WrestleMania Flashback: The debut of a historic event

With WrestleMania 29 just a few weeks way, we'll be taking a brief look at some of the bigger moments in the sports entertainment extravaganza. Here, we start with the very first WrestleMania that was held March 1, 1985 at the legendary Madison Square Garden.

Among the highlights of the debut of the WrestleMania, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine narrowly escaped with his WWF Intercontinental Championship, as he defended it against The Junkyard Dog. Valentine's manager, Jimmy Hart, jumped onto the apron towards the end of the match to distract JYD. Valentine moved in to attack JYD, but he moved and Valentine accidentally connected with Hart.

JYD went on the attack, unloading with a series of shots. But Valentine was already a step ahead. He swept JYD's legs out from under him, and put his feet on the ropes during the pin. Valentine started celebrating his win, but Tito Santana came out to tell the referee what had just happened.

WrestleMania I (complete event)WrestleMania I (complete event)

The referee restarted the match, but Valentine wanted no part of it. He grabbed his title and walked away. The referee counted him out, awarding the match to JYD. As a result of the count-out, JYD wins the match but the title cannot change hands on a count-out or disqualification.

Also on the card, Big John Studd faced off against Andre The Giant in a $15,000 Bodyslam Match. The winner would be determined by who could bodyslam his opponent first. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan brought Studd to the ring, along with a bag that held the money. Andre matched the offer by saying he would retire if he couldn't slam Studd.

Andre spent most of the opening minutes trying to wear his opponent down, locking Studd in a giant bear hug. He dominated the majority of the match, not allowing Studd to get any kind of offense in. Andre was finally able to slam him in the middle of the ring, to not only win the match but save his career.

Andre started to celebrate, and even started to throw some of the $15,000 into the crowd at the Garden. Enraged, Heenan sprinted into the ring and grabbed the bag of money out of Andre's hands and ran off with it.

WrestleMania has also been historically known for its list of celebrities that have attended the event. That night, Wendi Richter was led to the ring by Cyndi Lauper for her match against WWF Women's Champion Lelani Kai, Liberace danced in the middle of the ring, and even the main event had its celebrity moment.

Hulk Hogan teamed up with Hollywood tough guy Mr. T, as they faced off against "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Standing outside the ring as a special enforcer was boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Piper started things off by slapping T in the face, but the "A-Team" star returned fire and responded with slaps of his own. Throughout the match, all four men battled back and forth. Orndorff even grabbed a chair and smashed it over the back of Hogan on the outside. He and Piper double-teamed Hogan several times, leading Mr. T into the ring and distracting the referee.

Hogan finally got things turned around, when "Cowboy" Bob Orton would factor into the finish. He got into the ring and and intended on using the cast on his arm to knock out Hogan. But Hogan moved, and Orton accidentally hit Orndorff with it. This gave Hogan the opening to cover Orndorff and get the pin.

Over the next few weeks, we'll take a look at each WrestleMania and a few of the moments and matches from each event. For more information, check out the Houston Pro Wrestling Examiner on Facebook as well as follow along on Twitter.