While WrestleMania has mostly taken place in sports arenas in large cities, a number of them have been held in large stadiums; the most attended events include—WrestleMania III in Pontiac (93,173), WrestleMania VI (67,678) & WrestleMania X8 (68,237) in Toronto, WrestleMania VIII in Indianapolis (62,167), WrestleMania X-Seven (67,925) & WrestleMania XXV (72,744) in Houston, WrestleMania XIX in Seattle (54,097), WrestleMania 23 in Detroit (80,103), WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando (74,635), WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale (72,219), and WrestleMania XXVII in in Atlanta (71,617 people).[5][6]
WrestleMania centers on the main-event matches for the WWE Championship and since WrestleMania XIX, the World Heavyweight Championship. The ECW World Championship was only defended once at WrestleMania XXIV. A select number of other championship titles are also contested, while there are several gimmick matches and personal feud matches on the card.
Since 1993, the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match has received a guaranteed WWE Championship match at that year's WrestleMania. With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, the winner has the option to choose between either a WWE or World Heavyweight Title match. With the introduction of the ECW brand, the Rumble winner had the 3rd option of the ECW Championship from 2007 until it was retired in 2010,[7] but the Rumble winner always chose a WWE or World Title Match.
WrestleMania 21 saw the introduction of a new kind of match that since has become part of WrestleMania, the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match has featured six to ten participants over the years. The participant who retrieves the briefcase suspended above the ring wins a contract, which guarantees a world title match at the time and place of the winner's choosing for up to one year, including the following year's WrestleMania.[8]
The World Wrestling Federation staged the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main event was a tag-team match between the WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, accompanied by Jimmy Snuka against the team of Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff, who were accompanied by Cowboy Bob Orton. The financial and critical success of the event secured the company's status as the most successful promoter in the United States, rising above competitors such as the National Wrestling Alliance and American Wrestling Association. In attendance were business celebrity Sy Sperling and broadcasting executive Tony D'Angelo. WrestleMania 2 was held the following year and took place in three venues across the country. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California each featured multiple matches that led up to the lead main event which saw the WWF Champion Hulk Hogan defeat the challenger King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match.
A world indoor attendance-record set of 93,173 fans was set at WrestleMania III, which was also the largest paying attendance in the history of professional wrestling at the time. The event is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom. To make certain that every seat in the Silverdome would be filled, the WWF decided to exclude the entire state of Michigan from pay-per-view access to the event, which made attending the event the only way for fans in Michigan to see it.[9] The event featured Hogan defending the WWF Championship against André the Giant and the WWF Intercontinental Championship match between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.
WrestleMania IV was an all tournament event to crown a new WWF Champion. The second round of the tournament featured a rematch of the previous year's main event between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant while Randy Savage went on to defeat Ted DiBiase in the finals. The event returned the following year to Atlantic City, New Jersey for WrestleMania V, in which Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage for the WWF Championship Savage had won the previous year.
The Undertaker has been undefeated at Wrestlemania with a 19-0 winning streakFor the first time the event took place outside of the United States at WrestleMania VI, which was held at the SkyDome, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In the main event match, The Ultimate Warrior won the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan. The following year, the event returned to the United States for WrestleMania VII, which was originally scheduled to be held at the outdoors Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The event was moved to the adjacent indoors Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena for security reasons related to the Gulf War. The event saw Hulk Hogan face Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Championship, while The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut defeating Jimmy Snuka. Since then, The Undertaker has been undefeated in all of his WrestleMania matches. This feat has been ranked by The Mirror as the 7th greatest winning streak in sports history (it was the only streak from professional wrestling to be ranked in the list).[10]
WrestleMania IX was the first WrestleMania held at an outdoor venue. It was also the first and only time in Wrestlemania history that the WWF title switched twice. Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to become the WWF Champion, only to lose it to Hulk Hogan.
The 10th edition of the event, WrestleMania X saw its return to Madison Square Garden. The event featured Owen Hart defeating his elder brother Bret; a ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship also headlined, in which Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels. Bret having been defeated earlier won the WWF title from Yokozuna in the main event. Bret is the only wrestler in Wrestlemania history to lose his first match and come back to win the WWF title in the main event.
Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship in a 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII. The match is considered to be one of the best matches in the history of the event. The event also saw the return of the Ultimate Warrior who defeated Triple H.
