Mike Rotunda Recalls Working the First WrestleMania

– During a recent edition of Stories With Brisco & Bradshaw, WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductee Mike Rotunda recalled working the very first WrestleMania event in 1985. At the show, The U.S. Express defended the WWE Tag Team Titles. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Mike Rotunda on The U.S. Express working the first WrestleMania: “It was exciting … I started [in the business] at the end of 1981 and now it’s 1984 and I’m in New York because at the time … there was like, the Carolinas, the Gagnes out in Minneapolis, and then New York were the three big territories. I don’t know how I got there, but that was a quick run to get there.”

On the WWE schedule around the first WrestleMania: “They used to take a little break around WrestleMania time, like a week before and a week after. We flew up that morning, did WrestleMania … [then] I ran to the airport and caught a flight home.”

At the first WrestleMania in 1985, Rotunda and his U.S. Express tag team partner Barry Windham lost the tag team titles to The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Rotunda and Windham will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 on Friday, April 5.