WrestleMania

WrestleMania (also known informally as Mania) is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event, produced annually between mid-March to early April by WWE, an American professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. WWE first produced the event in 1985 and has since produced 32 editions, with the thirty-third to be held in Orlando, Florida on April 2, 2017 & with the thirty-forth to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 1, 2018. WrestleMania, WWE's flagship event, is the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. It contributes to the worldwide commercial success of WWE through media, merchandise, and shows. WrestleMania was conceptualized by WWE owner Vince McMahon and long time WWE ring announcer and Hall of Famer Howard Finkel is credited with devising the name "WrestleMania" in 1984.

WrestleMania's widespread success helped transform professional wrestling. The event has facilitated the rise to stardom of several top WWE wrestlers. Celebrities such as Aretha Franklin, Cyndi Lauper, Muhammad Ali, Mr. T, Alice Cooper, Lawrence Taylor, Pamela Anderson, Mike Tyson, Donald Trump, Floyd Mayweather, Pete Rose, Burt Reynolds, Mickey Rourke, Snoop Dogg, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Kid Rock, Fred Durst, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronda Rousey, and Shaquille O'Neal have participated or made special appearances within the events.

The first WrestleMania was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City; the 10th and 20th editions were also held there. WrestleMania III in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan was the highest-attended indoor sports event in the world, with 93,173 fans in attendance. The record stood until February 14, 2010, when the 2010 NBA All-Star Game broke the indoor sporting event record with an attendance of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium.^[1] In 2016, WrestleMania 32 surpassed WrestleMania III as the highest-attended professional wrestling event ever held, with 101,763 fans in attendance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. All editions of the event have been hosted in North American cities, with 30 in the United States and two in Canada.

Organization

Most WrestleMania events have taken place in sports arenas in large cities, with some in large stadiums. The most-attended events include WrestleMania III (93,173) in Pontiac, WrestleMania VI (67,678) in Toronto, WrestleMania VIII (62,167) in Indianapolis, WrestleMania X-Seven(67,925) in Houston, WrestleMania X8 (68,237) also in Toronto, WrestleMania XIX (54,097) in Seattle, WrestleMania 23 (80,103) in Detroit, WrestleMania XXIV (74,635) in Orlando, WrestleMania XXV (72,744) also in Houston, WrestleMania XXVI (72,219) in Phoenix, WrestleMania XXVII (71,617) in Atlanta, WrestleMania XXVIII (78,363) in Miami, WrestleMania 29 (80,676) in East Rutherford, WrestleMania XXX (75,167) in New Orleans, WrestleMania 31 (76,976) in Santa Clara and WrestleMania 32 (101,763) in Dallas.^[2][3] Since moving to large stadiums and running Axxess, WrestleMania produces a local economy boost for the host cities.^[4][5][6][7]

WrestleMania centers on the main event matches, primarily for the WWE Championship (and between WrestleManias XIX and 29, the World Heavyweight Championship), as well as matches involving sportsmen such as American footballer Lawrence Taylor, multi-weight boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather, and sumo wrestler Akebono. Other WWE championships are also contested for, while gimmick matches and personal feud matches also take place on the match card.

Since 1993, the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match has been able to receive a guaranteed WWE Championship match at the same year's WrestleMania. With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, the winner was also given the option to choose between the world title or the WWE championship. The creation of the ECW brand in June 2006 gave the Rumble winner a third option: to choose to challenge for the ECW World Championship. This option was made available from 2007 until the brand was retired in 2010. However, this option was never chosen.^[8]

WrestleMania 21 saw the introduction of the Money in the Bank ladder match. This match features six to ten participants and took place at six WrestleManias between 2005 and 2010 before becoming the headline match of its own pay-per-view event, Money in the Bank which incorporated the use of two Money in the Bank ladder matches for both respective WWE brands, SmackDown and Raw. 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. This lasted until 2010 when the Money in the Bank pay per view was introduced and thus the Money in the Bank ladder match was retired from WrestleMania.^[9]

