WWE WrestleMania 2: An Overly Ambitious, Yet Still Profitable, Disappointment

Following the runaway success of 1985’s WrestleMania, the World Wrestling Federation decided to produce a sequel, but WrestleMania 2, while profitable, would ultimately be remembered as a disappointment and is ranked as one of the worst WrestleManias in company history.

This was a night when Vince McMahon’s ambition collided with the real world.  

Three Cities? 

WWF’s first WrestleMania aired from the promotion’s spiritual home of New York City’s Madison Square Garden but Vince McMahon, ever looking to go bigger, decided one venue just wouldn’t do for the 1986 follow-up.

“Vince always had to have the next one be bigger in some way. And I think he was thinking, ‘How can I get more people?’” then-WWF Vice President of Business Affairs Dick Glover told The Ringer. 

To make it as big a spectacle as possible, McMahon decided to spread out the melodrama, holding the card in three different venues in three different cities, across three different time zones, all in one night. Starrcade in November of 1985 had taken place in two locations of Greensboro, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia, so maybe McMahon believed he needed to top his biggest threat to a pro wrestling monopoly in Jim Crockett Promotions, with the two companies very much at war for pro wrestling supremacy in North America. 

Given the moniker of ‘What the World Has Come To’, WrestleMania held four matches at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum, four contests at Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon, and four matches at the Los Angeles Sports Arena as the event took place in three of the biggest markets in the United States. Such an event, though, required precariously balancing the trio of events so that those who wouldn't get to see Hulk Hogan defend the WWF Title wouldn't feel at all cheated with what they got served instead.

Curiously, WrestleMania 2 would be the only edition of the event to take place on a Monday on April 7, 1986. Basil DeVito, WWF’s then director of marketing and promotion claimed to The Ringer that the show was situated between Easter Sunday on March 30 and the move to daylight savings time the following week. To avoid any mishaps related to the time change, the decision was made to hold the event on the Monday night. The issue with this explanation, however, is that daylight savings time was scheduled for April 27, weeks after WrestleMania 2 was due to take place. 

Today, daylight savings time happens in the United States on the first Sunday of April, but that began in 1987 after the Uniform Time Act was amended by the United States Congress in 1986, making the year WrestleMania 2 took place the final year when the time changed on the last Sunday of April. 

Three cities would also make for a herculean task producing the event, with WWF requiring three different production teams to keep the show coordinated. 

Big things still looked set to happen on the Monday night, though, with Vince McMahon telling The Brattleboro Reformer that, “All of our guns weren’t loaded for [the first] WrestleMania as they are for this one. This will be a megaton bomb compared to a firecracker.”

The Card

Alongside the wrestlers, WrestleMania I featured a glut of celebrities, with the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Muhammad Ali, and Liberace all involved in some capacity inside Madison Square Garden and WWF looked to go to the celebrity well once again for WrestleMania 2. 

As there were three different events, three different commentary teams were required and the WWF got creative as each broadcast group would be supplemented by a female celebrity. In New York, Vince McMahon was joined by Kate and Allie co-star Susan Saint James, whose husband was the very Dick Ebersol that helped create Saturday Night's Main Event. In Chicago, former That's Incredible hostess Cathy Lee Crosby joined Gorilla Monsoon, Mean Gene Okerlund, and (for one match) "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd. Stationed with Jesse Ventura and Lord Alfred Hayes in Los Angeles was Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

The celebrity habitation didn't end there. Genuine stars were on hand, including Joan Rivers, volcanic baseball manager Tommy Lasorda, and legendary singer Ray Charles, who gave a stirring rendition of ‘America the Beautiful.’ There were even one-hit-wonders on display in the form of Clara Peller and Herb from the Burger King adverts.

While these familiar faces were employed as skyrockets to the gawking passerby, the brighter lights were on the stars between the ropes with a gallery of the Federation's hungry present, and by extension, its promising future.

