 |
| source// wwe.com |
We’re less than two weeks away from WrestleMania 32, and it looks like most of the card is at last set in stone. It’s the time of year where veteran fans get increasingly wistful and nostalgic about WrestleManias past, and are now able to enjoy all 31 prior events through a certain handy on-demand service.
Instead of trying to wrap one’s head around the convoluted storytelling in the Shane McMahon-Undertaker match, you can dial up, say, WrestleMania V, and wrap your head around the convoluted chatter in the Piper’s Pit segment.
A couple of weeks back, I penned (or typed) a piece on ten interesting WrestleMania factsthat aren’t so well-known, and it appears that it was a hit. As someone that loves to mine statistics and facts with as much enthusiasm as someone overindulging in a niche hobby could possibly do, I’ve taken it upon myself to conjure up ten more facts that you may find surprising.
Because it is true: as winter gives way to spring, and the light of evening lingers longer, we realise it’s WrestleMania season, and we can’t help but get excited about the captivating tales and moments of years past.
What’s a little statistical overindulgence in the name of fun?
10. On All Four Occasions That WrestleMania Fell On April 1, The Main Event Was Babyface Vs. Babyface
There have been face vs. face main events in other years, but talk about your unlikely coincidences. The last four times that April 1 fell on a Sunday were in 1990, 2001, 2007, and 2012. It so happens that in each year, the stars aligned for two heroes to collide in each event’s finale.
1990 was Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior, title for title. In 2001, Steve Austin did turn heel at the match’s conclusion, but before then, he and The Rock were heroic cornerstones duking it out. Six years later, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels. In 2012, Cena waged war with The Rock in a battle of icons.
The next April 1 Sunday will be in 2018 but, sadly, it’s also Easter, and WrestleMania is never held on the holiday. The next Sunday of April Fools will be in 2029, in which 59-year-old babyface Triple H battles heroic nephew Declan McMahon for control of the company.
I’ve already got my ticket.
9. No Women’s Match At WrestleMania Has Ever Reached 10 Minutes
This one shouldn’t be too surprising, given the company’s long-held belief that women’s wrestlers are a secondary, supplementary act.
The longest match at WrestleMania exclusively featuring women was Mickie James’ championship win over Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 22, which clocked in at 8:48. It was a very enjoyable match, in large part due to Mickie’s uninhibited performance, but surely they were worth another 1:12.
Hell, we all know they’re worth much more than that.
Two other matches with women made it past nine minutes, but each was a mixed tag. Chyna reached 9:37 at WrestleMania 2000 when she partnered with Too Cool in their win over The Radicalz. Sable’s committed performance alongside Marc Mero against Goldust and Luna Vachon at WrestleMania 14 made it to the 9:11 mark.
Here’s hoping the Divas’ Revolution trio can change that this year.
8. From 2006 To 2012, Only One Royal Rumble Winner Actually Main Evented WrestleMania: Randy Orton
Across the seven year stretch, nothing had changed with how the Royal Rumble match was sold. Jim Ross or Michael Cole or whoever would assure the audience that the match’s winner would “headline WrestleMania.” Granted, WWE’s idea of ‘headline’ and ‘main event’ are diluted to the point where fans now think a WrestleMania can have four ‘main events’, which is entirely wrong.
Orton’s 2009 Rumble win actually got him into the WrestleMania main event with Triple H, who has no problem ensuring himself the WrestleMania finale. In the six other years listed, that wasn’t the case.
2006 featured Rey Mysterio working third from the close. 2007 saw Undertaker go on forth. In 2008, John Cena was third from the end. After Orton’s example, Edge went on seventh out of ten matches in 2010. And finally, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus actually opened WrestleManias 27 and 28.
So much for ‘headlining’, eh?
7. Primo Colon Has Wrestled In Four Tag Team Title Matches At WrestleMania – All On Pre-Shows
During the Hall of Fame induction of Carlos Colon in 2014, son Carlito claimed that their ‘time was cut’ for the speech, which he joked was typical treatment for him during his WWE run. Judging how younger brother Primo has been relegated to the pre-shows of WrestleMania, he appears to have a valid point.
Only Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley have been in as many WrestleMania-day Tag Team Title matches as Primo Colon, who took part in one with Carlito, and three with cousin Epico (twice under masks as Los Matadores).
The match with Carlito preceded WrestleMania XXV, while the three with Epico jerked the curtain for WrestleManias XXVIII, XXX, and 31. And go figure, at 29 (and most definitely 32), they were, and will be, defended on the main show.
6. Neither Lance Storm Nor The Hurricane Has Ever Wrestled On A WrestleMania Main Show
Storm’s two WrestleMania-day bouts were pre-show exclusives. At X8 in 2002, he took part in a six-man tag, while his Tag Team title match at XIX was pushed to Sunday Night Heat, in order to make room for the Miller Lite Cat Fight girls and Limp Bizkit. Hardly surprising when you think about it.
