Wrestlemania– Where the stars come out to shine (Mania 1 & 2)

A history of celebrities at the big event

 

(Part 1 Featuring Wrestlemania 1 & 2)

 

 

One of the key attractions over the years for casual fans at Wrestlemania has been the list of celebrities from both the entertainment and sports fields that have crossed over onto the grandest stage of all. We’re going to look back at everyone who took part, what their role was and how effective it was. Join me now for a trip down memory lane starting with …

 

Wrestlemania 1

 

Celebrities and guest stars include:

 

Wrestler: Mr. T

 

Guest Manager: Cyndi Lauper

 

Special Referee: Muhammad Ali

 

Guest ring announcer: Billy Martin

 

Guest time keeper: Liberace

 

Special Appearance: The Rockettes

 

Looking back Mr. T seems to get most of the credit for bringing the star power to the inaugural Wrestlemania, but while he was a major part these were some huge celebrities from that era even if people don’t realise how huge they were now.

 

No question Mr. T was the biggest draw here, coming off a star making movie role in Rocky 3 and as the break out character in A Team which was easily the # 1 rated TV show at the time he had become a cultural icon. Add in the fact that he was actually wrestling and had the perfect foil in Piper and he was actually giving Hogan the rub in this match. It also helps that the match itself, while not an all time classic, was very solid and likely the best on the card.

 

But make no mistake while T was a huge draw Cyndi Lauper meant almost as much on this night. At the time either her or Madonna was arguably the biggest female singing star in the world, Lady Gaga compared to Katy Perry today, so getting her involved was a massive deal. While Mr. T was the biggest money draw on the show, Lauper’s appearance with a 2^nd celebrity of this magnitude gave the show the feel that something truly special was happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile Muhammad Ali at ringside gave it a little extra feel. Ali wasn’t looked at in the same light as at his peak or as today when the years have given us the perspective as to how groundbreaking a figure he was, the images of his last few fights when he had hung on too long were still in people’s minds in 1985. Still, he was still Muhammad Ali. I mean really think about that, Wrestlemania had Muhammad Ali, quite possibly the most famous man of the 20^th century. And he wasn’t even seen as the biggest celebrity there! Still people paid to see him that night because he they knew he was going to do something, they just wanted to see what.

 

 

The other celebrities also had a key role. Multiple time New York Yankees manager Billy Martin was a popular and colourful figure. His interview hyping his appearance at Wrestlemania is well known for Mean Gene Okerlund looking back and laughing at his frustration that Martin showed up in no true condition to perform. Unfortunately Billy Martin would pass early after reports of his drinking and driving in an ice storm caused a car crash.

And iconic Las Vegas lounge act Liberace fit in perfectly with the sports entertainment image Vince McMahon had in mind for his product. His moment in line with the Rockettes dance troupe most famous from playing Carnegie Hall seems silly but was one of the lasting images from the show to this day.

 

All in all the celebrities played their parts perfectly at Wrestlemania 1, leading us to…

 

 

Wrestlemania 2

 

Celebrities and guest stars include:

 

America the Beautiful: Ray Charles

 

Boxer: Mt. T

 

Guest ring announcer: Tommy Lasorda

 

Guest Commentator: Elvira

 

Guest timekeeper: Ricky Schroeder

 

Guest Boxing Judge: G. Gordon Liddy

 

Guest Boxing Judge: Darryl Dawkins

 

Guest timekeeper: Herb

 

Guest Boxing Judge: Cab Calloway

 

Guest timekeeper: Clara Peller

 

Boxing Match Corner Man: Joe Frazier

 

Boxing Trainer: Lou Duva

 

NFL Participants in Battle Royal:

 

Jimbo Covet (Chicago Bears), Harvey Martin (Former – Dallas Cowboys), Ernie Holmes (Former – Pittsburgh Steelers), Bill Fralic (Atlanta Falcons), Russ Francis (San Francisco 49ers), William “Refrigerator” Perry (Chicago Bears)

 

Guest Manager: Ozzy Osbourne

 

Guest Commentator: Susan St. James

 

Guest ring announcer: Joan Rivers

 

Guest Commentator: Cathy Lee Crosby

 

Whew! Wrestlemania 2 billed itself as celebrities galore, and it delivered. Did it hurt the show to have this many guests on? A little, but not too much.

