After the success of the inaugural Wrestlemania in 1985, the WWF (now WWE) decided to try another Wrestlemania. Though the first Wrestlemania was a success; there were doubts about whether a second installment would be as successful. At the time, the WWE was still working on gaining the national exposure it was looking for. The WWE had an idea to make Wrestlemania 2 unique from it’s predecessor. This would be the first gimmick WM. They spread the event over three different locations, in three different time zones. The card totaled 12 matches, divided up among the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY, the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, and the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
In an interesting twist, each location had a gimmick match for portion of the card. In NY, it was Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T in a boxing match. Chicago had a 20 man battle royal featuring WWF superstars and NFL players, including William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Los Angeles had the main event cage match for the WWF Heavyweight Title pitting Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy.
In an interesting twist, each location had a gimmick match for portion of the card. In NY, it was Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T in a boxing match. Chicago had a 20 man battle royal featuring WWF superstars and NFL players, including William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Los Angeles had the main event cage match for the WWF Heavyweight Title pitting Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy.
With that quick background laid out, it's now time to trek back to April 7, 1986 to take a look at Wrestlemania 2.
The show starts with the NY third of the card. It is hosted by Vince McMahon and Susan St. James. The matches were:
Paul Orndorff vs. Don Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji
Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. George ‘The Animal” Steele
Jake ‘The Snake” Roberts vs. George Wells
Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T in a boxing match
To sum up this portion of the show, the matches nothing great. A couple of them (Orndorff vs Muracco and Roberts vs. Wells) were decent. The boxing match was terrible, and perhaps the worst match out of the four. Heck, it was the worst on the entire card. Viewers have to sit through nearly four complete rounds of boxing, though the outcome is probably predictable. By the end of the fourth round, Piper, frustrated, body slams Mr. T, hence getting disqualified. A dud of a “boxing match” to end the first third of the show. This portion of the show wasn’t helped by St. James’ uninspired color commentary. She said “Uh Oh” about 500 times. Vince McMahon did his best, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to make this segment even remotely engaging to the home viewer. One interesting note here is both Savage and Roberts make their WM debuts. Hopefully, Chicago would be better.
Chicago did turn out slightly better than the NY portion. The hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, “Mean” Gean Okerlund, and Cathy Lee Crosby. The matches were:
Fabulous Moolah (women’s champ) vs. Velvet MacIntyre
Corporal Kirchner vs. Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match
British Bulldogs vs. Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake
20 man battle royal featuring NFL players and WWF superstars
The ring announcer for this portion was funny. He'd repeat everything, which I found amusing (“The British Bulldogs...British Bulldogs”). The first two matches in Chicago were quick duds. However, the Bulldogs (my favorite tag team as a kid at the time), vs. Valentine and Beefcake put on a great match.
The match was fast paced, and moved with a fluidity that has been lacking in all the other matches to this point. In fact, it was probably the best match of the entire 12 on the Wrestlemania 2 card. The battle royal wasn’t bad, but quick and predictable. Andre The Giant was the last participant who came down to the ring. That pretty much gave away the winner. Andre won the battle royal by taking out both members of the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhardt). Now, let’s see how the action in Los Angeles; the final third portion of the show, stands up.
The action in L.A. was called by Jesse Ventura, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Elvira. Los Angeles had the following four matches:
Hercules Hernandez vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Adrian Adonis vs. Uncle Elmer
Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog vs. the Funk brothers
Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy in a cage match for the world championship
This portion of the show wasn’t too bad, with the worst match being Adonis vs. Elmer. Another throw away match in an event filled with them. The Funk brothers vs. Santana and JYD match was an excellent match, and the main event cage match was good, though nothing outstanding. Hulk Hogan came out the winner. The outcome for the match was standard for the time; where the larger than life hero defeats the larger than life villain, a theme that would be replayed out a year later at Wrestlemania 3.
When I first watched this WM, I thought this WM was terrible. However, watching it again, it really wasn't that bad. However, it's not great either. The three location gimmick of this WM didn't work, and felt I was watching three separate events. The production values were non-existent, but we are talking 1986 here. One has to keep that in mind when watching this, and to also understand that WWE was still new to hosting large scale pay-per-view events; as there are a couple of production errors.
