-On this episode, we will be looking at The Wrestling Classic. Hat Tip to Wikipedia and 411.com for info.
-The first Official Foray into PPV for the WWF, the event took place on November 7, 1985 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago. 14,000 watched the event live. The event consisted of a 16 man tournament, a match between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and a contest where a fan won a Rolls-Royce. The event included no tag team matches, something that wouldn't happen again until the 2005 Royal Rumble.
-Piper and Hogan had been feuding over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship for some time. In February, they faced each other in the MTV special The War to Settle the Score, which Hogan won by DQ. This led to the development of WrestleMania. Hogan and Piper faced off there in a tag match with Mr. T and Paul Orndorff as their prospective partners. This led to the match at the Wrestling Classic.
-We start out with the opening WWF credits. Then the Wrestlevision and The Wrestling Classic opening credits.
-Vince McMahon welcomes us to The Wrestling Classic. He brings on Lord Alfred Hayes and Susan Watkis. They apparently told Alfred to act as creepy as possible around Susan and Alfred is a team player. They talk about the First Round Matches and highlight some of the superstars drawing their opponents out of a fishbowl.
-Mean Gene Okerlund talks to Jack Tunney. Tunney looks scared to death as he and Mean Gene go over the rules.
-Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura welcome us to the tournament and to Chicago. They are going to be the announcers for the evening. Jesse is getting more comfortable as an announcer.
-Round 1
-Adrian Adonis with Jimmy Hart VS. Corporal Kirchner: They start out slow. Kirchner comes out hot with an arm drag. Kirchner then with a headlock. Adonis hits a big belly to back suplex and a snap mare. Another one and a headlock. Adonis reverses a suplex into a cross between a DDT and a Brain Buster to win.
-Mean Gene talks to Adrian Adonis and Jimmy Hart. Adonis says he has class and charisma and wrote the book on wrestling.
-Dynamite Kid VS. Nikolai Volkoff: Volkoff goes to do the Russian National Anthem Gimmick. As soon as he is finished and starts insulting the crowd, Dynamite Kid climbs the turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick to get the pin.
-Mean Gene interviews Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. The crowd noise is bleeding through and it is hard to hear them. Savage says The Wrestling Classic is the most important thing to him and he is nervous but ready.
-Ivan Putski VS. Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth: Jesse gives his endorsement to Randy Savage. It takes them a while to get started Savage doing some stalling. Putski spits on Savage. Savage goes out. Back in, Savage rammed into the corner. Putski in control. Savage being pummeled, but hooks Putski’s leg and pins him with his own legs on the ropes.
-Vince, Alfred, and Susan update the board and Nikolai Volkoff comes in to complain that he was robbed.
-Ricky Steamboat VS. Davey Boy Smith: Wrestling holds and reversals to begin. Steamboat bridges out of a hold. Smith with a power slam. Smith then gets a headlock. Another slam gets a one count. Steamboat reverses a suplex. Smith gets the knees up on a splash but he injures himself when he misses a dropkick and crotches himself and the ref stops the match when Smith is too injured to continue.
-Mean Gene interviews The Junk Yard Dog. He says he is not going to take The Iron Sheik for granted and that Chicago is his town.
-The Junk Yard Dog VS. The Iron Sheik: Music Dub City as JYD comes out to Grab Them Cakes instead of Another One Bites the Dust. Sheik attacks JYD and chokes him with his ring attire. A JYD chant goes out. He hits a headbutt and Sheik goes outside to regroup. JYD hits a clothesline for a two count. A snap mare and JYD misses a headbutt. Sheik gets the camel clutch on JYD. JYD fighting out and Sheik gets JYD in the corner but goes to push the ref out of the way and JYD hits a headbutt and pins Sheik.
-Mean Gene interviews Terry Funk and Jimmy Hart. Funk wants a championship match and he’s going to show the world what a man he is as he spits tobacco juice on the camera.
-Moondog Spot VS. Terry Funk with Jimmy Hart: Funk gets on the mic and says he doesn’t want to wrestle Spot. He leads Spot out of the ring calling for a draw. Funk then attacks Spot but Spot manages to get back in the ring and Funk gets counted out. Funk then attacks Spot.
-Mean Gene interviews Mr. Fuji and Don Muraco. Fuji says Tito Santana has met his match and Muraco is in his prime. Muraco then says Santana is the main man in the tournament and he will get to the top by beating the best.