Commentators

For five of the first six WrestleManias 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, Gene Okerlund, Lord Alfred Hayes and others filled guest roles. For WrestleMania VII and VIII, Monsoon and Heenan provided color commentary. In the mid to late 1990s the commentator team comprised Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Since the brand separation in 2002, 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 from 2006 to 2010, the 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. At WrestleMania XXVII Jim Ross returned to commentate, along with Josh Mathews and new SmackDown color commentator Booker T; the sudden change of commentary was due to a singles match between regular commentators Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Howard Finkel, who is credited with coming up with the name "WrestleMania" in 1984,^[10] 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 respective brand matches. Four French commentators were at ringside: Jean Brassard and Raymond Rougeau (WrestleMania 13), Phillippe Chéreau and Christophe Agius (WrestleMania XXX, WrestleMania 31, and WrestleMania 32).

History

1980s

I

2

2

2

III

IV

V

Venues of WrestleMania in the 1980s

Mr. T and Hulk Hogan at the first WrestleMania event; Mr. T returned for WrestleMania 2 while Hulk Hogan wrestled at the first nine events.

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 World Heavyweight 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 promotion 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 (now Allstate Arena) in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles. They each featured multiple matches that led up to the main event; this saw WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defeat the challenger King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage match.

A world indoor attendance-record 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 Pontiac Silverdome would be filled, 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.^[11] The event featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant and the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship match between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. The match between Savage and Steamboat would go on to be regarded as one of the best matches in not only WrestleMania, but professional wrestling history and is acknowledged by many (including Vince McMahon) as having "stolen the show".

WrestleMania IV was held at the Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey (though on the broadcast it was billed as being held in the Trump Plaza because the adjacent casino hotel was the event's primary sponsor). The event was an all tournament event to crown a new WWF World Heavyweight Champion, with four non-tournament matches to fill between the gaps in the tournament rounds. 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 for WrestleMania V, in which Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship Savage had won the previous year. To date this is the only time consecutive WrestleMania's have been held in the same venue.

1990s

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

13

XIV

XV

Venues of WrestleMania in the 1990s

The first time WrestleMania took place outside of the United States was WrestleMania VI, which was held at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto, Canada. In the main event match, The Ultimate Warrior won the WWF World Heavyweight 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 after poor tickets sales, sold on television as being for security reasons related to the Gulf War and Sgt. Slaughter's storyline defection to Iraq.^[12] The event saw Hulk Hogan face defending champion Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, while The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut defeating Jimmy Snuka. Following this, The Undertaker was undefeated in 21 of his WrestleMania matches, until he lost to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX.^[13] The next edition, WrestleMania VIII, was held in the Hoosier Dome with Macho Man Randy Savage defeating Ric Flair for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and Hulk Hogan defeating Sid Justice via disqualification.

The Undertaker held the record for 21 victories in a row at WrestleMania.

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 World Heavyweight Championship switched twice. Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to become the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, only to lose it to Hulk Hogan. The tenth 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 World Heavyweight Championship from Yokozuna in the main event. Bret is the first wrestler in WrestleMania history to lose his first match and come back to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF World Heavyweight 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 Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H) in the latter's WrestleMania debut. The following year at WrestleMania 13, a submission match pitted Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin against one another in a bout that received much acclaim and The Undertaker defeated Sycho Sid for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event.

At WrestleMania XIV, Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to become the new WWF World Heavyweight 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 Undertaker and Kane fought for first time at this event where The Undertaker won. The following year at WrestleMania XV, Austin defeated The Rock to regain the WWF Championship. The event featured the first of three encounters at WrestleMania between Austin and The Rock in the rivalry of the two most prominent and popular stars of The Attitude Era.

2000s

2000

X-Seven

X8

XIX

XX

21

22

23

XXIV

XXV

Venues of WrestleMania in the 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 successfully defending his title in a fatal four way match against three challengers: The Rock, Big Show and Mick Foley. This match was billed as having 'a McMahon in every corner' as Triple H was accompanied by Stephanie McMahon, The Rock by Vince McMahon, Big Show by Shane McMahon and Mick Foley by Linda McMahon.

