Mid-Hudson Civic Center - WWF Championship Wrestling

WWF Championship Wrestling

Between July 1984 and August 1986 the Mid Hudson Civic Center was where the World Wrestling Federation taped their internationally televised WWF Championship Wrestling. Notable wrestlers who wrestled in the building during this time include then WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, André the Giant, Bret Hart, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd, Ken Patera, Tito Santana and Rowdy Roddy Piper (who also hosted his "Piper's Pit" segment on the show). Television commentators for the show at the Civic Center were WWF owner Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino with Jesse "The Body" Ventura occasionally joining the duo or filling in for Sammartino (Ventura also wrestled on the show occasionally as Randy Savage's tag-team partner, usually taunting Sammartino and challenging him to get in the ring).

The Mid-Hudson Civic Center was also where "Macho Man" Randy Savage first introduced Miss Elizabeth (his real life wife) as his chosen manager on an episode of Championship Wrestling on August 24, 1985 (taped July 30). Heel managers Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Mr. Fuji, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, Luscious Johnny V, and "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart had been "bidding" for his services in the previous months and had gathered in the ring to hear who Savage had chosen.

The only title change at the Civic Center during WWF Championship Wrestling tapings was on June 17, 1985 when The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) defeated The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, regaining the WWF Tag Team Championship they had lost to the pair at Wrestlemania on March 31, 1985.