50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s

12. WWE Lied About A 9 Second Win

At WrestleMania 32, WWE announcers reminisced about the "fastest 'Mania win in history" when The Rock beat Wyatt Family man Erick Rowan in just six seconds. 'That's three seconds faster than King Kong Bundy beating SD Jones at the first WrestleMania', we were told. That was one of WWE's little lies; they kept it going for 31 long years despite being utter nonsense.

The truth is waiting on anybody who revisits that first show today. Bundy smashed through Jones quickly, but the match wasn't nine seconds. In reality, their bout went a comparatively 'Iron Man'-esque 24 seconds. Later, during interviews, Bundy claimed that Jones wasn't happy about doing the honours so quickly, so the sly journeyman pro deliberately delayed the finish before a match-winning splash.

It's hard to imagine chiefs being thrilled with that behind the scenes, but it happened.

Vince McMahon surely wanted this bout to race by so the WWF could shout about a new record. In 2016, Rock and Rowan did legit go six seconds (fans would not have fallen for the same trick during the modern era), so at least they could brag about making proper history. The "nine seconds" idea followed Bundy into his second go-around with the company in the mid-90s, but it was totally made up.

Someone needed to ask Jones why he thought losing in 24 seconds reflected any better on his career as a worker. Seriously, there's next to no difference there, so he probs should've just done as he was told and given Bundy his moment. The fed fancied building the egg-shaped bruiser as a monster heel foe for Hulk Hogan, after all.