A revolution occurred on January 23, 1984. It happened in Madison Square Garden when 10 year ring veteran Hulk Hogan won the WWF title for the first time, although for the time being that revolution was contained to the world of professional wrestling. And even within wrestling, it was still limited mostly to the Northeastern United States, although WWF President Vince McMahon had nationwide and global plans underway. Exactly six months later, on July 23, another event took place that, as far as I know, was the first practical attempt by McMahon to cross professional wrestling over into popular culture. It was actually via a women’s title match featuring the longtime champion known as the Fabulous Moolah and her challenger, a young Texan named Wendi Richter, who Moolah had earlier trained for the business. The match was broadcast on MTV and established what was known as the Rock and Wrestling Connection, a phenomena that was short lived but served its purpose in setting the WWF on its way to becoming the world’s largest and ultimately only major league wrestling promotion.
At the time, professional wrestling was still masquerading as a sport, but this would soon change. Once McMahon took over the WWF from his father, he made clear his intention to monopolize the wrestling industry. In his quest to do so, he would soon drop all pretenses of marketing his product as a legitimate sport, and instead offer his package under the heading of “sports entertainment”. It seemed MTV was the perfect vehicle to do so, since his aim was to turn his major players into rock star-like figures. MTV would also give his show a national audience, primarily among young teens, and therefore open a nationwide market for him. It was clear after this that he wanted to change the landscape of professional wrestling. Until then, wrestling was regionalized, with the promoters all respecting each other’s territorial boundaries. McMahon was about to dismantle that honor system among promoters and expand beyond his territory, which was the Northeastern United States. He had already begun to make the moves toward that goal before Hogan won the title. Although the Northeast was a lucrative market, he had bigger plans.
The story leading up match itself began on a flight to Puerto Rico. Cyndi Lauper was an up and coming singer and wrestling fan who met WWF manager Lou Albano on that flight. The meeting resulted in Albano being asked to appear in the video for her single “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, which soon topped the Billboard Hot 100. Albano would appear in several more of her videos, producing a string of hits that brought Lauper her fleeting superstardom. Perhaps to return the favor, she was written into one of the WWF story lines.
Rowdy Roddy Piper, a future wrestling legend, began the buildup by promising for several weeks to have Lauper on his Piper’s Pit interview segment. First Albano appeared claiming to be her manager and responsible for her success. Next, David Wolff, her actual manager (and boyfriend at the time) denied Albano’s claim. Finally Cyndi herself came on as promised, and when the manager subject was brought up, she made clear that it was Wolff and not Albano. Then Captain Lou, being Captain Lou, walked on, insisted that Lauper credit him with all her success, and added in some derogatory comments about women in general. An altercation ensued, and soon after that, Lauper issued a challenge to Albano. They would each pick a female wrestler to manage, with Albano picking Moolah, and Lauper choosing Richter. Richter defeated Moolah and became champion. Shortly after this, Albano publicly apologized and began working with Lauper to raise money for MS research. By the end of the year, he had made a “face turn”.
Before long, however, the whole Rock and Wrestling Connection became a distant memory. The term itself would be forgotten, although celebrities would continue to be featured at major WWF events. Most of its key players faded from view not long after. Cyndi Lauper soon moved on and left wrestling behind. Wendi Richter dropped the title back to Moolah a year later, and left the WWF shortly after that, angry over the way it was done. Albano retired from the WWF two years later. But the juggernaut that was set in motion rolled on. WrestleMania and several annual pay-per-view events quickly became the norm. As the show evolved, the wrestling action itself often took a back seat to the shtick, as McMahon began to attach cartoonish gimmicks to his stars. That brief moment in time in 1984 didn’t last long, but the transition of wrestling from a cult niche market to pop culture phenomenon had begun. And although it took a lot longer, McMahon was eventually able to absorb his major competition and make the WWE, as it is now called, the only major wrestling promotion in America, with the smaller operations now serving as a kind of farm system.
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