-Tito Santana VS. Don Muraco with Mr. Fuji: Muraco with the early power advantage. Muraco in full control. Santana hits a crossbody for a two count. Santana then with a sunset flip and a backslide for a two counts. Muraco takes a big corner bump from a Santana Irish whip. Santana gets an arm bar on. Muraco hits a hot shot on Santana. Muraco hits a short clothesline and gets a two count. Muraco pins Santana with Santana’s foot on the ropes and the ref waves the pin off as the bell rings. Santana then pins Muraco with a small package. Jesse calls it a cheap win.
-Mean Gene interviews Bobby Heenan. Heenan says he is always scouting new talent and the $50,000 bounty on Paul Orndorff still stands and he is ready to pay.
-Bob Orton Jr. VS. Paul Orndorff: Orndorff gets and arm bar and an atomic drop. Then an Orndorff head scissors and back to work on Orton’s cast arm. Orton gets a knee up on an Orndorff corner charge. Orndorff pulls Orton’s tights on a sunset flip for a two count. Orton then gets a chin lock. Then a head scissors on Orndorff. Orton hits a hip toss but misses a head scissors. Orndorff then hits some elbows, drops a knee, and hits a big right hand that knocks Orton out. Orton loads the cast and hits Orndorff. He goes to pin Orndorff but has been disqualified by the referee.
-Vince interrupts Alfred being creepy with Susan to update the board. They then preview the second round until Terry Funk comes in saying he was robbed.
-Quarter Finals
-The Dynamite Kid VS. Adrian Adonis with Jimmy Hart: Dynamite hits a couple of arm drags. Adonis with some elbows and a slingshot. Jesse bails on Gorilla to go talk to the Macho Man. Adonis hits a big suplex. Then a snap mare and a chinlock on Dynamite. Dynamite hits a gut wrench suplex but misses a headbutt. Adonis works on Dynamite’s knees. Adonis with a sharpshooter, but Dynamite gets to the ropes. Dynamite reverses a charge into a sunset flip for a two count. Adonis misses another charge and Dynamite hits a headbutt and a flying knee drop for a two count. He hits a snap suplex and a headbutt for a two count. Hart gets up on the apron. Dynamite kicking out hurls Adonis into Hart and Dynamite covers for the pin. Adonis and Hart throws a tantrum.
-Jesse Ventura talks to Mean Gene. Jesse says that three heads are better than one. He says he has scouted opponents for Randy Savage, but will remain unbiased as an announcer.
-Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth VS. Ricky Steamboat: Steamboat goes after Savage, who pulls Elizabeth in front of him. It goes outside. Back in, Steamboat head scissors Savage back out. He atomic drops Savage outside. He hits some knife edges on Savage inside as Jesse returns to commentary. Savage gets caught coming off the tope rope. Steamboat gets a high crossbody for a two count. All Steamboat at this point. Savage on the ring apron goes into his tights as referee Dave Hebner admonishes Steamboat. Savage misses his first shot, but nails Steamboat as he gets back dropped inside. Savage then pins Steamboat.
-Mean Gene talks to Moondog Spot. He just moans and grunts.
-Moondog Spot VS. The Junk Yard Dog: Spot attacks JYD coming in but misses a splash. JYD then hits some thumps and pins Spot. There was no referee so JYD counted himself. Gorilla and Jesse then announced that a judge was at ringside and that JYD’s count was legal.
-Mean Gene then talks to Bobby Heenan again. He says he’s still scouting and you never know who will pick up the bounty and that Hulk Hogan is too drained and is ready to be defeated.
-Paul Orndorff VS. Tito Santana: They shake hands as Jesse goes into his Chico Santana from Tijuana routing so If You’re Drinking At Home, you can take a shot. Santana with a headlock. Test of strength. Santana with a leg scissors. Orndorff reverses for a two count. Orndorff with an arm lock. Santana reverses it. Orndorff gets to the ropes to break it. Santana back to the headlock. Orndorff with an atomic drop. Santana in a lot of pain. He is limping badly. Orndorff with a drop toehold. Santana trying to fight out of it. Orndorff drops an elbow on the leg. Orndorff hits a big forearm shot that knocks Santana out. They brawl on the outside and both get counted out. A chorus of boos greet the announcement that both are out.
-Vince back at the board with Alfred who is still being creepy as they update the board.
-Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura talk about the tournament so far.
-WWF Championship Match: Hulk Hogan VS. Roddy Piper: Piper is played out by a bagpipe group.
