50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s
11. WrestleMania I Was Make Or Break
It's fascinating to think about how different things could've been for pro wrestling had WrestleMania been called The Colossal Tussle and certain other things gone wrong. Vince and Linda McMahon put every resource they had on the line for the first ‘Mania. Backstage, wrestlers were told that it was make or break, and those in the office knew their futures depended on the show being a success.
Looking back, 'Mania I is actually one of the worst in the series. It wasn’t a good card in-ring at all, but interest was significant enough that the WWF went from strength to strength after the fact. That was the most important thing. Privately, the McMahon family were saved from financial ruin. The story goes that they remortgaged the house and used home equity cash to help fund the show.
It would've been a family disaster had the Madison Square Garden special flopped. A modest success wouldn't be enough either - this had to be a game-changing moment for the entire promotion and start building clear momentum. Thankfully, 'Mania came through. Again, would that have happened had it been Tussle? Answers on a postcard, but probably not.
WrestleMania was a strong name, and the promotional materials showing a beaming Hulk Hogan standing alongside mainstream celeb Mr. T greatly helped sell this as a wonderful marriage of McMahon's "Sports Entertainment" with casual pop culture. The first show from 1985 was truly make or break for Vince, his then-wife Linda and the entire McMahon clan.
Customers obviously didn't know ahead of time that it was going to be far from the greatest wrestling card ever.