At WrestleMania XIV, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to become the new WWF Champion in a match that featured Mike Tyson serving as the special enforcer. Although Tyson had been aligned with Michaels and his stable, D-Generation X, Tyson revealed to have been aligned with Austin all along as he personally counted the pinfall and declared Austin the winner. The event became known for starting "The Attitude Era." The following year at WrestleMania XV, Austin defeated The Rock to regain the WWF Championship. The event featured the first of many encounters at WrestleMania between Steve Austin and The Rock in the rivalry of the two most prominent and popular stars of the Attitude Era.
An attendance record setting 74,635 fans at the Citrus Bowl for WrestleMania XXIVAt WrestleMania X-Seven, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock and regained the WWF Championship. The event also featured Vince and Shane McMahon in a Street Fight, while Edge and Christian won the WWF Tag Team Championship against the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz in the second Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. The event was the pinnacle of the 1990s wrestling boom, concluding The Attitude Era. It was also the first WrestleMania held after the dissolution of the company's rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the Monday Night Wars. WrestleMania X8 was the last WrestleMania to be produced under the WWF name and featured Triple H defeating Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed Championship. Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker defeated Scott Hall with Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair respectively, all whom had rejoined the company after their stints with WCW. WrestleMania XIX saw Steve Austin's last match to date as he faced The Rock for a third time at WrestleMania, ending their long-running feud. Hulk Hogan defeated Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels participated in his first WrestleMania match in five years, defeating Chris Jericho. The World Heavyweight Championship was defended for the first time at the event with Triple H retaining against Booker T, while Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship.
World Wrestling Entertainment celebrated the 20th edition of WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden with WrestleMania XX. The event featured The Undertaker returning in his "Deadman" persona to defeat Kane and the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship victories of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero respectively. The event also featured The Rock and Mick Foley versus Batista, Randy Orton, and Ric Flair of Evolution, and Steve Austin as the guest referee in a match between Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg. The event saw The Rock's last match to date as well as Lesnar and Goldberg's last match with WWE. The annual WWE Hall of Fame was reintroduced with an annual induction show held the night before WrestleMania.
At WrestleMania 21, the concept of the Money in the Bank ladder match was introduced as a six-man ladder match that featured a briefcase suspended above the ring containing a contract that guaranteed the winning Raw brand participant a world title match at any time and place of their choosing within one year up to the next year's WrestleMania. In the main events, the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship passed on to John Cena and Batista respectively by defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Triple H in their respective matches. The event also featured the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin after a year long hiatus, while Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels in an acclaimed match. The Money in the Bank ladder match was also held at WrestleMania 22 as a six-man interpromotional match where the winner would get a world title match of their choosing, regardless of the brand they were on. The Money in the Bank ladder match was held yet again at WrestleMania 23 as an interpromotional eight-man match where superstars from Raw, ECW, and SmackDown competed. John Cena would go on to retain his WWE Championship at both WrestleMania 22 and 23, while the same events would see Rey Mysterio and The Undertaker win the World Heavyweight Championship respectively. Representing Donald Trump, ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley defeated Umaga, who represented Vince McMahon, in a match billed as the "battle of the billionaires" and arbitrated by Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 23.
At WrestleMania XXIV, Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in an acclaimed match, while the Money in the Bank ladder match was featured as an interpromotional match with seven participants from Raw, ECW, and SmackDown. With the ECW Championship being defended for the first time at a WrestleMania event, Kane emerged as the new ECW Champion in a record 8 seconds, while Randy Orton retained the WWE Championship and The Undertaker won the World Heavyweight Championship for the second consecutive year, defeating Edge. In an encounter that featured major media coverage, boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. defeated The Big Show. The event was the second WrestleMania to be held at an outdoor venue. WrestleMania XXV featured Chris Jericho defeating WWE Hall of Famers Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky Steamboat in a match with appearances by Ric Flair and actor Mickey Rourke. The WWE Intercontinental Championship was defended for the first time since WrestleMania X8 with Rey Mysterio defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield. John Cena defeated Edge and The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship, while Triple H retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton.