The show starts with the NY third of the card. It is hosted by Vince McMahon and Susan St. James. The matches were:
Paul Orndorff vs. Don Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji
Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. George ‘The Animal” Steele
Jake ‘The Snake” Roberts vs. George Wells
Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T in a boxing match
To sum up this portion of the show, the matches nothing great. A couple of them (Orndorff vs Muracco and Roberts vs. Wells) were decent. The boxing match was terrible, and perhaps the worst match out of the four. Heck, it was the worst on the entire card. Viewers have to sit through nearly four complete rounds of boxing, though the outcome is probably predictable. By the end of the fourth round, Piper, frustrated, body slams Mr. T, hence getting disqualified. A dud of a “boxing match” to end the first third of the show. This portion of the show wasn’t helped by St. James’ uninspired color commentary. She said “Uh Oh” about 500 times. Vince McMahon did his best, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to make this segment even remotely engaging to the home viewer. One interesting note here is both Savage and Roberts make their WM debuts. Hopefully, Chicago would be better.
Chicago did turn out slightly better than the NY portion. The hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, “Mean” Gean Okerlund, and Cathy Lee Crosby. The matches were:
Fabulous Moolah (women’s champ) vs. Velvet MacIntyre
Corporal Kirchner vs. Nikolai Volkoff in a flag match
British Bulldogs vs. Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake
20 man battle royal featuring NFL players and WWF superstars
The ring announcer for this portion was funny. He'd repeat everything, which I found amusing (“The British Bulldogs...British Bulldogs”). The first two matches in Chicago were quick duds. However, the Bulldogs (my favorite tag team as a kid at the time), vs. Valentine and Beefcake put on a great match.
The match was fast paced, and moved with a fluidity that has been lacking in all the other matches to this point. In fact, it was probably the best match of the entire 12 on the Wrestlemania 2 card. The battle royal wasn’t bad, but quick and predictable. Andre The Giant was the last participant who came down to the ring. That pretty much gave away the winner. Andre won the battle royal by taking out both members of the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhardt). Now, let’s see how the action in Los Angeles; the final third portion of the show, stands up.
The action in L.A. was called by Jesse Ventura, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Elvira. Los Angeles had the following four matches:
Hercules Hernandez vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Adrian Adonis vs. Uncle Elmer
Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog vs. the Funk brothers
Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy in a cage match for the world championship
This portion of the show wasn’t too bad, with the worst match being Adonis vs. Elmer. Another throw away match in an event filled with them. The Funk brothers vs. Santana and JYD match was an excellent match, and the main event cage match was good, though nothing outstanding. Hulk Hogan came out the winner. The outcome for the match was standard for the time; where the larger than life hero defeats the larger than life villain, a theme that would be replayed out a year later at Wrestlemania 3.
When I first watched this WM, I thought this WM was terrible. However, watching it again, it really wasn't that bad. However, it's not great either. The three location gimmick of this WM didn't work, and felt I was watching three separate events. The production values were non-existent, but we are talking 1986 here. One has to keep that in mind when watching this, and to also understand that WWE was still new to hosting large scale pay-per-view events; as there are a couple of production errors.
Overall, WM 2 was a decent card for it’s time, but it hasn't aged well. The quality of the matches were standard for the day, and were slightly better than those in the original Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania 2 had two excellent tag matches, and the main event was decent, though typical steel cage match fare. The main claim to fame for this Wrestlemania is it was the first, and only event to spam three different locations. I'd suggest watching this at least one time, especially for the tag team title match. Otherwise, I'd skip this one, and go to WM3.
If you're interested in seeing this event, you can find it still on VHS, or on DVD as part of the Wrestlemania Anthology, Vol. 1. Overall rating I'd give WM is 2/5.
If you're interested in seeing this event, you can find it still on VHS, or on DVD as part of the Wrestlemania Anthology, Vol. 1. Overall rating I'd give WM is 2/5.
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