Wrestlemania 2

In retrospect, I have to believe this WM was a huge learning moment for McMahon. The first WM established the event as the biggest day of the year for the then WWF and though the first one did not boast a great card, it was successful because of the weight that it carried. Plus the main event was a big match and had that feel even if it wasn't a great match. The second time around, WM was a big event but it didn't carry the big event feel of the first one, because it was not the first. Expectations were raised following WMI and WMII did NOT live up to them. The multiple location idea was bad because it just didn't add anything to the show and kind of broke the flow of the event. To me it was from the lackluster response to WMII that McMahon learned that the matches themselves are very important - you can't just give us a big main event and a bunch of celebrities, the card has to be strong. WMIII definitely reflected this learning.

Also, to me the biggest deal on this event was what I think was the debut of the "Blue Steel Cage"!!!

Watch: WWE Network

Podcast to listen to and watch along with: Lapsed Fan Review

Date: April 7, 1986

Locations:

• Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
• Rosemont Horizon, Chicago
• Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena

Attendance: 9,000 (Rosemont Horizon, Chicago), 14,500 (Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena) & 16,585 (Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum)

PPV Buy Rate/Close Circuit Television: – 319,000 on Closed Circuit Television

Card:

• Paul Orndorff Vs The Magnificent Muraco – 4:10 – DUD
• Randy Macho Man Savage Vs George Steele - Intercontinental Championship – 5:10 – 1* - George steeles lust for Macho Man’s valet Miss Elizabeth is what brings us to this match; and is also his big downfall in this match. This match is short and too the point, and I’m glad after this Mania, Macho Man was treated more serious and got given bigger roles and got to be involved in bigger feuds.
• Jake Roberts Vs George Wells – 3:15 – 2*
• Mr. T Vs Rowdy Roddy Piper – Boxing Match – 13:14 – -5*
• The Fabulous Moolah Vs Velvet McIntyre - Women's Championship – 1:25 - DUD
• Corporal Kirchner Vs Nikolai Volkoff – Flag Match - DUD
• The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid) Vs The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine)– WWF Tag Team Championship – 13:03 – 4* - Very fun match between two good tag teams, I really enjoyed Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid teaming up – think they were an excellent tag team.
• WWF (Andre The Giant) Vs NFL - 20-man Battle Royal – 9:13 – 2*
• Ricky Steamboat Vs Hercules Hernandez – 7:27 – 3*
• Adrian Adonis Vs Uncle Elmer – 3:01 – 1*
• Terry Funk & Hoss Funk Vs Junkyard Dog & Tito Santana – 11:42 – 3 ½*
• Hulk Hogan Vs King Kong Bundy – WWF Championship - Steel Cage Match – 10:15 – 1 ¼* - I still believe to this day that after the main event of Wrestlemania 1, we should have gotten Roddy Piper Vs Hulk Hogan as the main event of Wrestlemania 2. Nonetheless, this match was fun and standard Hulk Hogan going over a monster heel – it’s all fun and simple.

Trivia:

• Roddy Piper who openly despised Mr T throughout his life, has said he considered his boxing match with Mr. T to be the worst match of his career. Furthermore, Roddy Piper truly resented Mr. T because T was an actor with no wrestling ability. Their real-life dislike for each other was written into the show.
• This was the first "Wrestlemania" to air nationally on pay-per-view.
• First, and only Wrestlemania to be held at multiple locations – this idea was to create a ‘bigger buzz’ about Wrestlemania and the WWF – it is universally believed to not be that successful outside of venue revenue.
• Shortly after the previous year's WrestleMania (1985), WWF Chairman Vince McMahon secretly pitched an angle where Jimmy Snuka would turn heel, starting a feud with Hulk Hogan that would culminate in a steel cage match between Hogan and Snuka at WrestleMania 2. Hogan declined, reportedly saying "I don't want to wrestle with that crazy maniac."
• According to Bobby Heenan - A couple of days prior to the event, Bobby Heenan was in a hospital having an MRI done. Heenan was discovered to have two fractured vertebrae, which doctors said would require two bone pieces to be taken from his hip and placed in his neck. The night before WrestleMania 2, WWF officials told Heenan that if he didn't make it to Wrestlemania 2 for the main event match, Heenan would be fired. In Heenan's words, "I left the hospital, flew from Tampa to L.A., went to the ring, worked the match, took a bump for Hogan. After that, I immediately caught a Redeye back to Tampa, went back to the hospital, and they said, 'Where have you been?' and I said, 'I went to L.A. to wrestle.' They said, 'You're nuts!' I said, 'No, it's my neck.' So you have to do what you have to do sometimes."
• Two weeks prior to the event, Jesse Ventura gave a speech to encourage the performers to form a union. Apparently, word got back to Vince McMahon via Hulk Hogan after that speech was made, Ventura was ‘threatened’ by McMahon the next day to never bring up the idea again, or else he would be fired. Ventura worked WrestleMania 2, and then immediately left to work on Predator. When Ventura returned after filming, he told McMahon "Vince, I won't ever bring up union again. If these guys are too stupid to fight for their rights.. That’s their fault - I have my union now. I'm a member of the Screen Actors Guild. I get healthcare, I get retirement, I get everything from them. I'll pay my union dues."