Top 10 Wrestlemania records you should know of

WrestleMania is the WWE’s flagship show of the year as they look to deliver the best possible event every year. As we gear up for WrestleMania 31, there have been various predictions regarding the outcome. Brock Lesnar’s recent UFC appearance has definitely managed to stir up the WWE Universe and we sure do not want a repeat of the WrestleMania XX main event.On one hand, this could become a show of passing torches with John Cena taking on Rusev, Bray Wyatt up against the Phenom and Roman Reigns against Brock Lesnar or this could entirely end the other way round with none of the younger stars getting favourable outcomes. But surely, we will have some exciting matches with Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose and others in the Intercontinental Title Ladder match.But, going down the lane, let’s take a look at some of the WrestleMania records you should know. There’s the undefeated streak that everyone knows about but beyond that?

#1 The King has been commentator the most number of times at WrestleMania

Well, you may have expected to find Jim Ross on this position inadvertently considering how often he is mentioned as the greatest announcer in the history of the WWE. But the record goes to Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler who has sat down at the table a record 20 times so far. He has called some of the greatest matches at WrestleMania such as the Iron Man match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII.

Another of his classics include the Kurt Angle v Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania XIX, often regarded as the match that culminated Lesnar’s rise to the top of the WWE while Lawler also witnessed Steve Austin’s final match in a WWE ring that night.

His days alongside Jim Ross are still considered the best days of Wrestling commentary as the two of them formed a memorable partnership. Lawler did stray off his retirement to once participate in a match as he took on Michael Cole in a forgettable contest officiated by Austin at WrestleMania XXVII and lost the match. However, ever since, he has returned to the headphones and will look to match the Undertaker’s magical number at WrestleMania 31.

#2 WrestleMania III still holds the record for highest attendance

This event saw one of the greatest moments in the history of the WWE when Hulk Hogan bodyslammed Andre The Giant to end his undefeated streak. Fans and wrestlers cherish the moment to this day as it was truly one of the defining moments of the WrestleMania-era of WWE. While that may have been due to the sheer popularity of Hulk Hogan back in the day, one of the more important reasons was the magnitude of people watching that live.

93,173 is the officially recorded attendance that night at the Pontiac Silverdome and that was the record for a highest attendance in an indoor sports arena until 2010. The highest number touched upon ever since was 80,000 back in 2013 but still, it isn’t close to that night. It was an amazing to see Mean Gene Okerlund announced the figures that night as the crowd patted themselves for such an amazing turn-out. There have been some allegations citing this was a bogus figure, but those have remained rumours for good reason.

#3 The ECW Championship is the shortest match in the history of WrestleMania

Arguable one of the best professional wrestling shows to have come up in the 1990s; the ECW was often regarded as the homeland for hardcore wrestling. However, following its acquisition by the WWE, the ECW was reduced to nothing more than a secondary programme to Raw and Smackdown. Despite this, they did have some extremely good performers in the ECW and two of them were Chavo Guerrero and Kane in 2008.

They contested for the ECW Heavyweight Championship at the grandest stage of them all and it is to date, the only time that title was contested at WrestleMania. Following the Champion Chavo Guerrero’s entrance, Kane emerged from under the ring with his trademark entrance theme and pinned Chavo Guerrero to win the title following a Chokeslam. And all this took the better part of 11 seconds to occur. Contrary to recent belief regarding Daniel Bryan’s embarrassing 18-second loss in 2012, this is the shortest match in the history of WrestleMania lasting a mere 11 seconds.

#4 WrestleMania XVIII has the highest PPV buyrate in the history of the WWE

One of the major aspects of this record was the presence of The Rock leading up to the Pay-per-view and his so-called ‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ match being promoted heavily. John Cena’s name was an established revenue-earner while The Rock’s return drew various fans to watch this event. The trick was that they had announced the match a year earlier and had sufficient time to build up the return to the ring of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

The event also had a strong group of matches with the Undertaker facing off against Triple H while Chris Jericho faced the WWE Champion CM Punk for the title. The official number was close to 1,217,000 buys and set the precedent for future events to emulate. If anything, this was a strong indication to the fact that WWE part-timers do have a great effect on the viewers and probably showed us why the WWE favours them so much. This may well be considered as an unbreakable record due to the introduction of the WWE network and a significant reduction in the PPV buyrate ever since.

#5 WrestleMania 2 was held at three different venues; and that was never done again

As much as it sounds surprising, this was in fact a reality back in 1985. It was regarded as Vince’s decision and one taken to establish his new event across the country while also showing the viewers that he could pull off such grand events. More so, this was the first WrestleMania to be screened on Pay-per-view throughout the country and the only time it was held on a Monday.

