Good morning, afternoon and evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the first in a four-part series heading into the showcase of the immortals as we look into a string of rare and interesting stats and facts from the biggest show of the year - WrestleMania. Yes, it's another Mania series - but did you really expect anything less?
After all, we're only a few weeks away.
The excitement is in the air once again as the Citrus Bowl extravaganza is right around the corner with the card beginning to take shape. As is the case with every year, ‘Mania tends to lead people down a path of nostalgia in which they like to reminisce about their favourite moments of years gone by - whether that be shocking returns or fantastic matches.
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Whatever the case may be, as wrestling fans, we're always looking for something different in terms of increasing our knowledge. The business is so unique that there are small facts and figures that not a great deal of people know about - even when it comes to the grandest stage of them all.
So brace yourselves, because a few oh these may well shock you. With that said, here are five rare WrestleMania stats and facts - part one.
#1 Yokozuna's records
Yokozuna is one of the most influential foreigners in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment, and if you don't believe us then you just need to look at his track record on the grandest stage of them all. The former champion holds a whole host of different accolades ranging from good to bad, and some of them aren't so obvious.
Aside from the Hardcore Championship, Yokozuna is the only wrestler to win and lose the same title at WrestleMania (the ninth edition in case you were wondering). Also, he was involved in a record-breaking four WWF title matches over the course of two ‘Manias and was one-half of the shortest WrestleMania main event in history - against none other than Hulk Hogan himself.
Everyone loves Mondays, right?
#2 ‘Mania Monday
WrestleMania should always be on a Sunday and we're pretty sure that every wrestling fan on the face of the planet agrees with that. It's a long-standing tradition that has been honoured over and over again, however, on one fateful night a few decades ago the status quo was thrown right out of the window - with WrestleMania 2 being held on a Monday.
There's never been any official reason given for this, but considering that the event was pretty much still in beta mode, we can't hold them too accountable. With that being said, just imagine if something like that happened in 2017? There would be riots on the streets if the unpredictability of the WWE Universe is anything to go by.
Now onto Mr WrestleMania himself.
#3 HBK's endurance
There's a reason Shawn Michaels is so synonymous with WrestleMania - because every single time he competes at the event he pulls off a phenomenal match. The guy just oozes quality and when ‘Mania comes around, you can bet good money that The Heartbreak Kid will be making some kind of appearance throughout the evening's proceedings.
In fact, a little-known statistic surrounding the former World Champion is that he's the only man to compete at ‘Mania in four different decades. Sure he barely scraped into the ‘80s and retired in 2010, but it's still a pretty impressive note and one that HBK should be proud of.
Given how many events the Superstars of today work, we can't imagine that'll be replicated anytime soon. Did someone say streak?
#4 The New Streak
When Brock Lesnar delivered a third F5 to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 and broke the streak, the wrestling world stood still. It was one of those moments that you'll be telling your grandchildren about and rightly so because it was one of the most astonishing things you're ever likely to see.
Seriously, we're still in shock almost three years after it happened.
But very few are talking about the real story here - Rob Van Dam is now in possession of the longest winning streak at WrestleMania. Yup. Good old RVD is 4-0 at the showcase of the immortals and given that his WWE career appears to have come to and end, it seems likely that record will stay intact.
A solid record for one of the most underrated performers of all time. We conclude with a fun fact for fans of the ultimate underdog.
#5 Underdog's favourite number
Underdogs in professional wrestling are just great. They resonate with the WWE Universe in more ways than one, plus they have a habit of putting on the best match of the night week in and week out. Eventually, their time to shine comes to fruition and they stand atop the wrestling world as a Champion after years of hard work and dedication.
Funnily enough, this tends to happen in trends when it comes to WrestleMania. Every 10 Manias at 10, 20 and 30, two different Superstars have challenged for the Championship with an underdog coming out victorious.
The men in question are Bret Hart, Chris Benoit and Daniel Bryan - all three of whom were told at one point or another that they'd never make it in the WWE. Beautiful stuff.
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