JamesG
04-05-2009, 12:34 PM
Twenty five years ago, back when the WWF was synonymous with something other than saving pandas, the first Wrestlemania drop-kicked professional wrestling into a generation's consciousness. In honor of the historical milestone, we go to the mat to find out what happened to those spandex-clad warriors that dominated the ring in the '80s.
Bruno Sammartino
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania3.jpg
Before Hulk Hogan was body-slamming other toddlers from the top of his crib, Bruno Sammartino ruled the ring - dominating as a professional wrestler from 1959 to 1987. He tag-teamed with his grown son, David Sammartino, in the first Wrestlemania, to fight young whippersnappers Brutus Beefcake and Johnny V. to a draw.
Now in his '70s, Sammartino is still fighting - he's become an outspoken critic of the dominance of promoters in the sport, participating in several documentaries on the subject.
Hulk Hogan
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania4.jpg
No wrestler has dominated the sport more than Hulk Hogan. Born Terry Gene Bollea, the 6-foot-7 giant won his first WWF championship from the Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden in 1984 and proceeded to dominate the WWF through the mid-'90s, running wild with his unique brand of Hulkamania. He jumped ship to the rival WCW later that decade, with a head-scratching conversion to villain status that put that promotion on top for a year and a half.
Even after finally retiring from wrestling in the early 2000s, Hogan stayed close to the action. After starring in a popular VH1 reality TV show, he now is a co-host on NBC's Gladiators and his own show on CMT.
Andre the Giant
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Andre.jpg
Earning the nickname the '8th Wonder of the World,' the 7-foot-4 Andre the Giant terrorized wrestlers from the beginning with his World Wide Wrestling Federation debut in 1973. Perhaps his greatest moment came in the 1985 Wrestlemania, when he bested his main rival, Big John Studd, in the Body Slam Challenge.
Out of the ring, the French-born Andre Rousimoff was by all accounts a gentle soul, and he dabbled in Hollywood - starring the 1987 classic comedy, The Princess Bride. Rousimoff died in 1993 at the age of 46 of heart-failure.
Bret Hart
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania5.jpg
Bret 'Hitman' Hart was born to wrestle...literally. Bret's father, Stu, ran a professional wrestling promotion out of the 'Dungeon', the family's household basement in Calgary, Alberta. Graduating to the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, he rocketed to popularity as one half of the tag team the Hart Foundation, with brother-in-law Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart.
Though he kept wrestling after his brother Owen's horrific death in the ring in 1999, Bret retired three years later after suffering a stroke. His memoir, 'Hitman: My Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling,' came out in 2007. A year earlier, he hit the road playing the genie in a Canadian touring production of Aladdin.
'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania6.jpg
'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan spoke loudly and carried a big stick - his trademark 2x4 block of wood. Breaking into the WWE in 1987, Duggan quickly gained a reputation as a patriot, chanting 'U-S-A, U-S-A,' along with fans.
After a stint in WCW and a bout with kidney cancer, Duggan returned to the WWE and is still wrestling actively.
Ric Flair
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania7.jpg
Though he wrestled in rival associations like the National Wrestling Alliance and its successor, World Championship Wrestling, Ric Flair's popularity rivaled that of the WWF's Hulk Hogan. One of the most popular wrestlers of the past three decades, 'The Nature Boy' ended his 36-year-career in 2008 at Wrestlemania XXIV, but his legacy will live on.
On Sept. 29, it was announced that Flair's famous sequin covered robe would be retired, too - right into the Smithsonian Museum's pop culture section.
Jesse Ventura
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania10.jpg
Jesse 'The Body' Ventura went from Navy SEAL to boa-wearing wrestler, until blood clots in his lungs forced him to retire in 1984. He did fine for himself outside the ring, however, becoming a successful color-commentator on television, before launching a Hollywood career with movies like 1987's Predator.
He entered a different ring in 1998, managing to get himself elected as governor of Minnesota. Now retired from politics, too, Ventura is in negotiations for a television court show.