At WrestleMania X-Seven, 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. It was also the first WrestleMania held after the dissolution and WWF's subsequent purchase of the company's rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the end of 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. Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker defeated Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair respectively, all whom had rejoined the company after their stints with WCW. Also Rob Van Dam won his first Intercontinental Championship in his WrestleMania debut.

WrestleMania XIX saw Steve Austin's last match, 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.

WWE celebrated the twentieth edition of WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden with WrestleMania XX. The event featured The Undertaker (who returned to his Deadman persona) defeating the unmasked Kane in their second encounter and the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship victories of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, respectively with Guerrero defeating Kurt Angle to retain the WWE Championship and Benoit defeating Triple H and Shawn Michaels to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The event also featured the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, The Rock and Mankind/Mick Foley versus Batista, Randy Orton, and Ric Flair of Evolution where this 2-on-3 handicap match saw The Rock's last match for over seven years, as well as Steve Austin as the guest referee in an interpromotional singles match between the departing superstars Brock Lesnar (who would return to the company eight years later) and Bill Goldberg. The 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; 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 which Edge went on to win this match. 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. Eddie Guerrero's last WrestleMania match took place at WrestleMania 21 against Rey Mysterio, before he died later that year. The event also featured the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin after a year-long hiatus, while Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels in a highly 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, and this match was won by Rob Van Dam. The main events of WrestleMania 22 featured Rey Mysterio win the World Heavyweight Championship against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match, and John Cena retain the WWE Championship against Triple H. Edge defeated Mick Foley in a Hardcore Rules match, where Edge infamously speared Foley of the ring apron through a flaming table at ringside. WrestleMania 22 also featured Shawn Michaels defeating Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match, Undertaker defeating Mark Henry in a casket match, and Mickie James defeat Trish Stratus to win the WWE Women's Championship.

Shawn Michaels earned the moniker "Mr. WrestleMania".

At WrestleMania 23, the Money in the Bank match expanded to include eight men and would include stars from the revived ECW brand which was won by Mr. Kennedy. John Cena would go on to retain his WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels, while The Undertaker would win the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista. 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. This was also the last WrestleMania where the WWE Women's Championship was defended when Melina defeated Ashley Massaro in a lumberjills match.

At WrestleMania XXIV, Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in a highly acclaimed match, while the Money in the Bank ladder match included seven participants from all three brands which was won by CM Punk who also wins it again at WrestleMania XXV. The ECW Championship was defended for the only time at a WrestleMania event, when 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 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 that featured appearances by Ric Flair and actor Mickey Rourke. Shawn Michaels unsuccessfully attempted to hand The Undertaker his first defeat at a WrestleMania in an acclaimed match, and the WWE Intercontinental Championship was defended at the event for the first time since WrestleMania X8 with Rey Mysterio defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield. John Cena defeated Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship also involving the Big Show, while Triple H retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton.

2010s

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

29

XXX

31

32

33

Venues of WrestleMania in the 2010s

At WrestleMania XXVI, the professional wrestling career of Shawn Michaels came to an end as he faced The Undertaker in a highly acclaimed re-match of their encounter from the previous year. 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. The Money in the Bank Ladder match included ten participants from both Raw and SmackDown (the ECW brand was retired in February), and this match was won by Jack Swagger. This was the last Money in the Bank Ladder match to date at WrestleMania event.

The Rock is the only wrestler to face and defeat Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and John Cena at WrestleMania

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 twenty-second 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 failed in his attempt to avenge Shawn Michaels' loss to The Undertaker from a year prior. This was the first WrestleMania in history in which both the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion were able to successfully retain their titles. World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated the challenger Alberto Del Rio in what would be Edge's last match before his retirement on April 11, and The Rock closed out the event saluting the fans after laying out John Cena and The Miz with the signature move Rock Bottom following Miz retaining the WWE Championship. This incident would set up the main event for the following year's WrestleMania.

WrestleMania XXVIII had three "main event" matches. In the first main event, The Undertaker defeated Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match via pinfall, officiated by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, extending his WrestleMania streak to 20–0. The second main event featured CM Punk retaining the WWE Championship against Chris Jericho, via submission.^[14] The third main event featured The Rock defeating John Cena via pinfall in a "Once in a Lifetime" match, announced a year in advance.