Just five weeks after his WWF debut, Jake “The Snake” Roberts was booked in a showcase match at WrestleMania 2 with veteran wrestler and former football star George Wells, in what would have been little more than a TV match today. The ascending Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, meanwhile, was pitted against Hercules. Originally, Steamboat was planned to wrestle Bret "The Hitman" Hart, still one half of the nefarious Hart Foundation. Plans changed, however, and as a consolation, Steamboat and Hart put together a lost classic at Boston Garden the prior month.

Uncle Elmer, at the tail-end of the WWF's mid-1980s country boy fascination, was matched up with a now-singles wrestler Adrian Adonis, who had moved away form his rough-and-tumble New York biker gimmick. 

Borrowing a few pages from the playbooks of "Exotic" Adrian Street and Gorgeous George, Adonis bleached his hair blonde and accessorised with garish make-up, dresses, scarves, and leg warmers, while wrestling in pink trunks and boots. The fact that Adonis' weight had noticeably ballooned over the preceding months made him look entirely different from the man that once teamed with Jesse Ventura and Dick Murdoch. Now dubbed "Adorable" Adrian Adonis, the former WWF Tag Team Champion made it clear what his character was supposed to be when he unveiled the new gimmick on Piper's Pit, telling Roddy, "I did jump out of the closet, and there were no brooms behind me."

WrestleMania 2 was further equipped with some mid-card grudge matches, including Corporal Kirchner vs. Nikolai Volkoff in a Flag Match, Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog vs. The Funks, and Paul Orndorff against Don Muraco.

There were three mid-card title bouts, too, as The Fabulous Moolah would defend her ill-gotten WWF Women's Title against Velvet McIntyre of Ireland. The British Bulldogs, accompanied by the frankly-amazing duo of Captain Lou Albano and Ozzy Osborne, had one last chance to defeat the iniquitous Dream Team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions.

A rising star was also on the card. “Macho Man” Randy Savage made his WWF debut in June 1985, having been billed as pro wresting’s top free agent, and Savage’s shameless bombast and pomp was opposed by the humble, mostly-muted Miss Elizabeth, his real life wife.

Savage would defeat Tito Santana at the Boston Garden in February 1986 by nefarious means, and Macho Man would have a formidable challenge in George “The Animal” Steele. Savage didn't take kindly to Steele's simpleton-like affection for Miss Elizabeth, all the while continuing to aggressively upstage his valet in chauvinistic fashion.

To top those matches, each of the three cities had a major attraction. For New York, Roddy Piper and Mr. T would square off in a boxing match. The Windy City, meanwhile, featured a 20-man battle royal featuring recognisable WWF faces like Andre the Giant, Big John Studd, and Bruno Sammartino, as well as a handful of NFL stars, most notably the popular, tank-like William "The Refrigerator" Perry of the hometown Chicago Bears, fresh off trouncing the New England Patriots 46-10 in a one-sided Super Bowl XX.

In Los Angeles was the main event of WrestleMania 2 as WWF Champion and top star Hulk Hogan would face the 450 lb King Kong Bundy inside the brand new blue-barred steel cage. To set up the match, Bundy attacked Hogan with Don Muraco's help during the most recent Saturday Night's Main Event, all but destroying Hulk's ribs with several corner avalanches, followed by grounded splashes.

Due to his influence behind the scenes, Hulk Hogan had some pull as WWF decided between King Kong Bundy and Randy Savage in who he would face in the main event of WrestleMania 2. That is according to Bundy, who told Sean Oliver on Kayfabe Commentaries Supercard: WrestleMania 2, that he was able to convince Hogan that they would have a "much better match."

Hogan ultimately did bat for Bundy, while Hogan and Savage would produce magic as tag team partners and rivals later in their careers, including main eventing WrestleMania V.

WrestleMania 2 

All this mayhem and majesty set the stage for WrestleMania 2 on April 7, 1986. The biggest question of all seemed to be which of the three locations could claim the hottest ticket?

Almost inarguably, it wasn't Long Island. After Don Muraco and Paul Orndorff brawled to a truncated double count out, Randy Savage narrowly defeated George Steele in something more melee than match. Jake Roberts then put away George Wells in a bout most known for its aftermath, where Jake wrapped Damian the snake around his woozy opponent and Wells messily slobbered in a truly disquieting visual.

