MTV and WWF – The Rock N Wrestling Connection
There are a number of factors to consider when evaluating the reasons why Vince McMahon achieved his goal of taking the World Wrestling Federation national in the 1980s. While the Rock N Wrestling Connection represented a relatively short period of time, it provides one of the major reasons for the success of the WWF in their early expansion years, and beyond. The association with MTV shone a bright spotlight on the WWF and its stars, making them into household names. It laid the groundwork for the first Wrestlemania, a gamble which paid off for McMahon. This partnership – with Cyndi Lauper leading the charge – largely helped the WWF in their quest to become a national and mainstream entity.
Cyndi Lauper was a colourful and talented up-and-coming pop star when she met the equally colourful Captain Lou Albano in Puerto Rico. The two developed a friendship and Lauper and her then-boyfriend, manager and wrestling fan David Wolff thought he would be perfect to portray Cyndi’s father in a music video for her hit single, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.’ The song quickly became a feminist anthem and was an international chart-topper throughout 1983-84. Wolff pursued more opportunities and brokered an arrangement between MTV and the WWF.
On a segment of Piper’s Pit, Albano took credit for the success of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and made a number of sexist comments. Lauper didn’t take that lying down, going so far as to hit him with her purse. The back-and-forth led to a challenge which saw Albano manage a female of his choosing against a female of Lauper’s choosing. Albano went with long-time Women’s champion The Fabulous Moolah, while Lauper went with the youthful Wendi Richter (who also appeared in Lauper’s ‘She Bop’ music video). Lauper, with her bright coloured hair, outrageous outfits and brash personality fit right into the chaos of professional wrestling.
MTV aired the match live during a special they called ‘The Brawl to End it All,’ on July 23, 1984. Direct from Madison Square Garden, Richter (accompanied by Lauper and Wolff) ended Moolah’s reign to become the new Women’s champion. It was a ratings success, drawing a 9.0 Nielsen rating. It was a remarkable result, given that at that time, women’s wrestling was simply an ‘attraction’ that rolled into town every few months. Yet, at least for a time, Wendi Richter was the face of the Rock N Wrestling-era.
Right before the MTV special, Vince attempted to corner the cable television market by taking over Georgia Championship Wrestling’s time-slot on TBS. However, the debut of the WWF on July 14, 1984, was received negatively by long-time Georgia wrestling fans. Not only were they caught off-guard, but the product just wasn’t what they were used to, and the date would become known as ‘Black Saturday.’ This may have been a major setback, however McMahon forged on ahead, helped by the support of MTV.
Lauper and Albano made up after the match, and at Madison Square Garden on December 28, Lauper presented Albano with an award, which was in a glass frame. Roddy Piper had cut promos bagging rock music and MTV, saying that the initials really stood for “music to vomit by.” Hot Rod interrupted proceedings, and then smashed the frame over Albano’s head. He power-slammed David Wolff, and as Lauper knelt down to check on him, Piper shockingly punted her in the head. WWF champion Hulk Hogan made the save, setting up the second MTV wrestling special, ‘The War to Settle the Score.’
For this special, MTV aired the main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper from Madison Square Garden on February 18, 1985, which ended in a disqualification when Bob Orton and Paul Orndorff interfered. Mr T – one of the stars of the action television series The A Team – was seated ringside and got involved in the post-match brawl, to set up the main event for something called Wrestlemania. (In an interesting and awkward moment, Andy Warhol accidentally stumbled into the room while Hogan was cutting a live promo, and had to improvise some comments). Earlier on the show – but not televised by MTV – Leilani Kai (with Moolah in her corner) defeated Richter to become the new Women’s champion.
The first Wrestlemania took place at the mecca of arenas Madison Square Garden (March 31, 1985), with ‘The Hulkster’ teamed up with Mr T against Piper and Orndorff, while Richter challenged Leilani Kai for the Women’s title. Hogan and T won the match when Bob Orton accidentally hit Orndorff with his cast. With Lauper back in her corner, Richter unseated Leilani to again capture the Women’s title. Wrestlemania, with its combination of in-ring action, celebrities and mainstream appeal was a success. Over one million viewers caught the action on closed-circuit television, to go with the 19,121 fans in attendance in the Garden.
MTV’s involvement mostly wrapped up after Wrestlemania. Several wrestlers appeared in Lauper’s The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough video which came out in the middle of 1985. David Wolff was executive producer for WWF’s Wrestling Album which came out later in the year. Lauper was in the Land of a Thousand Dances video and wore a black wig while holding a guitar on the cover of the album.
NBC’s Dick Ebersol noted the success of the two MTV specials and came to Vince with an idea for Saturday Night’s Main Event. These regular specials started on May 11, 1985, and drew an 8.8 rating, and peaked on February 5, 1988 with a rematch from Wrestlemania III between Hogan and Andre the Giant, that drew a record viewership of thirty-three million.
The MTV/WWF alliance was not a long association, but it was highly impactful. The WWF set themselves further apart as a first-rate operation, putting more and more distance between themselves and their competitors. MTV and Cyndi Lauper played a huge role in the first Wrestlemania, after which Vince parleyed into becoming the king of the burgeoning pay-per-view medium, a huge advantage when he was challenged in that field by Jim Crockett Promotions.
At time of writing, Cyndi Lauper is not in the WWE Hall of Fame, and apparently doesn’t wish to be. But of anybody that deserves recognition for playing a vital role in the early expansion years of the WWF, it’s Cyndi Lauper. MTV and the WWF were a perfect mix, and Lauper dove right in and helped make it a successful partnership, paving the road for the WWF’s national – and later global – expansion.