In 2013, WrestleMania 29 had 80,676 fans in attendance, becoming the third-highest attended WrestleMania ever. This WrestleMania had three main events. The first saw The Undertaker extend his undefeated streak to 21–0 by defeating CM Punk. Triple H, with the help of Shawn Michaels, defeated Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred match; had Triple H lost, he would have had to retire from in-ring competition. In the final match, John Cena avenged his loss from the previous year by defeating The Rock for the WWE Championship, winning the title a record 11th time and making a record of four victories as a Challenger in World title match at WrestleMania . Other matches included Alberto Del Rio successfully defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Jack Swagger, and Fandango pulling off an upset by defeating Chris Jericho. In the opening bout, The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) defeated the team of Big Show, Sheamus, and Randy Orton, in their WrestleMania debut.

WrestleMania XXX was the 30th annual WrestleMania event produced by WWE on April 6, 2014 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana.^[15] It saw Daniel Bryan defeat Triple H in the opening match. Per the stipulation, this gave Bryan a spot in the main event, where he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by making Batista submit in a Triple Threat match which also included Randy Orton. It was the first WrestleMania where the WWE Divas Championship was defended, with AJ Lee retaining the title in the "Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational". WrestleMania XXX also saw the end of The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania as he was defeated by Brock Lesnar in what was described as 'the most shocking result in sports-entertainment history'.^[16] At Wrestlemania XXX, Bray Wyatt's undefeated streak since his debut came to an end at the hands of John Cena. Also, at WrestleMania XXX, The Shield defeated Kane and The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) in a six-man tag team match, and Cesaro won the 1st ever Andre The Giant memorial battle royal by body slamming Big Show outside of the ring, in similar fashion to Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre The Giant, at WrestleMania III.

WrestleMania 31 was held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on March 29, 2015.^[17] Brock Lesnar defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event against Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns, with Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase, turning the bout into a Triple Threat, ending with Rollins pinning Reigns to win the championship. Other main bouts included Sting's first ever WWE match against Triple H which he lost, The Undertaker returned and defeated Bray Wyatt to get his 22nd victory at the event's history, Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins and Rusev lost the United States Championship and his unbeaten streak to John Cena. Another important promoted match was the 7-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which was won by Daniel Bryan. Also, at WrestleMania 31, AJ Lee teamed with Paige to defeat The Bella Twins in a tag team match.

WrestleMania 32 was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on April 3, 2016. WrestleMania 32 broke the attendance record at 101,763 as announced by The Rock at the event. In the main event Roman Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Other bouts included the Undertaker defeating Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match. Had Shane won he would have gained control of Monday Night Raw had 'Taker lost this would have been his last WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight, Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to win the inaugural WWE Women's Championship, Chris Jericho defeated AJ Styles in a singles match, The League of Nations (Sheamus, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio) (with King Barrett) defeated The New Day (Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E) in a six-man tag match, Zack Ryder won a 7-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, and The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in a record breaking 6 seconds match. Also, at WrestleMania 32, Baron Corbin won the 3rd annual Andre The Giant memorial battle royal, by last eliminating Kane.

Future

WrestleMania 33 is set to be held on April 2, 2017, at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.^[18]

WrestleMania XXXIV is set to be held on April 1, 2018, at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[19]

Celebrity involvement

Over the years, WrestleMania has featured many celebrity appearances with varying levels of involvement. The main event of the first WrestleMania showcased numerous celebrities along with the wrestlers. Billy Martin served as ring announcer with Liberace as timekeeper, and Muhammad Ali served as an official. Mr. T competed in the main event alongside tag team partner, Hulk Hogan. WrestleMania 2 featured a 20-man battle royal pitting several NFL players against WWF wrestlers, while Lawrence Taylor faced Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania XI. Mike Tyson appeared at WrestleMania XIV as the special guest enforcer for the WWF Championship bout between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin, while professional boxer Butterbean was challenged to a boxing match by Bart Gunn at WrestleMania XV. At WrestleManias XIV, XV, and 2000, Pete Rose became involved in a short feud with Kane that became a running gag with each appearance ending with Rose receiving a Tombstone piledriver or chokeslam from Kane. Big Show faced sumo wrestling yokozuna Akebono in a sumo contest at WrestleMania 21, and fought professional welterweight boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at WrestleMania XXIV. Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi competed in a 6-person tag team match teaming with Trish Stratus and John Morrison in a winning effort against Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool), at WrestleMania XXVIII Maria Menounos teamed up with Kelly Kelly to defeat Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres in a tag team match.

