![]() Albano and Lauper turned their differences to water under the bridge.ĭick Clark introduced Lauper to the New York audience. She appeared on WWE TV in Madison Square Garden to receive an award and then present one to Albano for his charity work.Īpparently, The Brawl to End It All did its job. Months ahead of the first WrestleMania, WWE laid the groundwork for the feud that would pull the pop singer back into the squared circle. And McMahon recruited a stockpile of celebrities to bolster it. Liberace, Muhammad Ali and Mr. Lauper's time in the wrestling world wasn't done.Ī megashow, designed to catapult WWE into national-powerhouse status, was in the works. The Brawl to End It All main event pulled in a massive 9.0 rating, as Geno Mrosko noted for Cageside Seats. Lauper's presence pushed a standard wrestling narrative into the mainstream. The dastardly Albano had egg on his face. Richter had dethroned a titleholder of 28 years. She dabbed the new champion with a lemon-yellow handkerchief and hugged her tightly. ![]() And once the referee announced Richter's victory, Lauper went from defiant to celebratory. Lauper rushed in, barking at Albano and Moolah. Lauper, you're a liar! You're a cheat! You're a disgrace!'"Īt the bout's climax, it looked as if Moolah had won, but her shoulders were down during the bridging suplex she doled out to the challenger. "After rearranging some furniture, he filmed Albano slobbering milk from his beard and bellowing, 'Ms. "He raced over to Albano's Manhattan apartment with a handheld video camera he'd borrowed from MTV," Assael and Mooneyham wrote. To promote the match, Wolff shot his own promos. MTV broadcast the final match of the July 1984 event, and channel president Les Garland's "eyes brightened" at the idea, as Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham wrote in Sex, Lies and Headlocks. Wolff's passion, Lauper's star power and Garland's favorable impression of McMahon led to the MTV-WWE convergence. Moolah and Richter would soon headline a wrestling special known as The Brawl to End It All. But a sudden dip into feminism was on the way. It was surprising for WWE to use its women's division as a showcase for this story, as that portion of the roster had long been ignored. The rivals needed proxies.Īlbano chose The Fabulous Moolah, a hard-nosed grappler who won the NWA World Women's Championship in 1956. Lauper went with Richter, a rising talent in neon blue spandex. Lauper was no wrestler, and Albano had long moved away from in-ring competition. She flipped over a table and smacked Albano about the head with her purse.Īnd in classic wrestling tradition, this momentary animosity ballooned into a full-fledged feud. When he followed that up with a barrage of insults, Lauper snapped. He talked about how his part in the video was key to its popularity, even claiming to have written the lyrics. This time, though, it was Lauper who dished out the violence.Īlbano appeared and tried to take credit for the success of Lauper's song. Wrestling fans were used to seeing chaos erupt with Piper at the center. The fiery brawler nearly always got into fights with his guests, verbal and/or physical. What looked to be a simple promotional interview quickly unraveled. Lauper appeared in a "Piper's Pit" segment on Championship Wrestling in June 1984 to discuss her "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" video. ![]() Lauper agreed to plug McMahon's spandex-filled circus when she appeared on Johnny Carson's shows, as she noted in her autobiography. McMahon played her music videos at his events. Wolff convinced his colorful client to cross-promote with wrestling. Little did WWE fans know, that cameo would be the catalyst for a high-profile rivalry.Īfter Albano visited Lauper's world, the singer returned the favor. Lauper responded with a hammerlock, pinning him against the wall. Lauper wrote in her memoir, "Originally, they wanted the wrestler Gorgeous George to be in the video, but I said, 'No, Captain Lou's the one.'"Īlbano scolded her in the video. He and Lauper invited Albano to appear in one of the pop star's music videos. The captain of the squared circle played Lauper's father in "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," one of the biggest hits of her career.
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