-Mean Gene interviews Hulk Hogan. He says that Piper is dangerous, but Hogan feels pumped up. He says that the USA has Hulkamania. I was probably just familiar with Hulk Hogan and company at this time due to the Cartoon being shown on CBS at the time.
-Music Dub City as Hogan comes out. Piper attacks right away and they go outside. Piper thrown into a railing. Back in, Piper with a throat shot and then another. Then he does an eye poke to Hogan. Hogan with a corner clothesline. Backdrop to Piper. A big slam and two elbow drops to Piper. Piper with some kicks while Hogan is down. Hogan catches Piper in a bear hug, but Piper hits another eye poke and gets a two count. A Hogan chant goes out as Piper puts on a sleeper. Hogan reaches out and tears the ref’s shirt ala SummerSlam ’90. Hogan’s hand falls twice but not the third time. They tumble outside. Piper gets shoved into a turnbuckle. Back in, a big boot to Piper, and then an atomic drop. A Piper double ax handle runs Hogan into the referee. Piper slams a steel chair into Hogan. They fight over the chair. Hogan puts Piper in a sleeper. Then Bob Orton comes in and he and Piper attack Hogan. Paul Orndorff comes in to even the odds. The heels take off. The crowd cheers the faces and one guy surreptitiously flips off the camera and everyone thinks it is so funny.
-Mean Gene interviews JYD. He talks about his chances of winning before Jimmy Hart comes in to yell at JYD that JYD has embarrassed him for the last time.
-Semifinal: The Dynamite Kid VS. Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth: Savage poses before the match. Both jockey for position. Mat wrestling to start. Savage doing a lot of stalling. They get into the ropes and as the referee goes to separate them, Savage gets a cheap shot in then runs Dynamite into the turnbuckle. Dynamite gets a big backdrop in. Dynamite gets a two count, but they’re in the ropes. Savage drops down from a sunset flip attempt. A double clothesline and both men are down. Savage up and gets caught and dropkicked up to then Dynamite does a top rope superplex onto Savage. Savage lifts his leg up and hooks Dynamite and pins him. Savage is then carried back to the locker room.
-Vince and Susan talk about the Rolls Royce giveaway. They preview the car before going to Alfred and company to give the car away. Howard Finkel introduces Jack Tunney who talks about the sweepstakes. Basil Devito says thousands of people entered. This is a very repetitive segment. Alfred then announces the winner: Michael Hambly, a truck driver from Batavia, Illinois wins the Silver Cloud Classic Rolls Royce. The crowd boos when it is announced.
-Mean Gene interviews Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff. Hogan says nobody has won yet and he and Paul Orndorff watch each other’s backs and will take on Piper and Orton at any time.
-Tournament Final: The Junk Yard Dog VS. Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth: Savage comes out limping badly. Jesse says it’s unfair that JYD didn’t have to face anyone in the prior round and Savage did. Savage is intense as he throws his gear out. He puts Liz in front of him. Savage goes outside with a chair he throws to JYD who hits himself batting the chair away. Savage stalling. Test of strength that JYD wins. JYD with a bear hug. Savage with an eye poke. Mean Gene joins commentary. JYD with a kidney shot to Savage. Savage bumping a lot for JYD. Savage clotheslines JYD for a two count. Savage throws JYD outside and delivers a top rope double ax handle. He sneaks around and rams JYD into a steel post. He then delivers another top rope double ax handle. He then attacks JYD with a chair. He then chokes JYD on the barricade. He throws JYD inside the ring but gets caught coming off the top rope. A couple of head butts by JYD then he slams Savage down. Savage gets tied up in the ropes. Savage kicks JYD but gets flipped by JYD over the top rope. Savage gets counted out and JYD wins the tournament.
-Howard Finkel announces JYD as the winner. Mean Gene goes into the ring to interview JYD. Jesse comes in and protests the match. He is pissed off. Jesse and Gorilla talk about the tournament and Jesse’s protest.
-Vince McMahon, Susan, and Lord Alfred Hayes talk about the night and everything that happened before signing off from Chicago.
-Aftermath: Many wrestlers received pushes by the tournament. The Junk Yard Dog became the man who won the first ever major tournament in WWF history. Randy Savage went on to win both the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Tito Santana on February 8, 1986 and the WWF Championship in a similar tournament at WrestleMania IV in 1988. Ricky Steamboat also won the WWF Intercontinental Championship by defeating Savage at WrestleMania III in 1987. Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith, The British Bulldogs would go on to win the WWF Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 2 in 1986.