It’s become quite the pastime of WWE fans and critics alike to point out when the company gets things spectacularly wrong. In recent years, those people have certainly had a lot of ammunition to play with.
But it wouldn’t be the WWE if it didn’t occasionally made us despair, and the reason we get so angry about it is because, like a parent of a bright but lazy school child, we know they can do better!
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When the WWE has a talent on their hands that they want to make a star, Wrestlemania is the place to do it.
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Any wrestling fan worth their salt ought to be able to list the 32 Mania main events from start to finish, and within that list, there are those matches that make us reflect on just how perfect they were. Here are five examples of when the main event of Wrestlemania exemplified expert storytelling:
(I have not included Wrestlemania 30 here because I don’t see that as great storytelling – rather the WWE being backed into a corner and forced to act, despite the fact that it was STILL the best thing to do).
#1 Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart – Wrestlemania 12
After the departure of so many main event talents from the past, the mid 90’s was not a particularly successful or entertaining time for the WWF.
Of those years, perhaps 1996 was the darkest. Not only were the company experiencing fan disengagement, and the after effects of a steroid PR disaster, but WCW, the rival wrestling company from the South were really starting to build something special.
Soon the company would be forced to battle not only WCW but the insanely popular NWO as well. What do you do in times of crisis? You turn to your most trusted allies and ask them to put everything on the line for you.
Also read: Top 10 WrestleMania performers of all time
That is exactly what Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels set out to do at Wrestlemania 12. This match was perfect for a number of reasons.
They were by far and away the most talented duo on the roster, there was already some real life backstage animosity brewing between them – making the match that much more compelling – and they both perfectly represented the direction the company was looking to take.
Gone were the huge, muscle bound guys that you automatically associate with steroid abuse, and in came the small, nimble athletes that told a tremendous story through their in-ring work.
To hammer home this point, the company decided to put them in a 1-hour Iron Man Match, a very risky move but which ultimately paid off. These guys were artists at a time when the company desperately needed something to smile about.
#2 Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – Wrestlemania 26
In contrast to 1996, 2010’s WWE was a company sitting atop the mountain, with not a challenger in sight. Vince and his bookers had free reign to do what they wanted, and occasionally, that leads to some very bad decisions indeed.
There’s an old debate amongst wrestling fans – some believe the main event of Mania should always be for the company’s main title. Others recognise that exceptions can be made, and if there was ever a time to make an exception, it was during Wrestlemania 26.
After failing to get the main event match right at 24 and 25, common sense prevailed here, giving Shawn Michaels the top of the bill position in his last match for the company.
This match had numerous elements going into it. The match between the two at Mania 25 – arguably the greatest match of all time – was still fresh in fan’s memories. Shawn was on a mission to do the one thing that he had never been able to do in his career, break Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak.
He was so desperate for this privilege that he was willing to put his career on the line. It was storytelling at its best, at a time when the company weren’t as well known for their storytelling when compared with previous generations.
Whether you prefer their match at 25 or 26 I think comes down to what aspect of Professional Wrestling you most prefer, however, 26 certainly had the emotional baggage of seeing a legend steal the show one last time.
#3 Stone Cold vs. The Rock – Wrestlemania 15
So many wrestling fans seem to agree that Wrestlemania 17 is the greatest wrestling event of all time. The jury is still out on that one for some of us, but if nothing else, it was a further example of when main events are done properly.
When you have two mega stars in the company like Austin and Rock at the same time, you need to cash in on that as much as you can. That being said, for my money, their main event matchup at 15 was a better example of storytelling than their historic showdown at 17.
2001 was a loaded year for the WWF. Having conquered WCW with the sheer amount of entertaining talent on the roster at the time, there were probably a number of matchups they could have gone for. In contrast, 1999 was a time of steady but not fully completed progress.
The tables had turned in terms of the ratings, but with WCW not having quite destroyed itself completely by this point, there was every chance that the pendulum could have swung back towards them.
The main rivalry for the WWF was still Vince Vs. Austin, but there were only so many matches you could have gotten out of that. Aligning the Rock with the corporation was a stroke of genius, it enabled the rivalry between Stone Cold and the boss to continue but with the addition of a promising rising star like the Rock.
I personally think this match was better in a technical wrestling sense as well, and looking back with hindsight, although 17 was the one that fans remember, it might not even have happened had 15 not been such a success.
