It feels good to be in the road to WrestleMania doesn’t it?
Well perhaps not since the writers are busy screwing up each and everything that would make the show a success. However, the reason why look forward to WrestleMania no matter what the company does is because of the rich history that it boasts.
Ever since its inception back in 1985, WrestleMania has been presenting us with moments to cherish for our entire life. Be it Hogan’s main even antics, the epic tag team ladder matches, or the streak defenses, the legendary pay-per-view has always bought a smile to our faces.
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With the latest installment months away it wouldn’t be a bad idea to feed some nostalgia needs and take a look back into that rich history. So get in the time machine because we are going to take a trip through some of the interesting facts and stats of WrestleMania.
Ladies First
Ladies first as they say, and in what stays as a bizarre record in the WrestleMania history, Mighty Holly (or Molly Holly) is the only women wrestler to win a men’s title at the pay-per-view.
Back in the day, the Hardcore title used to be one of the hottest thing in the company. the most exciting aspect of the title was that it was under 24/7 rule which meant the champion could lose the title anywhere.
As the WrestleMania X8 started Maven entered the arena as the Hardcore champion and before the show concluded it saw the title change 4 times. Spike Dudley won it from Maven, then Hurricane took over from Spike while Molly knocked out Hurricane with a frying pan to etch her name in the history.
However, later that night Holly lost out the title to Christian after a doorshot.
Only Women Wrestler to win men’s title at WrestleMania- Mighty Holly (WM X8)
The Overtime
At such a big stage like the WrestleMania many of the wrestlers struggle to give the best they could for at least one match. And then there is Randy Savage.
In WrestleMania 4 Savage went on to win not one, not two but four matches in one night. The matches were part of the tournament which was in place for the vacant WWF title and on his way to that title, Savage dispatched Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang and finally Ted DiBiase.
The last win came with the aid of none other than Hulk Hogan itself which led to the formation of Mega Power that laid foundation for the feud between the two in the future.
Most Number of wins in one WrestleMania – Randy Savage (4 at WrestleMania 4)
The Chaotic Battle Royal
If you thought that the Royal Rumble is the only place that you could see thirty or forty men fight it out for a big opportunity well think again.
The 14th edition of WrestleMania hosted a huge 30 men tag team battle royal having 15 teams who were fighting it out for the No.1 contender spot for the tag team titles which were held by the New Age Outlaws (see these guys are that old)
This match still remains as a record when it comes to the number of contenders in a single match as the WWE hasn’t thought about putting such a plethora of talent into one ring for WrestleMania.
The Legion of Doom eventually won the match which spanned over 8 minutes and won their title shot against Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie who took the title from the NAO’s later that night.
Match with the most contestants- 15-team battle royal to determine the number one contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship (30 Men) (WrestleMania XIV)
Tick Tock Tick Tock
The average time length of a match in WWE on their weekly shows is 8-15 minutes, however for WrestleMania it’s almost double of that.
Writers show special care in picking up the right talent from the lot and putting them in lengthy well-worked matches that remind the fans what wrestling is all about. Some of the wrestlers have been on the other side of the page as well as they ended up being jokers by losing in just seconds.
An epic match between two legends in the business, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels still remains unbeaten in length while Chavo Guerrero is praying for someone to break his record.
Longest Match: Shawn Michaels (with Jose Lothario) defeated Bret Hart © (Iron Man match for the WWF Championship) -1:01:52 – At WrestleMania XII
Shortest Match: Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero © in Singles match for the ECW Championship- 00:11- at WrestleMania XXIV
The Undefeated ones
When we hear the words undefeated in WrestleMania the first name that used to run into our mind is obviously Undertaker.
The Phenom had been on a rampage for more than two decades but his streak was conquered by Brock Lesnar. There are certain wrestlers who had more three matches or more and still haven't been pinned or submitted at the PPV.
Though most of the names aren’t in the active roster, a Rob Van Dam (if he does return) has the luxury of extending his run but the thing is they are nowhere near Taker.
Animal 3-0
Ax 3-0
Hawk 3-0
Sable 3-0
Rob Van Dam 4-0
The Unlucky Ones
From the winners to the losers now, some big names are yet to win a match in WrestleMania despite having a handful of opportunities. Winning a match at WrestleMania is not an easy task and these men have lived through the pain of realizing that.
Most of the wrestlers in the list have the future to change the record however with Jimmy Snuka being an exception while Jeff Hardy and Dudley Boys are the surprise entrants.
Goldust 0-5
Jeff Hardy 0-5
D-Von Dudley 0-4
Bubba Ray Dudley 0-4
Finlay 0-4
Vince McMahon 0-4
MVP 0-4
Jimmy Snuka 0-3
The one who debuted at the top
Getting a WrestleMania debut itself is a big thing for many wrestlers but what happens when your first WrestleMania match is the main event of the show?
Well that was the case for the following wrestlers as they got the luxury of headlining WrestleMania on their debut at the grand stage. Hogan, Mr.T, Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff are names that walked into this list as they were the ones who headlined the first ever WrestleMania.
In that list of many big names a certain Brock Lesnar stands out pretty as he was the hottest thing back then when he made his WrestleMania debut as a youngster.
Superstar’s who headlined WrestleMania on their WrestleMania debut
Hulk Hogan (WM1)
Mr. T (WM 1)
Roddy Piper (WM 1)
Paul Orndorff(WM1)
Ted DiBiase (WM 4)
Sgt. Slaughter (WM 7)
Sid (WM 8)
Yokozuna (WM 9)
Lawrence Taylor (WM 11)
Brock Lesnar (WM 19)
The Game’s Shame
Triple H is arguably one of the most popular wrestlers that the company has in its ranks at the moment. Though he has given a business deviation to his career, the Game is still known for the things he done inside the squared circle.
However, he doesn’t have fond memories when it comes to WrestleMania. Despite being a wrestler of his caliber, Triple H is the one with the most losses in WrestleMania with a total of 9.
His first loss came against The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania XXII, Undertaker (3), The Rock, Chris Benoit, Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton completed the list through the years. he will be going into this year with an aim to avoid extending that list and from the looks of it he’s going to fail in his mission.
Most Number of Losses- Triple H (9)
John Cena’s Love
It’s not Nikki Bella for starters; it’s just his obsession with winning the major titles.
John Cena has been a 14 time world champion in his illustrious career and surprisingly or not 4 of them have come in WrestleMania making him the wrestler with the most title wins at the pay-per-view. The names he beat makes his achievement more special as it has the lights of Undertaker, Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan who all are stuck at 3.
Cena won his first one back in WrestleMania 21 when he defeated JBL for the title. he then went on to win at WrestleMania 25, 26 and 29 also with the last coming against Rock in the second edition of the “once in a lifetime match”.
Most Number of Major title wins- John Cena (4 – WM 21, 25, 26, 29)
The Showstopper
Hulk Hogan returned to WWE recently and the reaction from the fans showed why he is such a big thing in the Wrestling business.
During his wrestling time also Hogan was highly regarded in the business and the WrestleMania stats that he boasts happens to be the proof for that. Hogan holds the illustrious record of appearing in most number of show stopping matches with a grand total of 8 under his belt.
Starting from the very first WrestleMania itself, Hogan dominated the main event scene of WrestleMania and made it his home irrespective of the outcome of the match. Hogan also holds the record for the most consecutive show stopping matches with 5 spanning from WrestleMania 5 to WrestleMania 9.
And someone like him clearly deserves to be a show stopper here as well so here’s one for the Hulkster.
Most Show stopping matches – Hulk Hogan (8)