Update On The Madison Square Garden/WWE Special – Piper, McMahon, More

MSG Network has announced the details behind their WrestleMania I special set to air on Friday. The special airs at 10:30 PM on the network and is part of their twenty-part “The Garden’s Defining Moments” series.

The special will be narrated by Ben Stiller and includes interviews with Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, the late Roddy Piper, Cyndi Lauper, Mean Gene Okerlund and more. You can check out some quotes from the special below:

Vince McMahon on Madison Square Garden hosting WrestleMania: “There was only one place for this event, WrestleMania, only one. No other location was even considered. Madison Square Garden was the mecca of what we did, the mecca of WWWF—and there was no question. It had to be in Madison Square Garden, it had to be in New York City, no other place in the world.”

Vince McMahon on guests for WrestleMania: “I am going to bring in people from all forms of entertainment and set the stage for what later became sports entertainment. Cyndi (Lauper) was already with us, so I had the music world coming in. From a sports standpoint, Muhammad Ali was a guest referee. Billy Martin was our guest ring announcer. And then from there I said ‘this is a great cast of characters from all walks of life but I need one more, I need someone who no one would be thinking of. I know who it is, Liberace.’”

Roddy Piper on getting a ticket to WrestleMania: “The tickets were gone. They were gone, you couldn’t get a ticket for your grandma, I mean she would’ve had to stand.”

Roddy Piper on fighting Mr. T: “Mr. T wanted to come in and bang heads together and then go back to the “A Team” and laugh about what a good time he had playing wrestling. I got so angry…I was going to take him out in the match…for good. But I didn’t do it.”

Hulk Hogan on WrestleMania: “It was the hottest ticket in town– and good luck getting one. It was just amazing to see how many of these super stars in other industries wanted to come to the dance to see us perform that night.”

Hulk Hogan on Mr. T being late to WrestleMania: “We were really on pins and needles because Mr. T kind of pulled a disappearing act. I got the call upstairs that Mr. T had twenty-five or thirty people with him and security wasn’t allowing them in, so he was leaving. I got on my high horse and took the service elevator down and told Vince he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Hulk Hogan on the main event: “The one thing I was really not sure of was Piper and Paul Orndorff if they were going to behave out there. I thought for sure they may try to break Mr. T’s leg or hurt him because he really wasn’t a wrestler. Nobody was selling anything, everybody was in it for themselves fighting and going crazy.”

100% DIRECT LINK (PHOTOS): El Torito Unmasked Backstage!