The War to Settle the Score

The War to Settle the Score
Information
Promotion World Wrestling Federation
Date February 18, 1985[1]
Attendance 22,000[1]
Venue Madison Square Garden[1]
City New York, New York[1]

The War to Settle the Score was a professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[1] It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on February 18, 1985. The main event featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Hogan retained the title after Piper got disqualified in the only match of the event that was shown on MTV.

Background

One of the feuds at the event dated back to 1983, when Lou Albano, a wrestling manager, appeared in Cyndi Lauper's music video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" as Lauper's father. The WWF capitalized on his appearance by creating a storyline feud between the two, in which Albano was portrayed as a sexist.[2] As Lauper was too busy to make extensive appearances at WWF events, another storyline was developed between Albano and David Wolff, Lauper's manager. Albano, hyping his association with the band NRBQ, portrayed himself as an up-and-coming star in music management, with Wolff coming along to steal his thunder. This created the background for the first WWF special on MTV, The Brawl to End It All. Albano managed WWF Women's Champion The Fabulous Moolah, while Lauper managed challenger Wendi Richter. Richter won the match, and Albano and Lauper reconciled their differences.[3][4] Moolah, however, remained upset and challenged Richter to a match on behalf of Leilani Kai, another women's wrestler.[5]

Lauper's involvement with the WWF also helped set up the other major feud at The War to Settle the Score. On December 28, 1984, she presented Albano with an award. Roddy Piper, who was angered by the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection that saw the WWF and MTV use cross-promotion to attract viewers,[6] attacked Lauper and Albano; Hogan's defense of Lauper led to a match for Hogan's WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[7]

Event

As with The Brawl to End it All, only the final match on the card was televised on MTV.[1] The undercard featured two title matches, however. The first featured Richter, accompanied by Lauper, defending her title against Kai, who was managed by Moolah. Kai defeated Richter to win the title belt.[8] In the following match, Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo defeated The Spoiler and The Assassin to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.[1]

In the main event match, Hulk Hogan defeated Roddy Piper by disqualification to defend the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[1] Paul Orndorff and Bob Orton, Jr. interfered in the match on Piper's behalf.[9] Hogan's friend Mr. T was sitting at ringside; at the end of the match, he and Lauper entered the ring after the match but were attacked by Piper and his friends. During the brawl, Piper kicked Lauper in the head.[10]

Aftermath

The fight at the end of the Hogan vs. Piper match set up the main event for the first WrestleMania event promoted by the WWF, which took place on March 31, 1985. Hogan and Mr. T faced the team of Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Orton attempted to interfere on his friends' behalf but hit Orndorff instead. As a result, Hogan pinned Orndorff to win the match for his team.[11][12] The feud between Mr. T and Piper remained unresolved, and they faced each other the following year at WrestleMania 2 in a boxing match, which Mr. T won by disqualification.[13]

Richter and Kai also faced each other at the first WrestleMania. Richter defeated Kai to regain the WWF Women's Championship.[14]

In an unexpected consequence, pop-artist Andy Warhol, a long-time wrestling fan who was in attendance, accidentally walked into a room at the end of the event that had been set up for an interview with Hogan, Cyndi Lauper, Mr T and Captain Lou Albano. As this was being broadcast live to end the show, Warhol had to improvise a short promo praising the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection.[15][16]

Results

No. Results[1] Stipulations Times
1D Moondog Spot wrestled Rick McGraw to a draw Singles match 15:00
2D Johnny Rodz defeated Jose Louis Rivera Singles match 11:14
3D Hillbilly Jim defeated Rene Goulet Singles match 7:29
4D Leilani Kai (with The Fabulous Moolah) defeated Wendi Richter (c) (with Cyndi Lauper) Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship 11:49
5D David Sammartino defeated Moondog Rex Singles match 12:27
6D Nikolai Volkoff (with Freddie Blassie) defeated Swede Hanson Singles match 5:48
7D Jimmy Snuka defeated Bob Orton Singles match 9:59
8D Paul Orndorff defeated Tony Atlas Singles match 6:08
9D The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) (with Lou Albano) (c) defeated The Spoiler and The Assassin Tag Team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 0:36
10D Don Muraco defeated Salvatore Bellomo Singles match 2:41
11 Hulk Hogan (c) (with Cyndi Lauper, David Wolff, and Lou Albano) defeated Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton) by disqualification Singles match for the WWF Championship[17] 8:40
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • D – indicates the match was a dark match

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The War to Settle the Score results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. February 18, 1985. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  2. ↑ Beekman, Scott (2006). Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 125. ISBN 0-275-98401-X.
  3. ↑ "Captain Lou Albano". WWE. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  4. ↑ "History of the Women's Championship: Wendi Richter's first reign". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  5. ↑ "Fabulous Moolah". WWE. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Rowdy Roddy Piper". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  7. ↑ "Miscellaneous Profiles: Cyndi Lauper". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  8. ↑ "History of the Women's Championship: Leilani Kai's first reign". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  9. ↑ Blassie, Fred; Keith Elliot Greenberg (2003). The Legends of Wrestling: 'Classy' Freddie Blassie. World Wrestling Entertainment. p. 252. ISBN 0-7434-6316-1.
  10. ↑ Oliver, Greg; Steven Johnson (2007). The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels. ECW Press. p. 100. ISBN 1-55022-759-9.
  11. ↑ Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1492825972.
  12. ↑ ""Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff & "Rowdy" Roddy Piper w/ Cowboy Bob Orton vs. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T w/ "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  13. ↑ "WrestleMania 2 Results". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  14. ↑ "History of the Women's Championship". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  15. ↑ Colin Rinehart. "X's Wrestling Review". xfearbefore.blogspot.com.
  16. ↑ http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/TroubleBruin/vlcsnap-2011-11-26-20h55m29s20.png
  17. ↑ "The War to Settle the Score". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.