 

Most of these names were not that big, so with this many I won’t even bother to go into detail on the ones that didn’t matter too much, suffice to say for many of them were just experiencing their 15 minutes of fame, and it doesn’t really matter if someone was a gues timekeeper or ring announcer anyway, so I’ll just concentrate on those that made a difference in people purchasing the show or in the viewing experience.

 

Ray Charles sang America The Beautiful. Let’s see, it’s Ray Charles, it’s America The Beautiful, was it awesome? Uh… Yeah!

 

With Ozzy Osbourne the WWF was trying very hard to repeat the success of Cyndi Lauper by having a musician come down to the ring as a guest manager. They even had Lou Albano attached both times. Unfortunately where Lauper felt organic to the situation Osbourne felt tacked on and didn’t work. It also didn’t help that his real life persona of a drunk and drug crazed mad man didn’t fit in with the wholesome image the WWF was portraying The British Bulldogs with, fortunately it probably did fit in with the drunk and drug crazed mad men the British Bulldogs were backstage.

 

The announce teams at mania 2 were extremely unique. An established and award winning TV actress Susan Saint James & Vince McMahon opened calling the show. This seemingly odd pairing came about as James is the wife of one of Vince’s closest friends Dick Ebersol, who also was largely responsible for getting Saturday Night Main Event on the air. Cathy Lee Crosby, an actress best known as one of the hosts of mid 80’s television phenomenon That’s Incredible! worked during the Chicago portion of the telecast with Gorilla Monsoon, and finally Lord Alfred Hayes and Jesse “The Body” Ventura called the final matches with cult figure Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. I think everyone is grateful the WWF only tried this once. While it could have been worse, it wasn’t great. James tried the hardest, Crosby seemed to have the most wrestling knowledge and Elvira had the best chemistry especially with Ventura, but honestly no one was clamouring for this gimmick to return. That said, every single one of these was a better commentary group than the worst ever, Michael Cole and “The Coach” Jonathon Coachman at Wrestlemania 24.

 

 

Mr. T returned to main event the New York portion of the show, as Wrestlemania 2 was held there plus Chicago and Los Angeles, and he was still a huge star riding a massive wave of momentum. Still, people had already seen him and Piper, so it wasn’t as fresh. Add that to the fact that wrestling fans were wanting to cheer one of their own in the Hot Rod and resented this being a boxing match favouring Mr. T and this didn’t go over quite as well as at the 1^st mania, and this time Mr. T was the 2^nd biggest drawing celebrity for the show. As for the match, real life legendary boxing figures Smoking Joe Frazier and Lou Duva helped lend a level of realism to the match prior to it starting, but once it began, it was a major bomb. Largely considered by many one of the worst major matches in mania history this had disaster written all over it as the two had trust issues going into the match largely stemming from Piper wanting to protect his spot from the arrogant Mr. T who was disliked by the boys in the locker room. That said, I’ve always found this match perversely entertaining.

The biggest celebrity edition to this Wrestlemania was the NFL players, with one, William Perry, standing out amongst the rest in popularity especially with the event being in Chicago where he played. While a 6”2 335lb defensive lineman wouldn’t stand out in today’s NFL his size was a major factor in the mid 80’s. Combine that with a great nickname, playing for a dominate team, his getting to carry the ball for the occasional short yardage situation (his touchdown scored in Super Bowl XX when Walter Payton, the heart of the Bears team and arguably the greatest running back of all time didn’t get one is still a sore point amongst football purist to this day) and an affable personality led to one of the most charismatic figures in the country. The “Fridge” became a household name and was the biggest celebrity draw of Wrestlemania 2 by a country mile. That said, on the night of the actual event, Atlanta Falcons Offensive Lineman Bill Fralic was the best performer. In a backstage interview he cut with Big John Studd you could just tell Vince must have wanted him badly. Fralic would have been a huge star in wrestling, with a great look and natural heel charisma.

 

So the WWF definitely went overboard with the 2^nd event, but this was Vince’s way of telling the sports and entertainment moguls that his company was the place to be, and since he was right at this time, you can’t blame him. After all, it wouldn’t always quite stay that way, but in 1986 the World Wrestling Federation was on fire

 

 

That’s the end of part one, but be on the lookout for part 2 soon

 

Mo