WWF Wrestlemania II was a 1986 professional wrestling event put on by the World Wrestling Federation. It is the second iteration of the signature Wrestlemania event, and the eighth event overall of the alternate WWF timeline. The show emanated from the Forum (also known as the Great Western Forum) in Inglewood, California, though the show was billed as taking place in Los Angeles. The main event was a WWF Championship match between Hulk Hogan and Terry Funk, their first ever one on one encounter. It also featured the Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant, in the corner of the Hulkster, while Terry has his "cousin" Brody Funk in his corner. On the undercard, the show also featured an Intercontinental Championship Match between the Macho Man Randy Savage and Brutus Beefcake, the Midnight Express defending the World Tag Team Titles against the British Bulldogs, the return of Roddy Piper in a boxing match against television star Mr. T, and a father-son battle between David and Bruno Sammartino.
Prelude[]
The main event came about as Terry Funk directly challenged Hulk Hogan in January on an episode of Tuesday Night Titans, calling him a fake champion and that he was the only "real worlds champion in history." He then defeated Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff in a #1 contenders match to earn the title shot at Wrestlemania. The intrigue increased when Brody Funk cornered the champion after a match with fellow Jimmy Hart stablemate, Jim Neidhart. Brody seemed ready to beat down the champion, only to be chased off by Andre the Giant. The match was set, with Andre standing in Hulk's corner and Brody in Funk's.
After being unpinned for nearly a year, the Macho Man Randy Savage set about challenging Intercontinental Champion Brutus Beefcake, declaring that WWF Commissioner Arnold Skaaland was playing favorites and that Beefcake was dodging him. Beefcake denied this and accepted Savage's challenge for a title match, yet their first match on an episode of Tuesday Night Titans ended in a disqualification when Savage lost his temper and attacked Beefcake blindly after he accused Beefcake of making "lustful advances" towards Miss Elizabeth. Skaaland suspended Savage for his actions, but Beefcake convinced him to reconsider and a rematch was set for Wrestlemania.
Following David Sammartino's title loss to Nikolai Volkoff at Winter Wonderslam, both he and his father appeared on an episode of the Body Shop with Jesse Ventura. David told his father he wanted to escape from his shadow, and the only way to do that was to strike out on his own with Bruno no longer appearing in his corner. Bruno respected his decision, but disagreed with it, telling David he still had a lot to learn about the wrestling business. This set off David, who turned on his father and attacked him with a dumbbell from the set of the body shop. David then hired Classy Freddie Blassie as his manager and challenged his father to a match at Wrestlemania 2, which Bruno reluctantly accepted.
Roddy Piper had returned to WWF television in January, lambasting the fact that he didn't have a match scheduled for Wrestlemania and challenging anyone who thought they could hang with him in any kind of match they wanted. This brought Piper's old nemesis, Mr. T out, who challenged the Rowdy Scot to a boxing match. Mr. T later stated that his Rocky III co-star Sylvester Stallone would be in his corner for the match.
On an episode of Capt. Lou's Sea Shanty, The Midnight Express led by Jim Cornette had insulted Capt. Lou Albano, calling him a washed up has been of a manager. Capt. Lou decided to come out of retirement for one more match, to manage a new team to the tag team titles, becoming the manager of The British Bulldogs.
Other storylines going into the event were the feuds between "Adorable" Adrian Adonis and Hillbilly Jim, Alexei Koloff and Corporal Kirchner, and Velvet McIntyre versus the Empress Hokuto.
Event[]
The show began with a dark match with Playboy Buddy Rose defeating Ivan Putski, followed by music superstar Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful to officially begin the show. The first match of the night was what was becoming an annual Wrestlemania tradition, a 15-Man Battle Royal. The final two men in the match were The Magnificent Muraco and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, with Orndorff outlasting The Rock and tossing him out of the ring for the victory.
Next up was a Flag Match, in which the object is to raise and remove your opponent's flag from the turnbuckle while defending your own. Alexei Koloff, the "nephew" of former WWF Champion Ivan Koloff defeated his current rival Corporal Kirchner, successfully capturing the American flag from the corner. However, before Koloff could disrespect the American flag, Kirchner chased him and Ivan off from the ring, grabbing the Soviet flag and dropping it to the ground while flying the red white and blue in the center of the ring. The next match was also a unique one, as four teams did battle simultaneously for the newly created United States Tag Team Championship. The final two teams in the match were the Rougeaus and the Hart Foundation, and it looked as if Jimmy Hart's tandem would be successful, until the Rougeaus managed to catch Neidhart off guard when the Foundation went for their Hart Attack finisher, rolling him up and securing the victory and the belts.