Edward Leslie
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania11.jpg
Breaking into wrestling alongside Hulk Hogan, Edward Leslie then went under the name Dizzy Hogan, and the tag team portrayed themselves as real brothers. He later followed Hogan into the WWF ring as a ringer under the name Brutus Beefcake, where he formed another successful tag team, this time with Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine. His shtick was using a pair of garden shears to clip the hair of his opponents after defeating them with a sleeper hold.
One of his worst moves came after he left the ring: Leslie caused an anthrax scare at a Boston MBTA station where he worked in 2004. The white powder he carried turned out to be cocaine.
'Ravishing' Rick Rude
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania12.jpg
'Ravishing' Rick Rude made a name for himself in the late '80s WWF by insulting male fans in the crowd and kissing a woman that his manager had handpicked from the audience. Rude couldn't get along with the men in the WWF either, stoking feuds with 'Mr. Wonderful' Paul Orndorff and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts before jumping ship to WCW.
Unfortunately, Rude's life ended tragically in 1999, when he died from heart failure that was reportedly caused by a mixture of steroids and medicine.
Richard Henry Blood 'Steamboat'
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania13.jpg
New Yorker Richard Henry Blood took the name Steamboat on several wrestling circuits from the mid-'70s through the mid-'80s. Making his WWF debut in 1985, he played up his part Japanese ancestry by adding 'The Dragon' nickname. Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat defeated Matt Borne in the first Wrestlemania and went on to win the Intercontinental championship belt from Randy 'Macho Man' Savage in a legendary 1987 match that fans still talk of two decades later.
Blood didn't stray too far from the ring since retiring from the WCW in 1994, having worked as a special guest referee and a road agent for WWE.
'Rowdy' Roddy Piper
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania14.jpg
Though not technically from Scotland, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper wore his kilt with a flourish and entered the ring to bagpipe music. Breaking into the WWF in 1984 after years on lower circuits, Piper played the villain role to the hilt. He became the most popular foil to fan-favorite Hulk Hogan after Rowdy clobbered pop singer Cyndi Lauper in the head, forcing the chivalrous Hogan to vow revenge.
After dabbling in acting, Piper returned to wrestling in the 1990s in various associations. Now, he's a WWE semi-regular, occasionally wrestling and more often commentating.
Jake 'The Snake' Roberts
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania15.jpg
The son of a professional wrestler, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts earned his WWF nickname by bringing a live python named Damien into the ring with him in a canvas bag. Roberts battled everyone - his rival (and former NWA tag team partner) Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat, his arch-nemesis 'Ravishing' Rick Rude, Andre the Giant, Sting, Rick Martel, 'Million Dollar' Ted DiBiase...and his own drug and alcohol addiction.
In recent years, Roberts has spent time both in rehab and working independent wrestling shows.
The Ultimate Warrior
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania16.jpg
The man who was once known as Brian James Hellwig and then as the Ultimate Warrior, is now legally known as Warrior - a move to retain legal rights to his wrestling name when he left the WWF. Before his legal wrassling, the Ultimate Warrior had taken the WWF by storm in the late '80s, with his face paint and sculpted physique. His greatest moment came in 1990, when he bested Hulk Hogan for the championship.
Since he retired from the ring in 1999 - well, sort of, considering his June 2008 match in Italy - Warrior has become a right-wing blogger.
'Macho Man' Randy Savage
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania17.jpg
Oh Yeah! Randy 'Macho Man' Savage was a two-time WWF champ and four-time WCW title holder who became known for his distinctive deep voice and trademark shades. He starred as Hulk Hogan's tag team. Tragically, his ex-wife, Elizabeth Hulette, who had appeared as Savage's ring assistant in the '80s, died of a drug overdose in the home of another professional wrestler, Lex Luger, in 2003.
