WrestleMania I

:*This article is about the first WrestleMania itself, for the WrestleMania PPV series in general, see WrestleMania (PPV series).*

**WrestleMania** (chronologically known as **WrestleMania I**) was the first WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The attendance for the event was 19,121 fans. At The War to Settle the Score, which aired on February 18, 1985, Leilani Kai, accompanied by Moolah, defeated Richter, again accompanied by Lauper, to win the Women's Championship.

In the months leading up to the first WrestleMania, Roddy Piper began a talk-show segment on WWF television entitles ''Piper's Pit*. On one episode of the show, he hit Jimmy Snuka over the head with coconut, leading to a feud between the two men. As part of the storyline, Piper recruited Cowboy Bob Orton to be his bodyguard. On another episode of *Piper's Pit'', Piper spoke out against the burgeoning Rock 'n' Wrestling connection, which led to a confrontation with Hulk Hogan. In February 1985, the two men faced each other at The War to Settle the Score, where Hogan won by disqualification. Their on-going feud led to their match at WrestleMania.

### Events
WWF announcer Gene Okerlund did the singing of the National Anthem, with Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura calling the action. Gene Okerlund also did interviews backstage, with "Lord" Alfred Hayes doing interviews near the entrance to the locker room, right outside the ring. Howard Finkel began the first of his many times ring announcing WrestleMania events, on this broadcast.
#### Championship defense
The first championship defense of WrestleMania was between Junkyard Dog (JYD) and the reigning WWF Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine, who was accompanied to the ring by his manager Jimmy Hart. JYD began the match in the offensive position, performing headbutts and roundhouse right hands on Valentine. As the action went back and forth, Hart climbed on the ring apron, where Valentine accidentally hit him. Later, Valentine pinned JYD with his feet on the ropes for leverage, which is an illegal maneuver. As a result, Tito Santana ran down to the ring and explained what had happened to the match's official. The match was restarted, and JYD eventually won the match by count-out. Valentine, however, kept his title as titles do not change hands through count-out. The following match was a for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik, accompanied to the ring by Freddie Blassie, challenged the reigning champions, The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham), who were accompanied by Lou Albano. The U.S. Express dominated the early part of the match until Volkoff and The Sheik began to gain the offensive advantage over Rotundo. After Rotundo tagged in his partner Windham, Windham performed a bulldog on The Sheik. After nearly being pinned, The Sheik hit Windham in the head with Blassie's cane as the referee had his back turned. After Volkloff got the pin, Volkoff and The Sheik were crowned as the new tag champions.

### Aftermath
Approximately three months after WrestleMania, Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik lost the title back to The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham). They held the title until August, when the team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine became the new champions.

After André the Giant defeated Big John Studd at the event, Studd formed a tag team with King Kong Bundy, and the duo faced André and Hulk Hogan on a number of occasions.

In late 1985, Wendi Richter was defeated by The Fabulous Moolah, losing her WWF Women's Championship in controversial fashion. Moolah, who wrestled as a masked female wrestler known as The Spider Lady, won the title after convincing an official to call the match in her favor, but Richter was unaware of the planned title change. Richter left the WWF shortly after, and Moolah held the title for approximately two years.

In a new storyline after WrestleMania, Roddy Piper began training Cowboy Bob Orton as a boxer. Hulk Hogan accepted a challenge on the behalf of Mr. T to face Orton in match on an episode of ''Saturday Night's Main Event''. After Mr. T won the match, Orton and Piper attacked him, leading to a boxing match at WrestleMania II between Piper and Mr. T. At the second annual WrestleMania, Piper was disqualified in the third round.

## Broadcast
The event was viewed by over one million fans through closed circuit television, making it the largest event on closed-circuit television in the United States at the time.

A technical glitch ended the closed circuit broadcast early into the showing at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To appease angry fans who pelted the screen with garbage, WrestleMania was broadcast in its entirety on a local television station two weeks later.

## Results
## References 
*

## Other websites 
*The Official Website of WrestleMania (I)