#2 Stone Cold vs. Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 14
Ask anyone who their favourite WWE star of all time is and you’ll get numerous responses. Ask anyone who the most important or well-known WWE superstars of all time were and most people will say the names of Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and John Cena.
Hogan was the embodiment of the golden era of the mid-80s – early 90s, Stone Cold was the embodiment of the Attitude Era from 1997 to 2001. Cena, whilst most associated with a less popular era than the previous two, is still the man you think of when you think of WWE’s PG Era from 2004 to Present day.
One thing to note about these three eras is that they all had a Wrestlemania main event to kick start the rise of the Superstar most associated with them. Hogan had his at Mania 3, Cena had his against Triple H at 22, and Stone Cold had his at Mania 14.
There are so many great things to say about this match that I am bound to miss something out. From a historical perspective, it stood as the ultimate indication that the WWF had turned a corner and were fully ready to embrace an edgier type of product.
Shawn Michaels had done a fine job holding down the fort while WCW threatened to put Vince out of business. However, there was just something about HBK that wouldn’t have allowed him to carry the company any further – and that’s not even considering his health problems at the time.
He was still a relic of a less successful era, and fans needed a fresh talent to get behind. Stone Cold had been ascending up the ranks since 1996 and he just happened to personify where popular culture was going across America at the time.
The WWF needed to fit in with shows like South Park and Jerry Springer, trash TV that stuck it to authority with one cold finger in the air. Stone Cold pinning Michaels was a symbolic act of sweeping the past away for good and ushering in a new way of doing things.
And of course, there was the inclusion of Mike Tyson. To say Tyson was a controversial figure is putting it lightly. Convicted of rape, having gone through imprisonment, biting the ear of an opponent in the ring – this guy wasn’t exactly Mr. T!
Bringing him in was a very risky move, especially considering the PR problems that the company had already experienced with the steroids scandal. Perhaps it was the decision to push ahead regardless that really struck a chord with the audience.
They knew the WWF had to do something brash in order to survive, and the company clearly weren’t afraid to do it. Seeing Michaels laid out on the floor with Mike Tyson raising the hand of the new champion Stone Cold Steve Austin must have paralysed the WCW with fear.
#1 Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
As spoken about in the previous match, Wrestlemania 3 was Hogan’s moment to fully install his position as the company’s main draw.
Whether you think Stone Cold’s victory over Michaels at 14 was more important, or whether you agree with me that this match should feature as number 1, probably comes down to things like age, taste and historical knowledge. Ultimately it probably doesn’t matter, as both points are perfectly valid.
But one thing’s for sure, we wouldn’t have had Austin and Michaels without first having Hogan and Andre.
In the mid 80’s, Wrestlemania and Hulkamania were the greatest tag team the Wrestling world had ever seen, and at Mania 1 and 2 Hogan had already demonstrated this.
But it was his match up here with Andre the Giant, who before Hogan was quite possibly the biggest attraction going, that sparked a truly golden era for the company. 70’s and 80’s Wrestling fans were obsessed with Andre the Giant, a huge monster of a man from the French Alps.
His sheer dominance and might had led him to a 15-year undefeated streak. Just imagine such a thing happening in today’s wrestling scene! If anyone was ever to come and end his perfect record, it would have taken somebody quite special.
The story leading up to this match was truly incredible. Hogan had been fighting off the Heenan family for a good few years, seeing off the likes of Mr. Wonderful and King Kong Bundy. Just when Bobby Heenan seemed out of ideas, he pulls off a stroke of mastery by re-signing Andre the Giant to the WWF.
The Giant had been kayfabe suspended, but Heenan managed to orchestrate his return, get into Andre’s head and convince him to go after this long time friend and ally Hulk Hogan.
For children in attendance, seeing Andre turn on his friend, ripping the shirt and crucifix of his chest, was too much to handle. Hogan’s 3-year reign as champion seemed to be coming to an end. One way or another, something had to give.
This will always be my favourite Wrestlemania main event because despite being its third installment, Mania 3 turned the event into a celebratory funfair of celebrity and attraction as well as the serious Professional Wrestling event we know and love today.
It is not possible to overstate the importance of the ‘bodyslam heard around the world’ when Hulk Hogan finally overcame his biggest obstacle to date and turned a generation of children into Wrestling fans for life.
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