An attendance record setting 72,219 fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium for WrestleMania XXVIAt WrestleMania XXVI, the professional wrestling career of Shawn Michaels came to an end as he faced The Undertaker in an acclaimed re-match of their encounter from the previous year. Undertaker's victory improved his WrestleMania win/loss record to 18-0. The event also featured John Cena winning the WWE Championship and Chris Jericho retaining the World Heavyweight Championship. Following Bret Hart's return to WWE in over twelve years since the Montreal Screwjob incident, Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon in a no-holds barred match with members of the Hart wrestling family present.
WrestleMania XXVII featured the return of The Rock following a seven year hiatus to serve as host for the event. Trish Stratus competed in her first WrestleMania since the 22nd edition, teaming with John Morrison and Jersey Shore's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi to defeat LayCool and Dolph Ziggler. Longtime WWE announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler brawled in a match officiated by Stone Cold Steve Austin, while Triple H attempted to avenge Shawn Michaels' loss to The Undertaker from a year prior. World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated the challenger Alberto Del Rio, and The Rock closed out the event saluting the fans after laying out John Cena and The Miz following Miz retaining the WWE Championship.
WrestleMania centers on the main-event matches for the WWE Championship and since WrestleMania XIX, the World Heavyweight Championship. The ECW World Championship was only defended once at WrestleMania XXIV. A select number of other championship titles are also contested, while there are several gimmick matches and personal feud matches on the card.
Since 1993, the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match has received a guaranteed WWE Championship match at that year's WrestleMania. With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, the winner has the option to choose between either a WWE or World Heavyweight Title match. With the introduction of the ECW brand, the Rumble winner had the 3rd option of the ECW Championship from 2007 until it was retired in 2010,[7] but the Rumble winner always chose a WWE or World Title Match.
WrestleMania 21 saw the introduction of a new kind of match that since has become part of WrestleMania, the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match has featured six to ten participants over the years. The participant who retrieves the briefcase suspended above the ring wins a contract, which guarantees a world title match at the time and place of the winner's choosing for up to one year, including the following year's WrestleMania.[8]
[edit] Commentators
For five of the first six WrestleMania's, Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura served as the color commentators (the exception being WrestleMania 2, which was split among three venues and had Monsoon, Ventura, and Vince McMahon split up with guest commentators), while Bobby Heenan and others filled guest roles. For WrestleMania VII and VIII, Monsoon and Heenan were the color commentators. In the mid to late 1990s, the team was composed of Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Since the brand separation in 2002-03, matches from the Raw brand have been called by Ross and Lawler; the SmackDown matches called by Michael Cole, Tazz, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Jonathan Coachman and ECW matches called by Joey Styles and Tazz. At WrestleMania XXV the first three-man inter-brand commentary team since the WWE Brand Extension was used and consisted of Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Michael Cole. The following year Jim Ross was replaced by Matt Striker at WrestleMania XXVI. Howard Finkel has served as the long-standing ring announcer and has appeared at every event, but since the WWE Brand Extension, Lilian Garcia, Tony Chimel, and Justin Roberts have taken over as announcers for their brand matches.[edit] History
[edit] 1980s
A world indoor attendance-record set of 93,173 fans was set at WrestleMania III, which was also the largest paying attendance in the history of professional wrestling at the time. The event is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom. To make certain that every seat in the Silverdome would be filled, the WWF decided to exclude the entire state of Michigan from pay-per-view access to the event, which made attending the event the only way for fans in Michigan to see it.[9] The event featured Hogan defending the WWF Championship against André the Giant and the WWF Intercontinental Championship match between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.
WrestleMania IV was an all tournament event to crown a new WWF Champion. The second round of the tournament featured a rematch of the previous year's main event between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant while Randy Savage went on to defeat Ted DiBiase in the finals. The event returned the following year to Atlantic City, New Jersey for WrestleMania V, in which Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage for the WWF Championship Savage had won the previous year.
[edit] 1990s
WrestleMania IX was the first WrestleMania held at an outdoor venue. It was also the first and only time in Wrestlemania history that the WWF title switched twice. Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to become the WWF Champion, only to lose it to Hulk Hogan.
The 10th edition of the event, WrestleMania X saw its return to Madison Square Garden. The event featured Owen Hart defeating his elder brother Bret; a ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship also headlined, in which Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels. Bret having been defeated earlier won the WWF title from Yokozuna in the main event. Bret is the only wrestler in Wrestlemania history to lose his first match and come back to win the WWF title in the main event.
Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship in a 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII. The match is considered to be one of the best matches in the history of the event. The event also saw the return of the Ultimate Warrior who defeated Triple H.
At WrestleMania XIV, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to become the new WWF Champion in a match that featured Mike Tyson serving as the special enforcer. Although Tyson had been aligned with Michaels and his stable, D-Generation X, Tyson revealed to have been aligned with Austin all along as he personally counted the pinfall and declared Austin the winner. The event became known for starting "The Attitude Era." The following year at WrestleMania XV, Austin defeated The Rock to regain the WWF Championship. The event featured the first of many encounters at WrestleMania between Steve Austin and The Rock in the rivalry of the two most prominent and popular stars of the Attitude Era.
[edit] 2000s
WrestleMania 2000 featured the first ever Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, involving the Hardy Boyz, the Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian. The main event featured the WWF Champion Triple H with Stephanie McMahon successfully defending his title against three challengers: The Rock with Vince McMahon, The Big Show with Shane McMahon, and Mick Foley with Linda McMahon.
World Wrestling Entertainment celebrated the 20th edition of WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden with WrestleMania XX. The event featured The Undertaker returning in his "Deadman" persona to defeat Kane and the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship victories of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero respectively. The event also featured The Rock and Mick Foley versus Batista, Randy Orton, and Ric Flair of Evolution, and Steve Austin as the guest referee in a match between Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg. The event saw The Rock's last match to date as well as Lesnar and Goldberg's last match with WWE. The annual WWE Hall of Fame was reintroduced with an annual induction show held the night before WrestleMania.
At WrestleMania 21, the concept of the Money in the Bank ladder match was introduced as a six-man ladder match that featured a briefcase suspended above the ring containing a contract that guaranteed the winning Raw brand participant a world title match at any time and place of their choosing within one year up to the next year's WrestleMania. In the main events, the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship passed on to John Cena and Batista respectively by defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Triple H in their respective matches. The event also featured the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin after a year long hiatus, while Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels in an acclaimed match. The Money in the Bank ladder match was also held at WrestleMania 22 as a six-man interpromotional match where the winner would get a world title match of their choosing, regardless of the brand they were on. The Money in the Bank ladder match was held yet again at WrestleMania 23 as an interpromotional eight-man match where superstars from Raw, ECW, and SmackDown competed. John Cena would go on to retain his WWE Championship at both WrestleMania 22 and 23, while the same events would see Rey Mysterio and The Undertaker win the World Heavyweight Championship respectively. Representing Donald Trump, ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley defeated Umaga, who represented Vince McMahon, in a match billed as the "battle of the billionaires" and arbitrated by Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 23.
At WrestleMania XXIV, Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in an acclaimed match, while the Money in the Bank ladder match was featured as an interpromotional match with seven participants from Raw, ECW, and SmackDown. With the ECW Championship being defended for the first time at a WrestleMania event, Kane emerged as the new ECW Champion in a record 8 seconds, while Randy Orton retained the WWE Championship and The Undertaker won the World Heavyweight Championship for the second consecutive year, defeating Edge. In an encounter that featured major media coverage, boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. defeated The Big Show. The event was the second WrestleMania to be held at an outdoor venue. WrestleMania XXV featured Chris Jericho defeating WWE Hall of Famers Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky Steamboat in a match with appearances by Ric Flair and actor Mickey Rourke. The WWE Intercontinental Championship was defended for the first time since WrestleMania X8 with Rey Mysterio defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield. John Cena defeated Edge and The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship, while Triple H retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton.
[edit] 2010s
WrestleMania XXVII featured the return of The Rock following a seven year hiatus to serve as host for the event. Trish Stratus competed in her first WrestleMania since the 22nd edition, teaming with John Morrison and Jersey Shore's Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi to defeat LayCool and Dolph Ziggler. Longtime WWE announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler brawled in a match officiated by Stone Cold Steve Austin, while Triple H attempted to avenge Shawn Michaels' loss to The Undertaker from a year prior. World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated the challenger Alberto Del Rio, and The Rock closed out the event saluting the fans after laying out John Cena and The Miz following Miz retaining the WWE Championship.
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