WrestleMania - It is the granddaddy of them all, the greatest annual stage in sports entertainment. It is what the Superbowl is to the National Football League and what the Academy Awards are to the Movies. Simply put, WrestleMania is the biggest and most prestigious event of the year in terms of professional wrestling and has been for the last 25 years, housing some of the biggest events in history in some of the grandest arenas in the world. With the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania quickly approaching, I would like to talk about some of the pinnacle moments in the history of this spectacular event.
1) WrestleMania 1 - March 31, 1985
1985 was the birth of the most well-known annual wrestling event of all time and was remembered mainly for its use of celebrities including the likes of Muhammad Ali who worked as a special guest referee in the main event, and Mr. T who teamed with Hulk Hogan in the main event to defeat Rowdy Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorf. This, and a hugely stacked card of some of the greatest and most well-known wrestlers in the world at the time, as well as some hefty promotion from MTV, made WrestleMania become the annual pinnacle of professional wrestling.
2) WrestleMania 3 - March 29, 1987
WrestleMania 3 is probably the most well known of all WrestleMania's and is most memorable for the clip of "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan body-slamming the massive 7 feet 4 inches tall and over 540 pounds in weight, Andre The Giant. That is one of the most famous clips in the history of televised professional wrestling, and when the name WrestleMania is mentioned, that clip is one of the first that comes to mind. WrestleMania 3 was also the setting for one of the greatest matches of all time, and one of my personal favorites, "Macho Man" Randy Savage versus Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.
3) WrestleMania 4 - March 27, 1988
WrestleMania 4 was the setting of one of the biggest tournaments of all time for the then vacant WWF World Championship. The main event and last match of the tournament featured "Macho Man" Randy Savage versus "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase. This match was an absolute classic, and one that you will not hear the WWE talk about nowadays due to the McMahon family hatred to the Macho Man. However, this is certainly not one to be overlooked as it is easily one of the standout moments in WrestleMania history, and featured Macho Man's first ever World Heavyweight Championship and his rise to superstardom after holding the Intercontinental championship for over a year.
4) WrestleMania 8 - April 5, 1992
WrestleMania 8 was remembered for a variety of reasons including matches involving The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels, but the main hype of WrestleMania 8 was surrounding the WrestleMania debut of arguebly one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Flair was the biggest acquisition for the WWF at the time being a major superstar for over a decade in the NWA and the WCW. While his stay was short lived, he certainly helped sell out this edition of WrestleMania and put his name in the history books among WWF fans after an epic match against "Macho Man" Randy savage for the WWF title.
5) WrestleMania 10 - March 20, 1994
WrestleMania 10 marked the 10th anniversary of what had evolved into the greatest annual wrestling event of all time. The card was indeed stacked. The stand-out moment of this event was the epic ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship. This match was the change the course of professional wrestling forever opening doors for light-heavyweights all around the world and bringing a new age of danger and high-octane, fast-paced action to the sport. Needless to say, Michaels and Hall changed the face of wrestling the night of WrestleMania 10.
6) WrestleMania 14 - March 29, 1998
WrestleMania 14 was one of the most hyped WrestleMania's of all time, and much like WrestleMania 1, the clip of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Mike Tyson is one of the most used clips when it comes to WrestleMania. The main event featured the reigning D-Generation X who had taken over most of the WWF, pitting their Shawn Michaels against Steve Austin for the WWF championship. Prior to the match, D-X had recruited Mike Tyson, giving the idea that Tyson was going to cost Austin the match. However, Tyson turned on Michaels and gave Austin the win and the WWF championship in the process to a huge standing ovation echoing throughout the arena that was enough to send a shiver of adrenaline throughout your entire body. This was an epic to say the least.
7) WrestleMania 15 - March 28, 1999
WrestleMania 15 is most notably remembered for the iconic battle between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock for the WWF Championship. At the time, The Rock and Austin were the two biggest names the WWF had to offer, and pitting them against each other on the 15th anniversary of the annual phenomenon was epic. This was also the event that The Undertaker turned heel and formed The Ministry Of Darkness, a faction that Undertaker formed to go against Vince McMahon and take over the WWF.
8) WrestleMania 18 - March 17, 2002
WrestleMania 18 is one of my personal favorite WrestleMania's, being a huge fan of Hulk Hogan. This pay per view was hyped around the "Icon versus Icon" tag-line, and this was very true. It was the event which held The Rock versus "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan. Hogan of course had headlined some of the biggest WrestleMania's during the 80's and early 90's, whereas The Rock had headlined some of the biggest WrestleMania's in the late 90's and early 00's, basically taking over where Hogan had left off upon his departure from the company to the WCW in 1994. The match was an absolute epic and remembered as one of the greatest "dream matches" in the history of WrestleMania.
9) WrestleMania 20 - March 14, 2004
WrestleMania 20 was the 20th anniversary of the annual spectacular that had dominated pay per view screens since the 1980's. WrestleMania 20 was credited with the tag-line "Where it all begins, again" and featured some epic dream matches and some new life into peoples careers, as well as selling out the Madison Square Garden. Some of the headliners and dream matches include Goldberg versus Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero versus Kurt Angle, The Undertaker versus Kane and a 3 way dance match between Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels and Triple H. The event is most memorable for Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit winning both of the companies world titles and celebrating together in the ring, both being best friends in real life and joining the company at the same time.
10) WrestleMania 24 - March 30, 2008
WrestleMania 24 will without a doubt go down as one of the most pinnacle WrestleMania's of all time featuring the retirement match of the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair over a decade after he made his WrestleMania debut. Flair's career came to an emotional end at the hands of Shawn Michaels in an epic and memorable match and on the same night he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. OF all the matches on the card at WrestleMania, this match will, hands down, go down as one of the most epic of all time.
Those are 10 of the greatest moments in the history of WrestleMania! I have watched every WrestleMania event time and time again, I pretty much know them by the back of my hand by now, and those are without a doubt 10 of the greatest in the history of this annual spectacular. WrestleMania 25 is right around the corner and I know that the 25th anniversary of the granddaddy of them all is destined to be an iconic set. Chances are by the time WrestleMania 30 rolls around I will be commenting on the greatest moments once again. Only time can tell what the future of WrestleMania will hold but one thing is for sure; history is still in the making.