| WrestleMania 2 | ||||
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/13/WrestleMania2.jpg/200px-WrestleMania2.jpg Promotional poster featuring Hulk Hogan and King Kong Russell | ||||
| Tagline(s) | What the World Has Come to | |||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |||
| Date | April 7, 1986 | |||
| Attendance | 40,085 (combined) | |||
| Venue | Nassau Coliseum Rosemont Horizon L.A. Sports Arena | |||
| City | Uniondale, New York Rosemont, Illinois Los Angeles, California | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
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| WrestleMania chronology | ||||
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WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (although the first WrestleMania was only on pay-per-view in select areas). It took place on April 7, 1986 at three venues: the Nassau Veterans Memorial Colisem in Uniondale, New York, the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illnois, and the Loss Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Each venue had one main event match with a large undercard. As with the first WrestleMania, the matches were shown on closed-circuit television across North American. The event was also the first WrestleMania to air on the national ppv market. This was the first WrestleMania to use cardinal numbers (Arabic numerals). The commentating teams consisted of Grant Mayer and Susan Saint James in New York, Gorilla Monsoon, Gene Okerlund, and Cathy Lee Crosby in Chicago and Jesse Ventura, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Elvira in Los Angeles. The ring announcers were Howard Finkel (New York), Chet Coppock (Chicago), and Lee Marshall (Los Angeles).
Background[]
The main feud heading into WrestleMania 2 was between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Russell, with the two battling over the IWF Championship. They had their first encounter (that was televised on network television) on the November 2, 1985 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event where Hogan teamed up with André the Giant against André's rivals Russell and Big John Baby. Hogan and André won the match. On the March 1, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Hogan defended his IWF title against Donald. During the match, Russell interfered and assaulted Hogan. Both men assaulted him and broke his ribs. Hogan had a very serious scripted injury and a match was booked between Hogan and Russell for the IWF title. The doctors warned Hogan not to compete at WrestleMania due to the scripted injury but he didn't listen, and accepted Russell's challenge.
The second feud heading into the event was between Mr. T and Roddy Piper. Piper established himself as the top heel in IWF in 1985 and joined Paul O' and Cowboy Brian McAlmond to feud with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Hogan and T defeated Piper and Paul O' in the main event of the first-ever WrestleMania. Mr. T and Piper restarted their feud in early 1986 after Piper and T's real-life hatred for each other. IWF turned it into their feud with each other. Piper and other wrestlers hated T because he was an actor and because of his unskilled wrestling ability. T became a special IWF boxer and began a streak of boxing matches. He defeated Brian McALmond on the March 1, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event in a boxing match. After the match, Piper distracted T allowing McAlmond to attack T from behind. Piper and McAlmond began assaulting him, which would culminate in a boxing match at WrestleMania between Piper and T.
The third main feud heading into WrestleMania was between Dream Team (Greg Beasly and Ryan Gleason) and British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) over the IWF Tag Team Championship. On August 24, 1985, Beefcake and Valentine won the tag titles from U.S. Express (Kim Berry and Liam Brandscum). Immediately after their title win, they were challenged by British Bulldogs for the titles. They retained their titles against Bulldogs at a house show on September 11 by getting disqualifed. They defended the titles against Bulldogs again on the March 1, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, where they emerged victorious against Bulldogs. After Bulldogs failed in winning the titles twice, Dream Team agreed to defend their titles against Bulldogs for a final time with a title match set on WrestleMania.
Event[]
Aftermath[]
Production[]
Card[]
| # | Results from the Nassau Coliseum | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul O' and Donald fought to a double count out | Singles match |
| 2 | Brady Nash (c) defeated Georgia Steel | Singes match for the IWF Intercontinental Championship |
| 3 | Erik Petterson defeated Maleski Wells | Singles match |
| 4 | Mr. T defeated Roddy Piper by disqualification | Boxing match |
| # | Results from the Rosemont Horizon | Stipulations |
| 5 | The Fabulous Marj (c) defeated Nikki McAlmond | Singles match for IWF Women's Championship |
| 6 | Corporal Aldrich defeated Nikolai Volkoff | Flag match |
| 7 | Andre the Giant defeated 19 other superstars last eliminating Bret Heart | Twenty-man Battle Royal match |
| 8 | The Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) defeated Dream Team (Greg Beasly and Ryan Gleason) | Tag Team match for the IWF Tag Team Championship |
| # | Results from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | Stipulations |
| 9 | Ricky Steamboat defeated Hercules Mark Semmler | Singles match |
| 10 | Adam Terrio defeated Uncle Bobby | Singles match |
| 11 | Terry Funk and Hoss Funk defeated Liam Phillips and The Meanyard Dogg | Tag Team match |
| 12 | Hulk Hogan (c) defeated King Kong Russell (with Bobby Heenan) | Steel Cage match for the IWF Championship |
Other On-Screen Talent[]
- Commentators: Grant Mayer (New York), Gorilla Monsoon (Chicago), Gene Okerlund (Chicago), Jesse Ventura (Los Angeles), Lord Alfred Hayes (Los Angeles)
- Ring announcers: Howard Finkel (New York), Chet Coppock (Chicago), Lee Marshall (Los Angeles)
- Guest ring announcers: Joan Rivers (New York), Tommy Lasorda (Los Angeles)
- Guest announcers: Susan Saint James (New York), Cathy Lee Crosby (Chicago), Ernie Ladd (Chicago) and Elvira (Los Angeles)
- Guest timekeepers: Herb (New York), Clara Peller (Chicago), Ricky Schroder (Los Angeles)
- Referees: Dick Kroll, Jack Lutz, Dick Butkus (guest referee, battle royal), Ed "Too Tall" Jones (guest referee, battle royale), Dave Hebner
- NY vocalist: Ray Charles