WrestleMania : A Retrospective

It was May 3, 1986.  I was sleeping over at the home of Rob and Frank Crivello.  I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting that night, but I sure wasn't expecting to spend a good part of the evening watching professional wrestling.  I had never seen it before, but that night, my good buddies, The Brothers Crivello, were excited that Hulk Hogan and Junkyard Dog would tangle with Terry and "Hoss" Funk on "Saturday Night's Main Event".  I was hooked from day one.  Shortly after that, the three of us were at a house show at the Mecca with their father, I was watching WrestleMania 2 on HBO constantly (it seemed to be on as much as "Police Academy"), and my weekends revolved around catching "Superstars" or "Wrestling Challenge".  Soon after that, I discovered Ric Flair on WTBS, and the rest is history.

For me, above anything else, wrestling has been fun.  It's a male soap opera.  I love it when people slam it by saying it's "fake".  They say that as if they are ruining it for everyone else.  We've known it's been scripted and predetermined for decades.  For as long as I've been a fan, wrestling has never referred to itself as anything but entertainment.   I've never heard anyone say, "I don't like movies.  They're fake". I love the characters (Piper, Austin, Flair, Rock, Punk), I love the athleticism, the storytelling, the production.  I'm 37, and I don't watch it as much as I used to.  I give it maybe 15-20 minutes a week, usually when the Mets or Brewers are down big, but one tradition that will last forever is WrestleMania.  Mike Moser and I order it every year.  It's fun to lose yourself for 3-4 hours, talk about past events, see our kids react to it.

WrestleMania 29 is this weekend, and here is a look back at my WrestleMania memories ...

WrestleMania

Soon after Rob and Frank got me hooked, I noticed that Sun Foods at a number of Wrestling tapes to rent, and I probably rented this a dozen times over the next 12 months.  The atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was electric.  Not a great card, looking back, but definitely a memorable main event.  Piper and Orndorff are still all time favorites.

WrestleMania 2

The first WrestleMania I ever saw, as they used to show this on HBO a ton in 1986, almost immediately after it occurred.  At the time, I thought it was great (I was 10), but now I'd consider this one of the worst Manias ever.  The event took place from three different venues, in three different time zones.  The main event was awful (Hogan/Bundy), the production seemed shotty, just a poor effort, in my opinion.  Best match was Bulldogs/Dream Team for the tag straps.

WrestleMania III

My first PPV, and still the greatest card/event of all time.  Great build up for most of the card, the WWF's best storytelling, 93,173 fans packed the Silverdome.  The greatest match ever (Steamboat/Savage), the huge main event between Hogan and Andre.  Piper's last match.  Nothing has come close to this card.

WrestleMania IV

The tournament that the Milwaukee Journal ruined for everyone.  The Journal, and I'm sure other papers, gave away the ending of the tournament, by advertising that WWF champion Randy Savage would be defending the championship vs Ted Dibiase at the upcoming house show in Milwaukee.  Despite that, a great card, good idea to have the one night tournament.  Savage hoisting Elizabeth is truly one of the iconic moments in Mania history.

WrestleMania V

The Mega Powers explode.  Great buildup leading up to this main event.  For the most part, the rest of the card was weak, but Trump Plaza proved to be a great host for WrestleMania.

WrestleMania VI

The hype for Hogan / Warrior was huge.  I remember ordering this at the house.  Mike and I were Warrior guys.  Greg Maternowski and Todd Asmondy were Hogan guys.  Again, not a great undercard.

WrestleMania VII

Was supposed to be held at the Coliseum in L.A., but security concerns and lack luster ticket sales moved Mania into much smaller L.A. Sports Arena.  I wasn't crazy about the Slaughter story line, but there were a couple of memorable moments from this show.  Undertaker's first match at Mania, and the all time classic between Savage and Warrior.

WrestleMania VIII

The WWF dropped the ball.  This should have been Hogan / Flair, and it ended up being Savage / Flair  (AS A MIDCARD MATCH!!).  Hart/Piper was the best match of the night, and the main event between Sid and Hogan was a joke.  Arguably the worst Mania ever.

WrestleMania IX

The only Mania I didn't see live (in the time I've been a fan).  I spent the weekend with Liz Fox, Matt Buckley, David Briere and many other young Catholics at a CCD something or other.  Moser taped it for me.  Awful.  Hogan bullied his way into winning the title in a non-scheduled match after the main event.  I take it back.  This was the worst Mania ever.

WrestleMania X

The gimmick for this card was having two scheduled WWF title matches.  Both were stinkers.  The jewel of this card, by far, was Ramon/HBK in their ladder match for the IC strap.

WrestleMania XI

Man, looking back, the WWF really had a bad period from about 1991-1995.  Just a brutal card.  Bigelow/LT as your main event ?  Kevin Nash as the flag bearer ?  Terrible.

