WrestleMania is that one time of year when fans of all types – from diehards to lapsed believers in Hulkamania – come together in celebration of the true national pastime: watching sweaty men roll around in their underwear while pretending to be evil sheiks, nature boys, macho men and, uh, dead dudes. And in celebration of this annual spectacle of the sublime and the absurd, we thought we’d bring you a look back at some of the most memorable WrestleMania moments of all time.
Some were transcendent matches that left everyone buzzing, some were examples of perfect storytelling, and some just involved giant, fat dudes being body-slammed, but whatever their differences, the one thing these nine moments all have in common is that they are truly the craziest, unforgettable WrestleMania moments of them all.
9. The Birth of the Ladder Match – WrestleMania 10
Prior to WrestleMania 10, the ladder match had only made a few sporadic appearances at non-televised events. But that all changed at WrestleMania 10, where Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon combined to steal the show with a wild ladder match that helped push pro wrestling into a crazier, more exciting style. It set the template for all ladder matches to come, made stars of both Michaels and Ramon (who you might know as Scott Hall from his nWo days) and made anything and everything suddenly seem possible in a wrestling match. The slow motion replay of Shawn Michaels diving off of the top of the ladder for a huge splash will live on in highlight packages forever.
8. Foley on Fire – WrestleMania 22
The story was simple – lovable legend Mick Foley, known for some of the most brutal matches of all time, came out of retirement to face Edge, who was basically a giant dick. The match itself was a hardcore extravaganza of the extreme, featuring weapons, blood, Lita’s boobs and oh yeah, a flaming table. The match ended when Edge lit a table on fire outside of the ring and then speared Foley off of the apron, through the flaming table, leaving both in a fiery heap and providing a fitting last WrestleMania spectacle for the man known as the Hardcore Legend, and a memory that no one could ever possibly forget.
7. The Nature Boy Rides into the Sunset – WrestleMania 24
For decades, Ric Flair had been The Man, but even The Man has to grow old one day. But in pro wrestling, The Man doesn’t just fade away, he gets his head kicked off in the middle of the ring. Fittingly, the man who put the Nature Boy down for good was Shawn Michaels, who many considered Flair’s heir apparent in terms of his ability to put on a show every time he stepped into the ring. It was a grand sendoff, as Flair willed his old body into one more great match before Michaels told him he loved him and then kicked him in the face. Flair then walked away to the adoration of everyone in the crowd, wooing into the sunset one last time.
6. Mike Tyson, Stone Cold and the Dawning of Attitude – WrestleMania 14
This was just one of those lightning in a bottle moments, when everything came together and made for a perfect story. It was all set up by a confrontation between Mike Tyson and Stone Cold Steve Austin on an episode of Monday Night Raw with the whole world watching. It was an electric scene, one that saw the ultimate rebel Austin led away by handcuffs after attacking Tyson while his apoplectic boss, Vince McMahon, lost his goddamn mind. By the time WrestleMania 14 hit only a couple of months later, Austin and Tyson had combined to make wrestling cool again. The match itself – Austin beating the champ, Shawn Michaels, with Tyson as the special enforcer – was Stone Cold’s crowning moment, and the one that triggered both his legendary feud with McMahon and the rocket-fueled rise of the Attitude Era, the most profitable time in the company’s history.
5. Shawn Michaels’ Last Stand – WrestleMania 26
The Undertaker and his infamous WrestleMania winning streak has become almost synonymous with the event itself, but of all his memorable matches, none was as unforgettable as his showdown with Shawn Michaels, AKA Mr. WrestleMania. It was a rematch from the year before, when The Undertaker fended off The Heartbreak Kid in a sensational match, and this time the ante was upped, as Shawn Michaels put his career on the line, vowing to retire if he couldn’t beat The Undertaker and his streak. In perhaps an even better match, the Dead Man prevailed and Shawn Michaels was forced to call it a career, but not before receiving a standing ovation and an outpouring of emotion from the 72,000 people in attendance.
