The Big Event was a Canada-only professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which took place on August 28, 1986, at the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. The event drew a legitimate crowd of 74,000 fans which was an outdoor attendance record at the time. The event set an attendance record for a wrestling show that would not be beaten until WrestleMania III. The main event heading into the event was between WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff for the WWF Championship.
08-28-1986
1h 55m
THIS
HELLA
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Vince McMahon
Writer:
Pat Patterson
Key Crew
Executive Producer:
Bob Marella
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Hulk Hogan
Terry Gene Bollea, known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician best known for his time working for WWE. Hogan enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and 90s as the all-American character Hulk Hogan in WWE, and as Hollywood Hogan, the villainous leader of the New World Order, in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Hogan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. He was signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2010 until 2013, where he was the on-screen General Manager. He is a 12-time world champion being a six-time WWE Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and a former WWE World Tag Team Champion with Edge. His six combined reigns make him the second longest-reigning WWE Champion of all time (after Bruno Sammartino) and the longest-reigning of the 1980s, having held the title for 1,474 days from 1984-1988. His six combined reigns in WCW make him the longest-reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion of all time as well, with a 469-day reign from 1994-1995. Hogan won the Royal Rumble in 1990 and 1991, making him the first man to win two consecutive Royal Rumbles.
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr., nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with WWE and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After seven years working around the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Orndorff became a star in the 1980s WWE wrestling boom, and featured with manager Bobby Heenan and champion Hulk Hogan extensively, including in the main events of the first WrestleMania and Survivor Series. With an untreated neck injury, he left WWE for WCW in early 1988, where he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Paul Roma (as a team called Pretty Wonderful). Arm atrophy from a nagging injury led him to retire in 2000 and he was treated for cancer in 2011. After retiring, he trained aspiring wrestlers. Orndorff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2009.
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and is a current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 8 times, and is considered by many to be the greatest wrestler of all time. He worked for all of the major wrestling promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), WWE, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was the first NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, which is now known as the WWE United States Championship. Race is one of six men inducted into each of the WWE Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.
Pedro Antonio Morales was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
Debuting in 1959, Morales originally came to prominence with WWA in the 1960s, where he held the World Heavyweight Championship and World Tag Team Championship. In 1970, he joined the WWWF, winning its World Heavyweight Championship and United States Championship. In a second run with the by-then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1980s, he won the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team Championship, establishing himself as the promotion's first Triple Crown Champion. He retired from professional wrestling in 1987.
A popular champion, Morales had particular appeal to his native Puerto Ricans and the wider Latino audience. The first Latino to hold a world heavyweight championship, his combined reign as WWWF Heavyweight Champion remains among the longest in history. He also holds the record for most days as Intercontinental Champion. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2015 and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2017.
John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. In the course of his career, which has spanned over four decades, Valentine has held more than 40 championships, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship. An alumnus of WWE and World Championship Wrestling, he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.
Edward Harrison Leslie is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in WWE under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend Hulk Hogan. He is a former WWE World Tag Team Champion. Edward Leslie began his career at the side of Hulk Hogan in the 1976-1977 time frame. At the time, the two were billed as brothers; Ed was known as either Ed Boulder or Dizzy Hogan, to match Terry's Terry Boulder and Hulk Hogan. Leslie entered the WWF as a heel under the ring name Brutus Beefcake in late 1984 with manager "Luscious" Johnny Valiant. Beefcake debuted as a vain individual who dressed in outlandish outfits. As a singles competitor, he feuded with David Sammartino and Hulk Hogan, the latter who sought revenge on Beefcake after he and Valiant injured Hogan's protege Hillbilly Jim. Brutus got some "cheap heat" when he would come uninvited to ringside during Tony Atlas's matches. During the summer of 1985, Beefcake began teaming with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and became known as "The Dream Team". The Dream Team began challenging The US Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) for the Tag Team Championship. Initially, the US Express fought off their challengers, but the Dream Team soon gained momentum, and at an August 24, 1985, show at the Philadelphia Spectrum, the Dream Team won the tag team titles from the U.S. Express when Beefcake rubbed Valiant’s lit cigar in Windham’s eye. The Dream Team held the titles for eight months, with their primary challengers being a reformed US Express (with Dan Spivey replacing the departed Windham) and British Bulldogs. At WrestleMania 2 in Rosemont, Illinois, the British Bulldogs defeated the Dream Team to win the tag team titles. The Dream Team failed to regain the titles and soon reverted to mid-card status. Leslie made news headlines on February 8, 2004 for causing an anthrax scare at one of Boston's MBTA stations, Downtown Crossing, where he was working at the time. He had been found to be in possession of a white powder, which turned out to be cocaine. He promptly checked into a drug rehabilitation facility after admitting that the cocaine found at the station was his. As a result, no charges were filed against him. Leslie married Kirsten Georgi on July 1, 1987; the couple divorced in 1991. His second marriage was to Barbara McGondel on October 1, 1994. Together, they have one daughter named Alana. Leslie also worked as a manager at Planet Fitness in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. He became a born again Christian.