The Hurricane did score an official WrestleMania pin during the Hardcore Title hijinks at X8, but he never had an ‘official’ pay-per-view match. His entire WrestleMania experience otherwise took place on the pre-shows of 21 and 23, as well as in the role of lumberjack at XXV.
In 2001, Storm and Shane Helms were considered two of the bigger ‘gets’ of the WCW talent acquisition, and it’s a shame that WWE didn’t come up with some WrestleMania-worthy fare for either talented individual.
5. Shawn Michaels Is The Only Person To Wrestle At WrestleMania In Four Different Decades
For Michaels to achieve this feat, he had to work the edges of the 1980s and the 2010s, but he still managed to pull it off.
Michaels made his WrestleMania debut in 1989 at WrestleMania V, finding himself bounced around the ring by The Big Boss Man and Akeem at the spry age of 23. Twenty-one years later, Michaels was an elder statesman of the business, getting Tombstoned into retirement by The Undertaker at the age of 44.
It goes without saying that his 15 other WrestleMania matches took place in the 1990s and 2000s, which included a number of show-stealers that earned him the “Mr. WrestleMania” moniker despite his losing record at the event. In Michaels’ case, it’s always been about topping everyone else with ease, anyhow.
4. The Big Boss Man Was The First Wrestler To Win A Match At WrestleMania In Three Different Decades
As with the prior Michaels example, this one barely satisfies the qualifying checklist, but it still works. When Michaels took the fall to Boss Man and Akeem at WrestleMania V in 1989, that doubled as Boss Man’s first WrestleMania victory.
He’d win his next three in the nineties, beating Akeem by pinfall in 1990, followed by wins over Mr. Perfect (by disqualification) in 1991, and as part of an eight-man tag in 1992. Boss Man left the company in early-1993, not returning until the heart of the Attitude Era.
Boss Man also won the first WrestleMania match of the 2000s, when he and Bull Buchanan beat The Godfather and D-Lo Brown to kick off WrestleMania 2000 in Anaheim. That’s some longevity, no?
3. Three Men Have Lost At WrestleMania 10 Or More Times
For all of the talk about how Shawn Michaels ‘never laid down for anyone’, “The Heartbreak Kid” owns more WrestleMania losses than anyone with 11. The Undertaker handed him the final pair to make him the first member of the ten-loss club, and the first to 11 in Michaels’ farewell. Many of those losses were in the commission of unbelievable performances.
Triple H was the next to join the club, as his loss to Daniel Bryan at the start of WrestleMania XXX put his loss total into the double digits. If he puts over Roman Reigns this year, Triple H equals his bestest friend with 11.
If you count failure to win battle royals as losses, then Big Show is also at the 10-mark, after losing his first six WrestleMania matches between Manias’ XV and 21. Cesaro dumping him out of the inaugural Andre the Giant battle royal was defeat numbero diez.
2. Besides The Undertaker, Edge Is The Only Other Wrestler To Have Ever Been 5-0 At WrestleMania
In other words, Edge is the only other person to have a ‘Streak’ comparable to that of “The Deadman” at some point, without incurring any losses.
The first two WrestleMania wins were in ladder-based matches, capturing tag team gold with Christian at 2000 and X-Seven. At WrestleMania X8, Edge went over on Booker T to end an insipid feud based around a Japanese shampoo commercial (don’t ask if you don’t know).
After missing two WrestleManias to heal from spinal fusion surgery, Edge won the first ever Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania 21. A year later, he memorably bled and burned with Mick Foley in one of the most violent ‘Mania matches ever.
When Edge quietly lost the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania 23, it was a wasted opportunity. “Duelling Streaks” between him and Undertaker at XXIV could’ve been something.
1. This Year, Triple H Joins Undertaker As The Only Wrestler To Perform In 20 WrestleMania Matches
While the feud with Roman Reigns is colder than Gaear Grimsrud’s wood chipper (and is just as wretched), Triple H will be reaching a milestone come April 3, working his twentieth WrestleMania bout.
Beginning two decades ago, Triple H began piecing together his own WrestleMania legacy, performing at every single show with the exception of WrestleMania 23 in 2007 (due to a quadriceps tear that January). What began with a swift loss to a returning Ultimate Warrior has grown to the point where he’s defending the WWE Championship at age 46, in front of what will likely be the largest WWE crowd ever.
Triple H will also be the oldest person to take part in a WrestleMania WWE Championship match, breaking then-45-year-old Batista’s mark set just two years ago (which itself broke Ric Flair’s record of 43 years of age, set in 1992). Quite a bit of history for a match that will likely be booed out of AT&T Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment