The Brawl to End It All

The Brawl to End It All is a professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and broadcast live on MTV. It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on July 23, 1984. The show was a major event in the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection in the mid-1980s WWF, and began a storyline that ultimately culminated in the first WrestleMania. The main event featured The Fabulous Moolah defending the WWF Women's Championship against Wendi Richter. Richter pinned Moolah to win the Women's Championship. It was the only match of the event that was shown on national television (on MTV). In the main event from closed-circuit television Hulk Hogan pinned Greg Valentine to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The entire event was recorded and shown on the Madison Square Garden Network however.

The Brawl to End It All
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation
DateJuly 23, 1984[1]
CityNew York, New York[1]
VenueMadison Square Garden[1]
Attendance23,416[1]

On September 5, 2019 the entire show was added to the WWE Network in their "Hidden Gems" section. It was removed the next day.[2]

Background

Captain Lou Albano, a wrestling manager, appeared in Cyndi Lauper's 1983 music video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". This led to a scripted wrestling storyline in which Albano's sexism angered Lauper. Albano and Lauper appeared on WWF television programs to voice their anger at each other.[3] Eventually, it was decided that the feud would be settled in a wrestling match. Lauper chose WWF female wrestler Wendi Richter to represent her, while Albano managed The Fabulous Moolah, who had held the WWF Women's Championship for almost 28 years.[4][5]

Event
Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentator Gorilla Monsoon
Gene Okerlund
Interviewer Gene Okerlund
Ring announcer Howard Finkel

Although the event consisted of eleven matches, only the Richter vs. Moolah match was shown on television and Hogan vs. Valentine was shown on Closed Circuit Television.[1] Several championships were defended on the card. Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch retained their WWF Tag Team Championship against Sgt. Slaughter and Terry Daniels. Antonio Inoki, the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion won two matches at the event, as he retained his championship against Charlie Fulton and later won a 20-man battle royal.[1]

In the main event match from closed-circuit television, Hogan pinned Valentine to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. While in the main event match from MTV, Richter pinned Moolah and was awarded the WWF Women's Championship.[1][6]

The event had a 9.0 Nielsen rating,[1] which made it the most-watched program in the history of MTV.[3]

Aftermath

On February 18, 1985, the WWF promoted another wrestling event, The War to Settle the Score, on MTV. Lauper was involved again, as she intervened in the main event match that saw Hulk Hogan defend his WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Roddy Piper.[7] Another featured match on the card saw The Fabulous Moolah avenge her loss to Richter by managing Leilani Kai to a victory over Richter for the WWF Women's Championship.[8] The events in War to Settle the Score led directly to the first WrestleMania.

The event took place 9 days after Black Saturday and highlights from the event were shown on WWF World Championship Wrestling on WTBS. Bob Backlund was on his way out of WWF after his five-year run as WWF Heavyweight Champion and moved to the NWA-AWA promotion Pro Wrestling USA; Backlund would not return to the WWF until 1992. In January 1985 the North-South Connection of Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch would lose their WWF World Tag Team titles to Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo (the US Express). Tito Santana would lose his Intercontinental title to Greg Valentine on an episode of Maple Leaf Wrestling in October of 1984.

Antonio Inoki would retain the WWF World Martial Arts title (in 1985 the title became the property of New Japan Pro Wrestling after the WWF and NJPW ended their working arrangement) until losing it to Shota Chochishvili in April 1989, ending Inoki's 11 year run as champion. Inoki regained the title a month later and then NJPW retired the title in favor of the "Greatest 18 Championship".

Results
No.Results[1]StipulationsTimes[1]
1DSika defeated Ron ShawSingles match5:03
2DThe Iron Sheik defeated Tony GareaSingles match5:56
3DTito Santana (c) vs. Bob Orton, Jr. ended in a drawSingles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship20:00
4DBob Backlund defeated Paul Vachon via submissionSingles match7:24
5Hulk Hogan (c) defeated Greg Valentine (with Lou Albano)Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship10:24
6DAntonio Inoki (c) defeated Charlie FultonSingles match for the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship3:50
7DAdrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch (c) defeated Sgt. Slaughter and Terry DanielsTag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship17:16
8Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper and David Wolff) defeated The Fabulous Moolah (c) (with Lou Albano)Singles match for the WWF Women's Championship[4]11:20
9DPaul Orndorff defeated Chief Jay StrongbowSingles match6:05
10DAfa defeated Rene GouletSingles match3:43
11DAntonio Inoki won by last eliminating Rene Goulet20-man battle royal13:23
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
D – this was a dark match

References
  1. "The War to Settle the Score results". Wrestling Supercards and Tournaments. July 23, 1984. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  2. Coulson, Steve. "WWE Network News And Tidbits: Latest WWE Hidden Gems Removed, Intercontinental Title Category, WWE 24". Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  3. Beekman, Scott (2006). Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 125. ISBN 0-275-98401-X.
  4. "Captain Lou Albano". WWE. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  5. "History of the Women's Championship: The Fabulous Moolah". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  6. "History of the Women's Championship: Wendi Richter". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  7. Oliver, Greg; Johnson, Steven (2007). The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels. ECW Press. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-1-55022-759-8.
  8. "History of the Women's Championship: Leilani Kai". WWE. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
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