Jacques Rougeau Jr. is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career. Among other accolades, he is a former Intercontinental Champion and three-time World Tag Team Champion (with Pierre Ouellet) in the WWF.
Raymond Fernandez was a professional wrestler who primarily wrestled in Florida and Texas before joining the World Wrestling Federation. He was best known by the ring name Hercules Hernandez or simply Hercules. Fernandez was also a featured bodybuilder, appearing in several muscle magazines.
William Albert Haynes III, is a retired American professional wrestler better known as Billy Jack Haynes. Haynes started wrestling in 1982 at the age of 28. He trained in Stu Hart's Dungeon pro wrestling school and briefly wrestled in Hart's Stampede Wrestling under his given name, forming a tag team with Bruce Hart. He started wrestling as Billy Jack in the Pacific Northwest territory but had to change his name when Tom Laughlin (who starred in the movie Billy Jack) threatened to sue him. He added his real last name to the gimmick and continued to work as a babyface. It is rumored that Haynes served time for manslaughter before becoming a pro wrestler
Richard Henry Blood better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and WWE. In the NWA and WCW, he was a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a four-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a four-time World Television Champion, a twelve-time World Tag Team Champion (eight-time under the WCW banner, one-time (though unofficial) under the NWA banner, and three-time under the Mid-Atlantic banner), and a two-time Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. In WWE, Steamboat was a one-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Aurelian Smith Jr., better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American actor and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).s a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith. He is best known by his ring name of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and often brought snakes into the ring, including a boa constrictor named Damien and even a de-venomed cobra, named Lucifer.
Roberts is best known for his two stints in the World Wrestling Federation—the first between 1986 and 1992, and the second between 1996 and 1997—though he also wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1983, World Championship Wrestling in 1992, and the Mexico-based Asistencia Asesoría y Administración between 1993 and 1994 and again in 1997. He appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1997, and has made sporadic appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2006 through 2008.
Throughout his career he was known for his intense and cerebral promos, his dark charisma, his extensive use of psychology in his matches, and has been credited as inventor of the DDT maneuver. Roberts was also one of the subjects of the 1999 documentary film Beyond the Mat.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Jake Roberts, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Christopher Allan Pallies was an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy. Bundy achieved mainstream recognition in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in the 1980s and 1990s: he headlined WrestleMania 2 in 1986 against Hulk Hogan in a steel cage match for the WWF Championship, and at WrestleMania XI in 1995 he was also the fourth victim in The Undertaker's now 21-match undefeated WrestleMania streak. Late WWF play-by-play commentator Gorilla Monsoon dubbed Bundy as the "Walking Condominium" in reference to his imposing size and weight. After leaving the WWF in late 1995, Bundy wrestled for several independent promotions in the United States. In April 1997, he resurfaced in magazines when he joined a faction managed by Kenny Casanova called "Camp Casanova" along with "Danger" Dave DeJohn and the Masked Maniac at times in USWF, NBW, and USA Power Pro Wrestling. In a match against "the Seven Foot Tall" Primo Canera III, Bundy knee-dropped his opponent and then "Bundy-splashed" him. The impact actually broke the ring, leaving the two grapplers in a pit in the center of the squared circle. This independent footage was picked up by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
His feuds against "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Doink the Clown, and Tom Brandi are among many main events in the northeast independent circuit. In 1999, at the Kolf Arena in Oshkosh, Wisconsin he won the AWA Superstars of Wrestling Heavyweight Championship from Jonnie Stewart. Later that same year, Bundy the reigning AWA heavyweight champion wrestled again headlining an AWA "Super Event" at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. That night ended differently for Bundy, losing a "bodyslam match" to Koszmar Polski who was managed by Ken Patera. Bundy still wrestled across the country, primarily in the Southern and Eastern United States. He continued to be a headliner and a crowd favorite at all events he attended. King Kong Bundy's last match is thought to have been at the Legends of Wrestling Show at the Pulaski County Fair in Somerset, Kentucky in 2007. Bundy lost to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan in the main event.
Acting career
In 1986, Bundy appeared in television commercials and print advertisements for the Vendex HeadStart personal computer.