The boxing match closed out the New York portion of WrestleMania and it was as calamitous as it sounds. Reportedly, when Piper was set to don the gloves, he was ordered to make fists, then have his hands taped. The idea was to take the sting out of Piper's punches, as by taping his balled-up fists he couldn't extend his fingers, leaving pockets of air at the front end of his gloves. The WWF wasn't going to give Piper any chance to actually hurt Mr. T, whom he still detested after they had issues in the build to the original WrestleMania. 

Not only was there plenty of space inside Piper's mitts, but the actual punches themselves had a galling amount of air surrounding them. Piper and T's farcical show of pugilism would have only been phonier if someone had been paid to take an obvious dive. Piper did lose, but only via DQ, after he struck the referee, then body-slammed Mr. T as former boxing heavyweight champion “Smokin” Joe Frazier watched on from Mr. T’s corner. 

New York had no satisfying finishes, and worse, the home viewer had to deal with Susan Saint James' manic commentary.

Business picked up a little in Chicago, but not at first. The Fabulous Moolah defeated Velvet McIntyre in a wonky 90-second match, while Corporal Kirchner vanquished Nikolai Volkoff in barely two minutes.

The battle royal proved a little more entertaining as pigskin met piledrivers, while NFL greats Dick Butkus and Ed "Too Tall" Jones patrolled ringside as guest officials. Perry, of course, got the most cheers. As a historic footnote, this was the only pay-per-view match for two of the WWF's most prolific world champions ever in Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales.

Andre the Giant was the wrestler standing tall at the end, as he cleared out the Hart Foundation for the victory. 

The WWF Tag Team Title match followed, won by the British Bulldogs after Dynamite Kid sacrificed himself with a wicked corner headbutt spot that took out Greg Valentine. As Davey Boy Smith tended to his legitimately-stunned cousin on the arena floor, Mean Gene interviewed Albano and Ozzy, as though they were the new champions.

From there, it was off to the City of Angels for what was probably the strongest portion of the card. Ricky Steamboat beat Hercules in a spirited bout, and Adrian Adonis defeated Uncle Elmer while taking every crazy bump imaginable to make it watchable. The Funks then outlasted JYD and Tito Santana in a truly-forgotten WrestleMania classic which included a table spot long before they became the norm. 

Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy closed the entirety of WrestleMania 2. Hulk sold injured ribs, while Bundy bladed after getting run into the steel cage bars. The man most worse for wear was Bundy's manager, Bobby Heenan, however.

The Brain was hospitalised in Florida due to worsening pain from fractured vertebrae in his neck, an injury he had incurred in Japan some time earlier. According to Heenan, someone from WWF got a hold of him and told him he'd be fired if he missed WrestleMania. Heenan, as a result, checked out of a Florida hospital that morning, flew to LA, bumped all over during a post-match attack from Hogan, then caught the red-eye back home.

Hulk Hogan, of course, wrote the storybook ending to WrestleMania 2, overcoming his busted ribs to slam the mammoth Bundy, before escaping the cage to retain his title.

Was WrestleMania 2 A Success?

As far as the business of WrestleMania 2 went, that was a bit of a mixed bag. More than 40,000 fans attended the event, with 16,500 in Long Island, 11,744 paid in Chicago, and 14,500 paid for Los Angeles. According to The Ringer, this resulted in a total gate of $1,044,320 making it the first million-dollar gate in pro wrestling if all three events are counted as one. 

On pay-per-view, still very much in its infancy for professional wrestling, WrestleMania 2 drew an estimated 360,000 buys, bringing in $4.86 million. In closed-circuit locations, WrestleMania 2 was down from WrestleMania but still brought in $4.785 million with 319,000 paying customers. 

Overall, this meant WrestleMania 2 brought in over $10 million for the World Wrestling Federation. Costs were high, though, especially for celebrity payoffs, reducing the profit margin for the event, with former WWF CFO Bob McMullan estimating that costs were $7.362 million. WWF WrestleMania 2 turned a profit, albeit not an exceeding one.