Since leaving the ring, Savage has put his trademark voice to work on cartoons - not to mention a rap album - and made a cameo in the first Spiderman movie as wrestler Bonesaw McGraw.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/galleries/then_and_now_wrestling_stars_of_the_80s/then_and_now_wrestling_stars_of_the_80s.html#ph0
Bruno Sammartino
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania3.jpg
Before Hulk Hogan was body-slamming other toddlers from the top of his crib, Bruno Sammartino ruled the ring - dominating as a professional wrestler from 1959 to 1987. He tag-teamed with his grown son, David Sammartino, in the first Wrestlemania, to fight young whippersnappers Brutus Beefcake and Johnny V. to a draw.
Now in his '70s, Sammartino is still fighting - he's become an outspoken critic of the dominance of promoters in the sport, participating in several documentaries on the subject.
Hulk Hogan
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania4.jpg
No wrestler has dominated the sport more than Hulk Hogan. Born Terry Gene Bollea, the 6-foot-7 giant won his first WWF championship from the Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden in 1984 and proceeded to dominate the WWF through the mid-'90s, running wild with his unique brand of Hulkamania. He jumped ship to the rival WCW later that decade, with a head-scratching conversion to villain status that put that promotion on top for a year and a half.
Even after finally retiring from wrestling in the early 2000s, Hogan stayed close to the action. After starring in a popular VH1 reality TV show, he now is a co-host on NBC's Gladiators and his own show on CMT.
Andre the Giant
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Andre.jpg
Earning the nickname the '8th Wonder of the World,' the 7-foot-4 Andre the Giant terrorized wrestlers from the beginning with his World Wide Wrestling Federation debut in 1973. Perhaps his greatest moment came in the 1985 Wrestlemania, when he bested his main rival, Big John Studd, in the Body Slam Challenge.
Out of the ring, the French-born Andre Rousimoff was by all accounts a gentle soul, and he dabbled in Hollywood - starring the 1987 classic comedy, The Princess Bride. Rousimoff died in 1993 at the age of 46 of heart-failure.
Bret Hart
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania5.jpg
Bret 'Hitman' Hart was born to wrestle...literally. Bret's father, Stu, ran a professional wrestling promotion out of the 'Dungeon', the family's household basement in Calgary, Alberta. Graduating to the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, he rocketed to popularity as one half of the tag team the Hart Foundation, with brother-in-law Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart.
Though he kept wrestling after his brother Owen's horrific death in the ring in 1999, Bret retired three years later after suffering a stroke. His memoir, 'Hitman: My Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling,' came out in 2007. A year earlier, he hit the road playing the genie in a Canadian touring production of Aladdin.
'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania6.jpg
'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan spoke loudly and carried a big stick - his trademark 2x4 block of wood. Breaking into the WWE in 1987, Duggan quickly gained a reputation as a patriot, chanting 'U-S-A, U-S-A,' along with fans.
After a stint in WCW and a bout with kidney cancer, Duggan returned to the WWE and is still wrestling actively.
Ric Flair
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania7.jpg
Though he wrestled in rival associations like the National Wrestling Alliance and its successor, World Championship Wrestling, Ric Flair's popularity rivaled that of the WWF's Hulk Hogan. One of the most popular wrestlers of the past three decades, 'The Nature Boy' ended his 36-year-career in 2008 at Wrestlemania XXIV, but his legacy will live on.
On Sept. 29, it was announced that Flair's famous sequin covered robe would be retired, too - right into the Smithsonian Museum's pop culture section.
Jesse Ventura
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania10.jpg
Jesse 'The Body' Ventura went from Navy SEAL to boa-wearing wrestler, until blood clots in his lungs forced him to retire in 1984. He did fine for himself outside the ring, however, becoming a successful color-commentator on television, before launching a Hollywood career with movies like 1987's Predator.
He entered a different ring in 1998, managing to get himself elected as governor of Minnesota. Now retired from politics, too, Ventura is in negotiations for a television court show.