Next up was the boxing match, which went according to plan for the first two rounds. However Piper found himself getting beaten down too much by the former amateur boxer, and decided to take matters into his own hands by bodyslamming the actor, resulting in his disqualification. Cornerman Stallone was also confronted by Piper, only for him to deliver a right hand that knocked the Scot on his backside before they were broken apart. Next was the World Television Title, as Ricky Steamboat cashed in his last chance against Nikolai Volkoff after a series of time limit draws dating back to the previous year's Wrestling Classic. Fortunately for him he didn't need the full time, defeating the Russian in 8 minutes and winning the title.
After Adrian Adonis "cleansed himself" of Hillbilly Jim, Capt. Lou made his last stand with the British Bulldogs by challenging Jim Cornette's Midnight Express for the world tag team titles. The Bulldogs and the Midnights put on a quick, but classic tag team match, and it appeared that the Bulldogs would pull it out for Capt. Lou. However Jim Cornette once again got involved, though the referee this time saw his interference when he whacked Dynamite Kid with his ever present tennis racket. This resulted in a DQ victory for the Bulldogs, but the Midnight Express kept their titles as well. This was followed by the father-son battle between Bruno and David Sammartino. Despite the reluctance of the Living Legend, he eventually defeated his son with a belly to back suplex into a pinning combination. When he offered his hand to David, trying to bury the hatchet, David refused to take it and left in frustration.
A trio of title matches concluded the show, with the first being the Empress Hokuto defeating Velvet McIntyre to become the new women's champion (and even doing so without relying on the help of Mr. Fuji at ringside. The second title match was for the IC Title, with Randy Savage struggling to keep his temper in check long enough to defeat Brutus Beefcake. Despite Savage's overprotective jealousy of Miss Elizabeth nearly getting the best of him on a couple of occasions, he eventually defeated Beefcake with the Top Rope Elbow Drop to win the IC Title. In the main event, Hulk Hogan struggled with the technical and brawling mix from Terry Funk, though at least Andre neutralized the advantage of Brody and Jimmy Hart at ringside. Late in the match, Funk looked as though he had the match won with a pair of piledrivers. But Hogan was able to kick out, Hulk Up, and defeat the Outlaw to retain his title yet again, celebrating to end the show.
Results[]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | "Playboy" Buddy Rose d. Ivan Putski by Pinfall | Singles Match | 6:05 |
| 2 | "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff won a 15 Man Battle Royal | 15 Man Battle Royal | 15:35 |
| 3 | Alexei Koloff w/Ivan Koloff d. Corporal Kirchner in a Flag Match | Flag Match | 9:08 |
| 4 | The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers [Jacques & Raymond] d. The Hart Foundation [Bret "The Hitman" Hart & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart] w/Jimmy Hart, The Chicanos [Tito Santana & Hector Guerrero] & The Soul Patrol [Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas] in a Four Team Elimination Match for the Inaugural US Tag Team Titles | Four Team Match for the WWF United States Tag Team Championship | 15:44 |
| 5 | Mr. T w/Sylvester Stallone d. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper w/"Cowboy" Bob Orton by Disqualification | 6-Round Boxing Match | 5:33 |
| 6 | Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat d. Nikolai Volkoff w/Classy Freddie Blassie (c) by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Television Championship | 8:00 |
| 7 | "Adorable" Adrian Adonis w/Slick d. Hillbilly Jim by Submission | Singles Match | 6:44 |
| 8 | The British Bulldogs [Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid] w/Capt. Lou Albano d. The Midnight Express [Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey] (c) by Disqualification | Tag Team Match for the WWF World Tag Team Championship | 12:33 |
| 9 | Bruno Sammartino d. David Sammartino w/Classy Freddie Blassie by Pinfall | Singles Match | 10:58 |
| 10 | "The Empress" Hokuto w/Mr. Fuji d. Velvet McIntyre (c) by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Women's Championship | 7:01 |
| 11 | "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/Miss Elizabeth d. Brutus Beefcake (c) by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship | 10:09 |
| 12 | Hulk Hogan w/Andre the Giant (c) d. Terry Funk w/Brody "Hoss" Funk & Jimmy Hart by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Championship | 12:00 |
Aftermath[]
Hogan and Andre would team up against the Funks for a series of house show matches before Hogan would take on Brody by himself in the future. The Macho Man managed to fend off rematch challenges from Beefcake in the immediate aftermath of Wrestlemania. A six man tag would be set up later on in which Cornette was forced to team with his Midnight Express against the Bulldogs and Albano.