrestling make.
The New York segment was terrible. Mr. T and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper brought a lot of hype following the main event of the first WrestleMania, but their follow-up “boxing match” was unspeakably bad. Really – I’m not speaking about it.
The Chicago stretch did have one saving grace; an excellent tag match featuring the British Bulldogs taking on the self-proclaimed “Dream Team” of Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake. And while not exactly an all-time classic, Andre the Giant won the first ever get-everyone-on-the-card WrestleMania battle royal. L.A. didn’t have much going for it, outside of a fun mid-card tag team match, and Ricky Steamboat being Ricky Steamboat.
Overall WrestleMania II is not a great show, but you have to respect the courage WWF and Vince McMahon showed, trying a dangerous, new concept on such a massive scale.