Bundy had two guest spots and one bit part on Married... with Children, as the creators had named the lead characters "Bundy" as an homage to him.[28] In 1987, he played Uncle Irwin, the brother of Peggy Bundy. In 1995, he appeared again as the King Kong Bundy character, teaching Bud how to wrestle.
Born in Woodbury, New Jersey on November 7, 1955, Pallies attended Washington Township High School in Sewell, New Jersey, graduating in 1973.
In July 2016, Pallies joined a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred "long term neurological injuries" and that the company "routinely failed to care" for them and "fraudulently misrepresented and concealed" the nature and extent of those injuries. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. The case was dismissed by US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.
Pallies was fond of cats, and had “about 10” as pets at the time of his death.Their names included Stewie, Paige, Gio, and Pat
John William Minton was an American professional wrestler and actor who was born and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd.
Bill Eadie is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar. He was a high school teacher and coach at Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Ohio, and at East Liverpool, Ohio.
André René Roussimoff, best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff stood at over seven feet tall, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess growth hormone, and later resulted in acromegaly. It also led to his being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World"
Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995. Throughout his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and four singles competitors to championship gold. Albano was part of the "Triumvirate of Terror," a threesome of nefarious WWF managers that also included The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Freddie Blassie. The trio would be fixtures in the company for a decade, until the Grand Wizard's death in 1983. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, Albano was the forefather of the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling's crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects. He became well-known to a new generation of fans as the actor and voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! In 1953, Albano married his high school sweetheart, Geraldine Tango. The marriage lasted 56 years, until his death. Albano has been noted by several others for his faithfulness to his wife, a rare characteristic in the on-the-road world of 1970s and 1980s professional wrestling.
Albano released his autobiography, Often Imitated, Never Duplicated, on July 20, 2008 through his website. The book includes a foreword by Cyndi Lauper.
The other Albano siblings are Vincent, George, Eleanor, and Carl, all of whom became teachers. Albano's brother, Carl, taught health for 32 years at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and was head of the Ridgewood High health department from 1974 until 2001. Carl's students have noted that he used his brother Lou as an example of the difference between crazy and unique. George served as the Principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon, New York and often brought Lou in to delight the school's students during their lunch hour. Vincent was an art teacher and lived part-time in a lake house in Connecticut. Eleanor was a music teacher for preschool students in Connecticut and impacts the lives of countless students through music.
Albano's son, Carl Albano, has been a member of the Putnam County Legislature since 2011.
During the 1990s, Albano shed 150 pounds (70 kg) following a health scare. In May 2005, Albano suffered a heart attack, but later recovered. Albano was sent home from the hospital and again began watching his health.
The song "Captain Lou" by Kimya Dawson is dedicated to him.
In 1983 the band NRBQ wrote a song about Albano called "Captain Lou." Albano was featured as a singer on that song as well on another called "Boardin' House Pie." Both of these songs appear on NRBQ's Tap Dancin' Bats compilation, their Lou and Q spoken-word comedy record, as well as their out-of-print, hard-to-find single which Albano used to sell at his wrestling matches.
Albano died on October 14, 2009 of a heart attack while residing in hospice care.He was 76 years old.
Richard Van Slater better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Slater began wrestling with Mike Graham at Robinson High School, in Tampa, Florida. He attended the University of Tampa with Paul Orndorff. From there he began wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling. He worked as a booker in Knoxville, Tennessee after Ron Fuller sold his promotion to Jim Barnett. He wrestled in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (later World Championship Wrestling), where he appeared on the first Starrcade. He also worked in Mid-South Wrestling Association, where he was managed by Dark Journey. Slater made some trips to the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. He wrestled briefly in WWE as a babyface under a "Rebel" gimmick, but soon returned to WCW. He wrestled there until receiving his back injury that ended his career.
In June 2004, Slater was convicted for the stabbing of his former girlfriend Theresa Halbert. He was sentenced to one year of house arrest and two years of probation. He blamed the incident on influence from painkillers.
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog (or JYD for short), a nickname Ritter received while working in a wrecking yard. Entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, to the music of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," JYD regularly headlined cards that sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues, becoming "the first blackwrestler to be made the undisputed top star of his promotion". JYD was one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. JYD was most known for his head butt and upper-body strength, the latter of which saw him regularly body slam such large wrestlers as The One Man Gang, Kamala, and King Kong Bundy. The word "Thump," which referred to JYD's power slam, was prominently displayed on his wrestling trunks.
Keith Adonis Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Adrian Adonis. He was best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association and WWE throughout the 1980s.
