WWF The Wrestling Classic

The Wrestling Classic was a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) pay-per-view event that took place on November 7, 1985, at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois.

The main event was the finals of a 16-man tournament where Junkyard Dog defeated Randy Savage. The undercard consited of a 16-man single-elimination tournament, Hulk Hogan versus Roddy Piper for the WWF Championship and a contest where a fan won a Rolls Royce.

The event included no tag team match - something that would not be repeated on a WWF/WWE PPV event until the 2005 Royal Rumble and the World Tag Team Champions The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine) did not appear on the card. Former champions The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff both wrestled as single competitors in the tournament, as did The British Bulldogs Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid.

Background

The main feud heading into Wrestling Classic was between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper, with the two battling over the WWF Championship. In 1985, Piper became the top heel of the promotion after he spoke out against the burgeoning Rock 'n' Wrestling connection, which led to a confrontation with Hogan. In February, they faced each other at MTV special The War to Settle the Score for Hogan's WWF title, where Hogan retained his title by disqualification. Their feud led to the development of WrestleMania. In the main event of the first-ever WrestleMania, Hogan and celebrity Mr. T defeated Piper and Paul Orndorff. Hogan feuded with Piper and Bob Orton for the rest of the year and often got disqualification victories over them, leading to a WWF title match between Hogan and Piper at Wrestling Classic. A tournament was also being promoted on WWF television "Wrestling Classic" which was to take place on the pay-per-view event.