Edward Leslie
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania11.jpg
Breaking into wrestling alongside Hulk Hogan, Edward Leslie then went under the name Dizzy Hogan, and the tag team portrayed themselves as real brothers. He later followed Hogan into the WWF ring as a ringer under the name Brutus Beefcake, where he formed another successful tag team, this time with Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine. His shtick was using a pair of garden shears to clip the hair of his opponents after defeating them with a sleeper hold.
One of his worst moves came after he left the ring: Leslie caused an anthrax scare at a Boston MBTA station where he worked in 2004. The white powder he carried turned out to be cocaine.
'Ravishing' Rick Rude
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania12.jpg
'Ravishing' Rick Rude made a name for himself in the late '80s WWF by insulting male fans in the crowd and kissing a woman that his manager had handpicked from the audience. Rude couldn't get along with the men in the WWF either, stoking feuds with 'Mr. Wonderful' Paul Orndorff and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts before jumping ship to WCW.
Unfortunately, Rude's life ended tragically in 1999, when he died from heart failure that was reportedly caused by a mixture of steroids and medicine.
Richard Henry Blood 'Steamboat'
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania13.jpg
New Yorker Richard Henry Blood took the name Steamboat on several wrestling circuits from the mid-'70s through the mid-'80s. Making his WWF debut in 1985, he played up his part Japanese ancestry by adding 'The Dragon' nickname. Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat defeated Matt Borne in the first Wrestlemania and went on to win the Intercontinental championship belt from Randy 'Macho Man' Savage in a legendary 1987 match that fans still talk of two decades later.
Blood didn't stray too far from the ring since retiring from the WCW in 1994, having worked as a special guest referee and a road agent for WWE.
'Rowdy' Roddy Piper
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania14.jpg
Though not technically from Scotland, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper wore his kilt with a flourish and entered the ring to bagpipe music. Breaking into the WWF in 1984 after years on lower circuits, Piper played the villain role to the hilt. He became the most popular foil to fan-favorite Hulk Hogan after Rowdy clobbered pop singer Cyndi Lauper in the head, forcing the chivalrous Hogan to vow revenge.
After dabbling in acting, Piper returned to wrestling in the 1990s in various associations. Now, he's a WWE semi-regular, occasionally wrestling and more often commentating.
Jake 'The Snake' Roberts
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania15.jpg
The son of a professional wrestler, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts earned his WWF nickname by bringing a live python named Damien into the ring with him in a canvas bag. Roberts battled everyone - his rival (and former NWA tag team partner) Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat, his arch-nemesis 'Ravishing' Rick Rude, Andre the Giant, Sting, Rick Martel, 'Million Dollar' Ted DiBiase...and his own drug and alcohol addiction.
In recent years, Roberts has spent time both in rehab and working independent wrestling shows.
The Ultimate Warrior
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania16.jpg
The man who was once known as Brian James Hellwig and then as the Ultimate Warrior, is now legally known as Warrior - a move to retain legal rights to his wrestling name when he left the WWF. Before his legal wrassling, the Ultimate Warrior had taken the WWF by storm in the late '80s, with his face paint and sculpted physique. His greatest moment came in 1990, when he bested Hulk Hogan for the championship.
Since he retired from the ring in 1999 - well, sort of, considering his June 2008 match in Italy - Warrior has become a right-wing blogger.
'Macho Man' Randy Savage
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e10/JamesGrec/Wrestlemania17.jpg
Oh Yeah! Randy 'Macho Man' Savage was a two-time WWF champ and four-time WCW title holder who became known for his distinctive deep voice and trademark shades. He starred as Hulk Hogan's tag team. Tragically, his ex-wife, Elizabeth Hulette, who had appeared as Savage's ring assistant in the '80s, died of a drug overdose in the home of another professional wrestler, Lex Luger, in 2003.
Since leaving the ring, Savage has put his trademark voice to work on cartoons - not to mention a rap album - and made a cameo in the first Spiderman movie as wrestler Bonesaw McGraw.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/galleries/then_and_now_wrestling_stars_of_the_80s/then_and_now_wrestling_stars_of_the_80s.html#ph0