Theodore Arcidi (born June 16, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler, actor and powerlifter from the United States of America. He is known to be the first man in history to bench press over 700 pounds in competition, establishing an official world record.
Tonga 'Uli'uli Fifita is a Tongan professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as Haku. He is also known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wrestled under the name Meng. In WWE, he also wrestled under the names King Tonga and King Haku. Fifita headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE and WCW and is a former WWE World Tag Team Champion along with Andre the Giant as one-half of The Colossal Connection.
Don Muraco is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with WWE from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on two occasions and was crowned the inaugural winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 1985. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014.
James Brunzell is a retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name "Jumping" Jim Brunzell. Known for his successful tag teams, Brunzell performed for various wrestling promotions over the course of approximately two decades.
National Wrestling Alliance:
During the later half of the 1970s, he signed to wrestle for the Mid-Atlantic region and won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship twice, a significant singles title at the time.
Return to AWA:
Upon returning to AWA, Brunzell reformed his tag team with Greg Gagne, known as the "High Flyers", and was elevated to main event status. The tandem of Brunzell and Gagne held the AWA World Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions, feuding with teams like Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis and Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera. Brunzell remained with the AWA in both tag team and singles competition until 1985.
WWE:
Brunzell then signed to wrestle with WWE as they continued their national expansion. Here, he formed the popular tag team, The Killer Bees, with another WWE newcomer, B. Brian Blair. Apparently, Verne and Greg Gagne felt somewhat betrayed by the move. Gagne even expressed his displeasure during an AWA broadcast, making subtle references to Brunzell's departure and his new gimmick. Brunzell and Blair experienced moderate success while with WWE. The two feuded with the likes of The Hart Foundation as well as the Funks, Jimmy Jack Funk and Hoss Funk, who they faced in front of over 74,000 fans at The Big Event. Their stay was also highlighted by a match against Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik as part of WrestleMania III and a win at the inaugural Survivor Series on Thanksgiving Day 1987. The Killer Bees teamed together until Blair left the promotion in 1988. Brunzell continued in singles competition for a time, being used to put over newer talent like Curt Hennig and Damien Demento as late as a Raw episode in April 1993.
Independent circuit:
He left WWE in 1991 and competed on the independent circuit, primarily in the Chicago area. Brunzell also wrestled for Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1991. While there, he reunited with B. Brian Blair under the name Masked Confusion, winning the tag team title twice. After the UWF closed, Brunzell returned to the independent circuit and continued to wrestle until late 1999, when Brunzell faced fellow wrestler, The Hater.
Currently, Brunzell works as a financial planner for Focus Financial in the Minneapolis area, he is also active in his church and does charity work for children with diabetes.
Brian Leslie Blair is a professional wrestler and American politician. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name B. Brian Blair as one half of the tag team The Killer Bees in the 1980s.
Dorrance Earnest "Dory" Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk, Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of The Texas Cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional wrestling school. His students and friends participate in a wrestling show, local to Ocala, Florida, called !Bang!. Dory is a former world heavyweight champion, having held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once. To date, he was the fifth longest reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time, holding it for over four years. In addition, he also held the major heavyweight titles (but not officially recognized as World Titles): WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once, the CWA World Heavyweight Championship once. He is also a 2009 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee.
Raymond Louis Heenan was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), WWE and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Heenan was known for his skill in elevating villainous on-screen talent by drawing negative reactions for himself and his wrestlers from the crowd. He was paired with numerous wrestlers, including Nick Bockwinkel, whom he led to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and he became an integral figure in the 1980s professional wrestling boom by managing King Kong Bundy and André the Giant in WWE main event matches with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania III respectively. The wrestlers under his tutelage were collectively known as "The Heenan Family" at various times throughout his career.
Known for his quick wit and comedic ability, Heenan also served as a color commentator and is remembered for his on-screen repartee with Gorilla Monsoon. Outside of wrestling, Heenan authored two books, appeared on numerous television shows, and briefly hosted a parody talk show titled The Bobby Heenan Show on WWE Prime Time Wrestling. Heenan retired in 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven after a seventeen-year stint as a commentator in professional wrestling but he continued to make sporadic appearances in several promotions. In 2002, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which limited his appearances in later years, and died from complications of the disease in 2017. Among other honors, he has been inducted into the Professional Wrestling, WWE, and Wrestling Observer halls of fame. After his death, multiple wrestling commentators described his manager persona as the "greatest professional wrestling manager of all time."
Harry Fujiwara is an American former professional wrestler and manager, best known by his ring name Mr. Fuji. He was infamous for often throwing salt in the eyes of face wrestlers. Although he was billed as Japanese, he is a Japanese-American born in Hawaii.
