March 31, 1985: The 1st WrestleMania Is Held

Hulk Hogan (left) and Mr. T

March 31, 1985: The 1st WrestleMania is held. It marked the peak of fandom for what had come to be known as "professional wrestling."

The event -- I won't call it a "sport" -- was a natural for TV, because, like boxing, the size of the "playing field" was small enough that a camera could easily cover the whole thing. Men like "Gorgeous" George Wagner, Wladek "Killer" Kowalski and Bruno Sammartino became legends.

In 1984, Terry Bollea, using the name Hulk Hogan, became the heavyweight champion of the World Wrestling Federation. The year before, he had appeared in Rocky III, as a pro wrestler named Thunderlips. His blond hair, biker mustache, ripped physique and braggadocio made him the most popular pro wrestler ever. He called it "Hulkamania."

Vince McMahon, president of the WWF, decided to strike while the iron was hot. So he set up WrestleMania for Madison Square Garden, which billed itself as "The World's Most Famous Arena." At the time, the biggest feud in the WWF was between Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. So while there were several bouts on the undercard, here was the main event: Hogan, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and actor Lawrence "Mr. T" Tureaud, who had played the antagonist in Rocky III, and was there less for his skill than for his trash-talking; vs. Piper, Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff, and "Cowboy" Bob Orton, a.k.a. Bob Orton Jr., son of a legendary wrestler.

As the script usually called for him to do, Hogan looked for much of the match like he was going to lose. But, as usual, he did a Rodney Dangerfield-style eye bulge, signaling that he was switching to his A-game, and got better. But it wasn't his "Popeye eating his spinach" moment that decided the match: Orton made a mistake in interfering with the fight -- or, perhaps, he was told to, and followed orders -- and that led to Hogan pinning Orndorff.

It had to be Orndorff that Hogan pinned, not Piper, to keep the feud going, so that Piper could say, "You didn't beat me!" Of course, in professional wrestling, nobody stays a hero forever, and nobody stays a villain forever. This bout led to a rift between Orndorff and Piper, and eventually a teamup between Hogan and Orndorff. This didn't last, as Mr. Wonderful and the Hulkster started feuding again.

In 1988, Piper starred in the science fiction movie They Live. It showed that he could be a hero, too. Hogan eventually "turned heel," and became a villain, before going back. But his personal life got exposed on the MTV "reality show" Hogan Knows Best. As it turned out, most of the era's wrestling villains -- Piper, George "The Animal" Steele, the Iron Sheik, King Kong Bundy, and others -- were great guys in real life, loved by all who knew them, including their in-ring opponents; while Hogan was rotten.

In 2002, following a legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment. In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely branding itself with the initials WWE.

Roddy Piper died in 2015, Jimmy Snuka in 2017, Paul Orndorff in 2021. As of March 31, 2022, Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and Cowboy Bob Orton are still alive.

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March 31, 1985 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. The NFL was in its off-season, but there were 3 games played in the USFL, the United States Football League:

* The Baltimore Stallions beat the Houston Gamblers, 27-14 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Denver Gold beat the Orlando Renegades, 21-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* And the Oakland Invaders beat the Los Angeles Express, 30-6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 113-105 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. WrestleMania III would be held at the Silverdome on March 29, 1987, with a paid attendance of 93,173. This set an attendance record that lasted until 2016, when WrestleMania 32 brought 101,763 to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (From 2013 onward, the tendency has been to not use Roman numerals, but that's not set in stone.)

* The Washington Bullets beat the Indiana Pacers, 111-105 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 126-115 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 123-98 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-5 -- at Madison Square Garden, earlier in the day.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Quebec Nordiques, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 7-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 4-4 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.