When It Was the WWF- the 1980's Quiz

Answer: Pedro Morales

The legendary Pedro Morales brought legitimacy to the WWF Intercontinental Championship by being the first former WWF World Champion to capture the title. After defeating former Olympian Ken Patera to win the belt, Morales soon began an intense rivalry with Don Muraco that would define the I-C title in the early 80's. Between December of 1980 and January of 1983, the two rivals exchanged the belt four times. Morales's second reign as champion lasted fourteen months, a record that stood until the Honky Tonk man topped Morales by 29 days.

Answer: The U.S. Express

'Real American' first appeared on 'The Wrestling Album', a collection of songs performed by WWF superstars and personalities. A spoken disclaimer by Mene Gene Okerlund before the song stated the track was inspired by then WWF Tag Team Champions the U.S. Express- Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo. The song later became Hulk Hogan's entrance theme, replacing 'Eye of the Tiger'.

Answer: Jimmy Hart

From 1983, when it left the National Wrestling Alliance, to 1988, the WWF sanctioned a women's tag team title. The tandem of Leilani Kai and Judy Martin, known as the Glamour Girls, was easily the most dominant team in the title's short history. They were managed by Jimmy Hart, whose stable of wrestlers also included WWF Tag Team Champions the Hart Foundation, and WWF Intercontinental Champion the Honky Tonk Man.

The Glamour Girls' rivalry with the Jumping Bomb Angels, a Japanese import, allowed the women's division to briefly enjoy a level of popularity it hadn't seen since Wendi Richter was in her prime.

Answer: The Trump Plaza

After hosting WrestleMania IV on March 27th, 1988, the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City became the first arena to host back to back WrestleManias when the WWF returned for WrestleMania V the following year. Many of the wrestlers who participated, including Hulk Hogan, later expressed disdain over the WWF's choice of venue.

The arena was loaded the with friends, relatives, and associates of Donald Trump, many of whom were unschooled about pro wrestling. This made for a low-key crowd, as is evident by viewing the DVDs.

Answer: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine

On October 19, 1981 in New York, Greg Valentine challenged rival Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship. After a long and grueling showdown typical of their rivalry, Backlund pinned Valentine. Apparently, the two wrestlers weren't the only ones exhausted from the match.

In a truly bizarre moment, the dazed referee, recovering from a blow to the head, handed the title belt to Valentine, who proceeded to escape from the ring before Backlund could catch him. The title was subsequently vacated, and on November 23rd, Backlund defeated Valentine in the rematch. Valentine does not appear as champion in the title's official history.

Answer: He had blood poisoning.

The main event at WrestleMania V between Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan was almost a disaster. According to Hogan's autobiography, Savage had ruptured the bursa sac in his arm, and waited too long before seeking treatment. When WrestleMania rolled around, Savage's arm was severely poisoned, and the match was in jeopardy. Luckily, in a show of consummate professionalism, he was able to step up.

The two giants put on a show for the ages, with Hogan defeating Savage to regain the WWF Championship.

Answer: Verne Gagne

Hossein Khosrow, known professionally as the Iron Sheik, was an accomplished amateur wrestler who came under the tutelage of AWA superstar/promoter Verne Gagne. Some years later, the Sheik signed with the WWF, where he famously ended the six year reign of World Champion Bob Backlund. WWF boss-man Vince McMahon Jr. planned to quickly put the belt on Hulk Hogan, who had recently left the AWA. Gagne did not take kindly to Hogan's departure, which had resulted from Gagne's refusal to allow Hogan to win the AWA title from Nick Bockwinkle. Sometime prior to Hogan's showdown with the Sheik at Madison Square Garden, Gagne called on his former pupil for a favor. Gange wanted revenge, and offered the Sheik 500 dollars to break Hogan's leg in the ring.

The Sheik did not oblige, and on January 23rd, 1984, Hogan pinned him to capture his first WWF Heavyweight Championship.

Answer: Bob Backlund

Pedro Morales was the first superstar in WWF/WWE history to capture the World, Intercontinental, and Tag Team titles at least once during his career. His reign as tag team champion was very short lived, however. His partner was Bob Backlund, who already held the WWF Championship when he and Morales defeated the Wild Samoans on August 9th, 1980 at Shea Stadium.