The event has also featured live musical performances. Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, Little Richard, Boyz II Men, Ashanti, Boys Choir of Harlem, Michelle Williams, John Legend, Nicole Scherzinger, Fantasia Barrino, and Keri Hilson have each renditioned the songs "The Star-Spangled Banner" or "America the Beautiful" before the show. Robert Goulet performed "O Canada" at WrestleMania VI. Acts such as Motörhead, Limp Bizkit, Saliva, Run–D.M.C., Salt-n-Pepa, Living Colour, Ice-T, Drowning Pool, Flo Rida, P.O.D., Machine Gun Kelly, Rev Theory and Mark Crozer have also performed during the live entrances of competitors.

WrestleMania Axxess

In 1988, in association with The Trump Organization, WWF prepared a small festival to celebrate WrestleMania IV, which included autograph signings, a brunch, and a 5K run; the event was held again in 1989 for WrestleMania V. In 1992, a festival was held the day of WrestleMania VIII which included a WWF superstar look-alike contest and a tournament for the WWF WrestleFest arcade game. In 1993, the WWF held a "WrestleMania Brunch" the day of WrestleMania IX at Caesars Palace, during the course of which Lex Luger attacked Bret Hart. In 1994, WWF offered "Fan Fest" for the weekend of WrestleMania X, which allowed fans to step inside a WWF ring, participate in games, meet superstars, and purchase merchandise; the event was followed up in 1995 with another "Fan Fest" for WrestleMania XI. In 1999, WWF held its first Saturday pre-WrestleMania event taking place on March 27, 1999. WrestleMania Rage Party as it was known was televised live on the USA Network from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (EST). The event was to be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The idea of the event was "...to celebrate the final WrestleMania of the millennium..."^[20][21]

The following year WWF held its first WrestleMania Axxess event at the Anaheim Convention Center expanding upon the party idea of WrestleMania Rage Party. The event included autograph signings and mementos to inductees of the WWE Hall of Fame. There were also activities where fans could enter a wrestling ring and commentate a wrestling match.^[22] In 2001, WrestleMania Axxess was held at the Reliant Hall which expanded upon the event by adding numerous activities including areas where attendees could buy special merchandise, see a production truck and check out special WWE vehicles.^[23] From 2002, WrestleMania Axxess would be extended to a three-day event (March 14–16) and would be held at the Canadian National Exhibition.^[24][25] The three-day event included similar activities to that of the one-day line-up.^[25] 2003 would be the final WrestleMania Axxess at a convention center for 6 years. From 2004–2008, WrestleMania Axxess visited cities around the United States and Canada with a smaller touring version of what was previously presented at regular Axxess events. In 2009 WrestleMania Axxess returned, and has continued every year since, as a 4-day event held at convention centers and arenas in the host city of that year's WrestleMania.

Dates and venues

See also

• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• List of WWE Network events
• Starrcade: the premier event produced by the defunct World Championship Wrestling.
• November to Remember: the premier event produced by the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling.
• Bound for Glory: the premier event produced by TNA Wrestling.
• Final Battle: the premier event produced by Ring of Honor.
• January 4 Dome Show: the premier event produced by New Japan Pro Wrestling.
• CMLL Anniversary Show: the premier event produced by CMLL.
• Triplemanía: the premier event produced by AAA.
• Ultima Lucha: the premier event produced by Lucha Underground.

References

Further reading

• Basil V. Devito & Joe Layden (2001). WWF WrestleMania : The Official Insider's Story. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-710667-X. 

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: WrestleMania

• WrestleMania Official Website
• WrestleMania history
• WrestleMania: Happy 25th! – slideshow by Life