10 Rare Pictures From WWE's Golden Era You've Never Seen

In the early 80s, pro wrestling still operated under an unspoken agreement between promoters that they would not invade each other's territory. While this helped keep the peace in the business, it prevented any promotion from maximizing its potential. Eventually, Vince McMahon would buy his father's promotion and break all of wrestling's unwritten rules.

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In doing so, McMahon kicked off the pro wrestling boom of the 80s. To many fans, this Golden Era of WWE wrestling is the best era of wrestling ever. There are a few incredible photographs from this groundbreaking era that even some of the most fanatic WWE enthusiasts haven't seen.

10 The Hart Foundation Dating Game

During WWE's Golden Era, Vince McMahon and company emphasized creating an entire WWE Universe, not just a wrestling promotion. This led to WWE experimenting with different types of programming like their Vince McMahon-hosted talk show, TuesdayNightTitans.

On the 5/28/1986 episode of TNT, McMahon hosted a game show segment called "The Mating Game," which featured Jimmy Hart, Bret Hart, and Jim Neidhart. This picture captured the segment shortly before the female contestant abruptly walked out. The entire segment was a work that didn't really get over. There wouldn't be any more dating game segments on TNT going forward.

9 Andre The Giant On David Letterman

Andre The Giant was pro wrestling's first true attraction and one of the biggest legends in the sport. In the early 80s, before Hulkamania took over the world, Andre was front and center for WWE as far as doing press work. Andre would repeatedly make appearances to plug upcoming events.

On 1/23/1984, Andre made his lone appearance on late-night television. He would be a guest on Late Night With David Letterman. Andre's appearance was to promote that night's Madison Square Garden show. This great shot from Letterman's conversation with Andre shows a gentler, more social side of the legendary big man.

8 Donald Trump Meets Run DMC

In the 80s, pop culture was beginning to shift a bit. Rock 'N' Roll still ruled the roost. However, a new genre of music was starting to hit the mainstream, hip-hop. The biggest hip-hop act of the 80s was undoubtedly Run DMC. At WrestleMania 5, Run DMC was brought in to perform at Trump Plaza.

Before the show, photographers were able to capture this incredible image of Donald Trump meeting MC Run, DMC, and Jam Master Jay. Seeing Wallstreet meet Queens in front of a wrestling ring is the kind of thing that could only happen in the 80s.

7 WrestleMania 2 Goes Hollywood

One of the reasons the first WrestleMania was such a huge success was celebrity involvement. The first WrestleMania featured massive pop culture stars like Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, and Cindy Lauper. Naturally, for WrestleMania 2, Vince McMahon wanted to not only match the star power but surpass it.

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This great shot from WrestleMania 2 shows just how committed McMahon was to landing celebrities. It shows legendary Los Angeles Dodgers Manager, Tommy Lasorda, as a special guest ring announcer, introducing Silver Spoons star, Ricky Shroder as the special guest timekeeper.

6 Big Boss Man & Kerry Von Erich Chat With Willie Nelson

One of the biggest obstacles to being a pro wrestler is becoming accustomed to life on the road. Likewise, one of the downsides of being an internationally touring rockstar is constantly having to be on the road. In 1980, Willie Nelson released an anthem for all traveling men across the country, On The Road Again.

This awesome shot captures "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich and The Big Boss Man chatting with Willie Nelson. Their encounter took place before WrestleMania 7, where Nelson sang America The Beautiful. Today, only Nelson would know what this conversation was about. Although, it's not hard to imagine that life on the road for all three men would've come up at some point.

5 Bob Uecker Flexing With Jesse Ventura

There have been several surprising celebrity wrestling fans over the years. In the 80s, some big household names were revealed as wrestling enthusiasts. One of those names was legendary Milwaukee Brewers play-by-play announcer, Bob Uecker. Uecker was a part of WrestleMania 3 as the special guest ring announcer for the epic clash between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant.

At WrestleMania 4, Uecker would return to WWE. This time as a backstage interviewer. This great shot shows Uecker channeling his inner wrestler and showing off his physique before the big show. Jesse" The Body" Ventura serving as Ueckers hypeman was simply a cherry on top.

4 The 24 Inch Pythons

Much has been made over the years of Hulk Hogan's "24 Inch Pythons." So much so that the size of Hogan's arms eventually became part of his mythology. What many casual fans might not realize though is that Hogan's arms were dubbed "24 Inch Pythons" when he was a heel.

RELATED: 10 Hulk Hogan Quotes That Prove He Was Actually A Heel

At the time, "Classy" Freddie Blassie was Hogan's heel manager. This great black and white shot shows Blassie measuring his young client's arm while holding up a paper with the number "24" on it. Those arms and that moniker would go on to help make Hogan the biggest star the business had ever seen up to that point.

3 Cindy Lauper Doing Roddy Piper's Hair

Today, kayfabe is nearly a forgotten word in pro wrestling. With social media and the advancements in technology, it's nearly impossible for a performer today not to be caught out of character. In the 80s though, kayfabe was still firmly intact and was the lifeblood of the business.

This shot of Cindy Lauper doing "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's hair on the set of Piper's Pit would've caused a frenzy in the 80s. After all, Piper's villainous actions against Lauper and "Captain" Lou Albano were the main catalyst behind The Rock 'N' Wrestling Connection and the creation of WrestleMania.

2 Andre The Giant & Young Randy Orton

Today, Randy Orton's legacy has surpassed anything his father or grandfather ever did in the wrestling business. That's no slight against Bob Orton Sr. and "Cowboy" Bob Orton. Randy had the advantage of growing up around the business, with two built-in mentors in his father and grandfather.

Furthermore, as a youngster, Orton had access to many of the sport's biggest stars. Photos of a young Randy Orton posing with Hulk Hogan have circulated in the past. This image of a young Randy being held by Andre The Giant is also great. It further emphasizes just how much Orton was around main event stars as a kid.

1 Hulk Hogan & Vince Russo

At Bash At The Beach 2000, an incident took place that, depending on who you believe was either a shoot or a worked shoot. Either way, things got out of hand between Hulk Hogan and Vince Russo regarding creative control. This ultimately ended Hogan's time in WCW.

With that in mind, it's interesting to see this image of a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Russo meeting The Hulkster. At the time, Hogan was undoubtedly the biggest star in the industry while Russo was still trying to break in. Things would be much different when they worked together later on in WCW.