At the time, the WWF forbade it's wrestlers from holding more than one championship at a time, so the duo were forced to immediately vacate their titles.

Answer: Rob Van Dam

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase was arguably the most hated WWF villain of his time, resulting from his various interactions with audience members. One particular moment in 1987 involved a child selected from the crowd to earn 100 dollars by kissing DiBiase's foot. The child was twelve year old Robert Szatkowski, better known years later as Rob Van Dam.

Answer: "Leaping" Lanny Poffo

Known as the Poet Laureat of the WWF, Lanny Poffo was a mainstay of WWF programming for much of the 1980's. He endeared himself to the fans by tossing Frisbees into the audience which contained his latest poem. Often times, the poem was about the opponent who was getting ready to whoop Poffo's butt.

His most famous moment occurred in 1987 during an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, when a headbutt from Andre the Giant caused him to bleed uncontrollably, after which he was carried out on a stretcher.

He later became a snobbish rule-breaker known as The Genius, forming a tandem with Curt Hennig and manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Lanny and his brother Randall Poffo, AKA Randy Savage, are the sons of legendary wrestler Angelo Poffo.

Answer: Tito Santana

Merced Solis, known to wrestling fans as Tito Santana, was a standout tight end at West Texas A&M University, where his teammates included future NWA legend Tully Blanchard. After a failed stint with the Kansas City Chiefs, Solis joined the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.

After lasting only one season, he traded in his cleats for a pair of wrestling trunks, and quickly made a name for himself during stints with both the NWA and the AWA. It wasn't until he hooked up with the WWF in 1979 that his career truly exploded.

He teamed with Ivan Putski to capture the Tag Team Championship, and would later become one of the most dominant Intercontinental Champions in Federation history.

Answer: Bret "The Hitman" Hart

Perhaps the most famous battle royal in WWF history occurred at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago as part of WrestleMania 2. Among the 20 participants were stars from the National Football League, including local hero William "The Refrigerator" Perry. To no one's surprise, Andre the Giant won, cementing his legacy as the 'King of the Battle Royal'.

It wasn't an easy victory, however. At the end of the battle, Andre found himself on the wrong end of a double team at the hands of the Hart Foundation- Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart.

After initially struggling to handle the onslaught, Andre eliminated the duo, with Bret Hart being thrown over the top rope after Neidhart.

Answer: Sherri Martel

After losing the world title to Hulk Hogan at WretleMania V, Randy Savage found himself without a manager. That soon changed, as the Macho One recruited former WWF Women's Champion "Sensational" Sherri Martel. Under Martel, Savage added to his already impressive list of accomplishments by winning the 1989 King of the Ring tournament. Now known as the Macho King, Savage's relationship with Martel was severed after he lost a career-ending match to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII.

Answer: Wendi Richter vs. The Spider Lady

On November 25th, 1985, Wendi Richter entered the ring at Madison Square Garden to defend her WWF Women's Title against a masked wrestler known as the Spider Lady. Per the pre-match arrangement, Richter fully expected to successfully defend her title.

However, unbeknownst to her, WWF Chairman Vince McMahon Jr. concocted a new plan by which Richter would lose the match. After the "screwjob" was executed, Richter continued to assault her opponent. She managed to unmask the Spider Lady, who turned out to be the Fabulous Moolah. Ring announcer Howard Finkle stepped into the ring and declared Moolah the winner, much to the confusion of Richter and announcers Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura. Richter immediately left the WWF, and little was made of the incident until twelve years later, when McMahon and Sean Michaels pulled off the Montreal Screwjob on Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

In the wake of the tremendous controversy the match caused, the Richter/Moolah affair was suddenly fresh on everyone's minds, a match now known fittingly as the Original Screwjob.

Answer: The Executioner

Better known to wrestling fans as 'Playboy' Buddy Rose, the masked wrestler known as the Executioner made WWF history by participating in the opening bout at WrestleMania. He was defeated by Tito Santana in a match that lasted 4 minutes and 50 seconds. Later in his career, wrestling mainly in the AWA, the diabetic Rose developed considerable weight issues.

Although he was able to parlay his weight gain into some of the most comical moments in wrestling history, his health issues ultimately ended his career, and later his life.

In 2009, the man who helped kick off the most important event in pro wrestling history died of natural causes at the age of 56.