WrestleMania XII

A big rebound for the WWF.  Hart/Michaels went 61 minutes, and was everything you want in a WrestleMania main event.  The return of the Warrior, the debut of Stone Cold at Mania.  Much, much better than the last 5 years.

WrestleMania 13

Another step back for the WWF.  This should have been Hart/HBK II, but instead we got Taker/Sid.  One good thing that came from the WWF dropping the ball on the booking was we did get Hart/Austin, which is a top 5 Mania match.  WrestleMania is about moments, and Steve Austin refusing to quit, blood pouring down his head, was one of those signature WrestleMania moments.

WrestleMania XIV

Everything I've read indicated that Hart and Michaels were planned to have a WrestleMania trilogy between XII and XIV.  Hart left for WCW, and that opened the door for Steve Austin to win his first title at XIV.  The buildup was incredible, with Mike Tyson involved.  Taker / Kane was good as well.  This was the start of a great run for the WWF.

WrestleMania XV

The buildup for Austin/Rock was great, there were some goofy things on this card that bring the overall card down, but still a good main event.

WrestleMania 2000

Not a fan of this show. The booking seemed lazy.  Best match, easily the triangle ladder match between Hardys/Edge & Christian/Dudleys.  Main Event seemed to lack without Austin.

WrestleMania X-Seven

An incredible show.  Proof that McMahon can still produce a great product, with a little bit of elbow grease.  Rock/Austin II was insane.  Taker/HHH was a classic.  Angle/Benoit was great.  And I haven't even mentioned the best match.  Tables/Ladders/Chairs.  Perhaps the 2nd greatest match in Mania history.

WrestleMania X8

I remember watching this alone.  I'm not looking for empathy, just some trivia for you.  It felt big, returning to Toronto, but honestly, all I really remember is Hogan/Rock and Taker/Flair.  Jericho/HHH was the main event, but I can't tell you a thing about it.  I think by that time, the combination of Wendy's and Pizza Hut started to kick in.

WrestleMania XIX

I watched this with Don, Jamie and a bunch of other people I didn't really know.  Very good card.  Michaels/Jericho was a classic.  Hogan/McMahon would have been epic if Bret Hart came back (they did bring Piper back, which was cool).  Rock/Austin proved to be Austin's last match, and the main event between Angle and Lesnar was great.

WrestleMania XX

I'm not a fan of triple threat matches, but Benoit/HHH/HBK was the greatest triple threat match I've ever seen.  The Guerrero/Benoit moment at the end of the card is legendary.   Not the best card, top to bottom, but a great, great end.

WrestleMania 21

WrestleMania goes Hollywood.  Angle/Michaels was very good.  Cena won his first WWF title.  Batista/HHH was decent.  The first Money in the Bank ladder match.  All in all, a good show.

WrestleMania 22

Not very good.  Cena/HHH was a decent main event, but nothing on the rest of the card was memorable.  Maybe Rey Mysterio winning the world title, but in a 9 minute triple threat match ?

WrestleMania 23

With WrestleMania returning to Detroit, I was hoping it would be an all time great card.  It was not.  Cena/HBK was a great main event, but other than McMahon getting his head shaved, not much more to recall here.

WrestleMania XXIV

The main event was Taker/Edge, and they delivered, but this will be remembered for HBK/Flair.  Randy Orton retained his WWF title vs HHH and Cena in another lackluster triple threat match.  Again, not a great card, but some decent moments.

WrestleMania XXV

Very disappointing card.  Michaels/Taker was insane, all time classic, but nothing else worthy of mention.

WrestleMania XXVI

Another disappointment.  Michaels/Taker was great again, but the two title matches were not memorable.

WrestleMania XXVII

Taker/HHH was awesome.  Are you seeing a pattern here?

WrestleMania XXVIII

Taker/HHH was awesome.  Punk/Jericho was very good.  Rock/Cena was good.  The rest was bad.


Top 5 Manias

1.  WrestleMania III
2.  WrestleMania X-Seven
3.  WrestleMania IV
4.  WrestleMania XIX
5.  WrestleMania XIV

Worst Manias

1.  Wrestlemania IX
2.  Wrestlemania VII
3.  WrestleMania XI
4.  Wrestlemania 2
5.  Wrestlemania VII


Top 10 Matches in Mania history ...

1.  Steamboat / Savage (III)
2.  TLC (X-Seven)
3.  Taker / Michaels (XXV)
4.  Hart / Austin (13)
5.  Ramon / Michaels (X)
6.  Benoit/HHH/Michaels (XX)
7.  Warrior / Savage (VII)
8.  Hart / Michaels (XII)
9.  Taker / HHH (XXVII)
10.  Rock / Austin (X-Seven)