4. The Rock and Hulk Hogan Face Off – WrestleMania 18
Hulk Hogan had just returned after years spent in rival WCW and right away he came face to face with The Rock. Hogan was the bad guy since by that time The Rock was also The Man, but then a funny thing happened: the fans in Toronto at WrestleMania 18 refused to boo the Hulkster, instead cheering him wildly and creating an atmosphere that had never been seen before at WrestleMania. It was wild, passionate and charged with raw emotion and it set a new tone for all wrestling crowds to follow. It was just one of those special moments that can only happen at WrestleMania. The match itself didn’t matter, the staredown itself was enough to light the crowd up and remind everyone that before The Rock, before Stone Cold Steve Austin, there was Hulkamania and for at least one more night, it was running wild.
3. Stone Cold Won’t Quit – WrestleMania 13
Coming into his I Quit match against Bret Hart, Steve Austin was the biggest asshole in wrestling, a classic bad guy who the fans were supposed to hate. And for the most part they did, but WrestleMania 13 changed everything. Austin and the Hitman had a brutal, epic match that saw each man throw everything they had against each other. And along the way, a funny thing happened: the fans started to realize that this Austin dude was a total badass.
By the time the Hitman locked Stone Cold in his sharpshooter finisher, blood pouring down a screaming Austin’s face – a shot that remains one of the most iconic in wrestling history – the fans were pretty split. And then Austin refused to quit, staying in the hold, bleeding, screaming, until he finally passed out from the pain, earning the respect of everyone and turning him from a bad guy into the most popular wrestler in the world almost instantly. And the rest, as they say, is history.
2. Hulk Hogan Slams Andre the Giant – WrestleMania 3
It doesn’t get any more epic than this. The story was simple – Hulk Hogan was the man, at the height of his powers, with no one left to really challenge him. At least not until his gentle friend, Andre the Giant, AKA the legendary mountain of a man who, at least according to the WWF’s spin, had never lost a match, decided he was sick of playing second fiddle to the Hulkster and decided to teach him a lesson. The match was the biggest in wrestling history, drawing a record breaking crowd at the Pontiac Silverdome, and it ended the only way it could have – with Hulk Hogan body-slamming the almost impossibly enormous Andre in the middle of the ring. It was perhaps the defining moment of the Hulkamania era and remains one the most enduring images in wrestling history.
1. The Macho Man and Elizabeth Reunite – WrestleMania 7
For years, the Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth were wrestling’s premier couple. Of course, the Macho Man treated her like trash for much of the time as the stereotypical jealous, possessive boyfriend, until she finally left his ass while he was feuding with Hulk Hogan. Fast forward a couple of years later to WrestleMania 7, where the Macho Man, unhinged, faced off in a loser must retire match against The Ultimate Warrior. Savage had become perhaps the most hated wrestler in the world, largely because he had lost Elizabeth, had taken up with crazy ass Sensational Sherri and generally behaved like an out of control lunatic asshole. In short, he had finally succumbed to the madness. Naturally, he lost the match and was forced to retire and after the match a bitter Sherri decided to kick the crap out of him while he was down.
But Elizabeth, who hadn’t been seen since leaving the Macho Man, was in the crowd that day (what a shocking coincidence!) and she ran in to save her man in more ways than one. The crowd went wild as the Macho Man realized the error of his ways, embraced his lost love and finally treated her like she deserved, hoisting her on his shoulders and then holding the ropes for her, all while every woman in the crowd – and more than a few dudes – balled their eyes out. It was the closest pro wrestling has ever come to high art and is the most awesomely unforgettable WrestleMania moment of them all.
WrestleMania 18 image: YouTube
WrestleMania 22 image: YouTube
WrestleMania 14 image: YouTube
Wrestlemania 13 image: YouTube
WrestleMania 7 image: YouTube