30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania (1985)
Let us at The Lapsed Fan wrestling podcast be the first to say \u2026 The Road to Wrestlemania 31 starts now!
That\u2019s right. The first week of September.
That\u2019s because for the next \u2013 count em \u2013 30 weeks, Lapsed Fan hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro will embark on a quixotic journey through each and every Wrestlemania, in order, in their signature fashion. They begin, of course, with the Wrestlemania 1, March 31, 1985, in Madison Square Garden, a momentous night to say the least.
And the table is expertly set by the expert himself, as Wrestling Observer newsletter editor Dave Meltzer chimes in to talk about living through Wrestlemania 1 and, over the next several months, reporting on wrestling as each Wrestlemania dawned, including never-before-told stories.
Journey this week with Jack and JP through the short-lived, but incredibly successful, Rock n Wrestling connection, including:
- Which superstar Gene Okerlund \u2013 with a straight face \u2013 said on MTV weeks before the show \u201ccombines compassion, brute strength, intuition, and the latest in wrestling science.\u201d
- The story behind the very first WM match, The Executioner v. Tito Santana
- Who the real main attraction was in the building that night, and how it foreshadowed a blueprint Vince McMahon would use over the years to spark interest in his product
- The true MVP of this show. Hint: Roddy Piper.
- The Gorilla Monsoon \u201cIt\u2019s a happening!\u201d Wrestlemania 1 drinking game
- Richard Belszer desperately tries to convey the Hulk Hogan choke-out incident wasn\u2019t a work
- Andy Warhol desperately tries to convey that wrestling is a work, ironically of course
- Andre the Giant\u2019s leg kicking game
- An incredibly nervous Al Hayes
- The historical curiosity that is Wendi Richter
All that, and so \u2026 much \u2026 more. Get Lapsed across the face with the damnedest Wrestlemania 1 review you\u2019ve ever heard, with 29 more coming your way. It\u2019s exhaustive. It\u2019s exhausting. It\u2019s worth it.