Choosing three prime locations across the country in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the show had three main events due to this unique scheduling. One was the famous bout between Mr.T and Roddy Piper while Hulk Hogan squared off against the King Kong Bundy for the WWF title in a steel cage match. In the other main event, there was a unique WWF v NFL Battle Royal which was ultimately won by Andre the Giant. Due to this plan and squeezing of 12 matches in two hours, none of the events had the proper time to become a wrestling classic. Nevertheless, this idea has yet to be repeated and for good reason, we hope.

#6 Shawn Michaels record of 10 Match of the Year wins all came at WrestleMania

Pro Wrestling Illustrated is one of the most significant magazines in Professional Wrestling and has been so for a long time. Their yearly awards are quite famous and the WWE Universe anticipates them each year. Back in 1972, they initiated awards for the best match of the year and this was usually awarded to wrestling classics that had the wrestling universe on their feet in applaud.

And Shawn Michaels, unsurprisingly, holds the record with ten wins during his career. ‘Mr.WrestleMania’ was rightly known for delivering stellar performances and to quote his own words; he has never been outperformed at the grandest stage of them all. All of these ten awards were for matches at WrestleMania and that will perhaps be matched by no one else.

Some of his matches include the Iron Man match with Bret Hart, a wrestling masterpiece against Kurt Angle in 2005; while to top of the list, we have the WrestleMania XXV bout against the Undertaker, often regarded as one of the greatest matches in the history of professional wrestling.

#7 Only twice so far has a heel gone on to win the WrestleMania main event

We have had thirty WrestleManias so far and thirty main events to attest for that, yet only twice has a full-fledged heel managed to walk out the winner. Considering the match that goes last as the main event, The Miz at WrestleMania XXVII and Triple H back in WrestleMania XVI are the only two wrestlers to have won the main event despite being a heel.

We have a despicable case with WrestleMania X-seven where Austin did the heel turn following his win, but seeing as how the crowd weren’t prepared for that, we’ll not consider it.Also, there have been certain face v face matches such as the Ultimate Warrior v Hulk Hogan but that is limited in number. We could easily attribute this trend in WrestleManias as a move to send the crowd home happy and cap off the flagship event with cheers.

#8 John Cena and The Rock are the only pair to have been headlined WrestleMania for two consecutive years

The Rock’s return in 2011 was a well-protected secret and when revealed, was recipient to one of the best crowd reactions on RAW. And seeing the success of this move, the WWE announced its famed ‘Once in a Lifetime’ match and had a year to build that up. Following their highest ever buy rate at WrestleMania XXVIII, and to finish off the Rock-Cena storyline, the WWE set up a clash between them once again in 2013.

John Cena’s win in the Royal Rumble gave him the right to choose a champion of his choice while The Rock had successfully defended his title against CM Punk at the Royal Rumble PPV. At Elimination Chamber, Cena defeated Punk in a match that put in line Cena’s spot in the main event. Subsequently, Cena challenged The Rock for their rematch and he won that match as the Rock bade adieu to the WWE for then. Although Yokozuna faced Bret Hart in two consecutive WrestleManias, not both of them were main events as their match was followed by an impromptu match between Hulk Hogan and Yokozuna. Both of the matches between The Rock and Cena were well-received by the fans while the Rock congratulated and put over John Cena after their second match.

#9 Hulk Hogan has been in the WrestleMania main event most number of times

It is quite fitting that the man who propelled WWE into mainstream popularity and made WrestleMania a grand success should be holding this record. Creating an entirely new world of Hulkamania and a generation of fans to support him, Hogan was perhaps the first and original superstar of the WWF among the masses. And in the early days of WrestleMania, it was a almost a certainty that Hogan was in the main event.

To assert for that, he headlined eight out of the first nine WrestleManias. Almost ten years later, he headlined WrestleMania X8 as well going up against The Rock. This match is said to be the battle of two generations of the WWE and had one of the most sustained crowd reactions in history. Hogan was a master manipulator of the crowd while The Rock was no less and that’s what you’d get when the two of them took to the stage. Hogan’s record of headlining nine WrestleManias seems untouchable in the near future, with only John Cena coming close at 5.

#10 The Undertaker holds the record for most consecutive WrestleMania appearances

The Undefeated Streak wasn’t The Undertaker’s only achievement at WrestleMania. In his 22 appearances so far, he has missed only two WrestleManias while his last 14 have been in consecutive years. With him being built up for a match against Bray Wyatt this year at Santa Clara, we could see him appear in 15 consecutive WrestleManias and quite possibly, his last one.

The Undertaker is well-known for his unflinching commitment to the WWE and not jumping the bus during his tenure over here and that is well-documented by this record. Coming closest is the legendary Bret Hart, who made it up to 12 before he quit the WWE. Over his 14 appearances, he has had some of the best matches and made his now-extinct streak one of the major attractions. Well, Shawn Michaels might be ‘Mr.WrestleMania’ but the Undertaker was no less when it came to performing on the grandest stage of them all.