Wrestling / WrestleMania

...impossible comes through, intoxicating you, this is the greatest show.

"Time. No beginning, no end. An infinite procession that humbles our mortality. But there are moments in life that transcend our fate, memories crafted by gods among men that defy time to forget them. These are the moments that echo through the ages, always heard, never to grow old. Born of will, christened with blood, they are testament to the strong, the mighty, the eminent, deities who defy their own mortality to forge an indelible imprint in the annals of time. Like the mythic gods of ancient Greece, they may thrill us, inspire us, at times makes us angry, but they will never let us forget them. Tonight, is their night, their battle, their moment of ultimate sacrifice. For this is their theater, their altar, their chance for divinity. Welcome to WrestleMania, the showcase of the immortals."

— "Classy" Freddie Blassie, opening to WrestleMania XV

The Showcase of The Immortals. The Grandest Stage of Them All. The biggest Professional Wrestling show in the world.

It is, as Mr. McMahon would say, "The Greatest Sports Entertainment Spectacular of All Time".

WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually between mid-March to early April. It was first produced in 1985, when Vince McMahon had an idea to hold a flagship pay-per-view show for his World Wrestling Federation to counter the Starrcade event held by rival Jim Crockett Promotions. This show - the very first WrestleMania - was heavily cross-promoted through MTV and other popular television outlets; the WWF's mainstream success from this point on hinged on the first WrestleMania being a success.

It turned out to be a huge success; from then on out, the WWF (now World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE) has held WrestleMania as an annual event, using the show to end major feuds and begin new ones. It is considered WWE's flagship event, and is the biggest show WWE (or any other wrestling promotion) puts on every year. In recent years, WrestleMania has become the annual Mecca of the wrestling world: since the event draws in fans from all over the world, many of the larger independent promotions hold shows in WrestleMania's host city in the days leading up to the show^note (Though never on the actual day of, most likely out of respect and/or fear of legal reprisal.) in an attempt to expose fans to their product. WWE is not very appreciative of this, however, and has made moves in recent years to keep other wrestling shows out of the cities where WrestleMania takes place; it's rumored that part of the reason Phoenix, Arizona won the bid to host WrestleMania XXVI was because they agreed to prevent other wrestling promotions from holding shows in publicly-owned venues (both Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA managed to book shows in the area for the weekend of WrestleMania XXVI, however).

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The Tropecase of the Immortals:

• Aborted Arc: Early on in WrestleMania XX, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff assigned Jonathan Coachman to get an interview with the returning Undertaker in order to upstage Smackdown by getting an interview with one of their stars. After one segment in which Coach inadvertently walked in on Howard Finkel and Bobby Heenan making out with Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah in the Madison Square Garden boiler room while searching for the Undertaker, this plot was dropped for the rest of the night, not even getting a Brick Joke payoff after Undertaker actually made his return and defeated Kane.
• Accidental Athlete: More of a kayfabe example, but at WM 34, Braun Strowman was to face The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championship... but he didn't have a partner. He went into the audience and picked out a 10-year-old boy named Nicholas^note later revealed to be the son of WWE referee John Cone as his partner. Nicholas was tagged in early in the match, and had the presence of mind to immediately tag Strowman back in, who rampaged through both opponents to win the titles. (They would give up the titles on the following night's Raw because Nicholas still had to go to school.)
• Annual Title: WrestleMania 2000 (aka WrestleMania 16).
• Art Evolution: Compare WrestleMania I's lack of a stage to the small stages and mini rings of II through VIII, the outdoor setup of IX to the understated stages of X through XIV to the giant logo of XV, the double trons of 2000, the Trope Codifier of stages in X-Seven and X8 that introduced the LED Walls, the unconventional stages of XIX (baseball stadium), XX (combining old and new aspects in the 18,000+ Madison Square Garden), 21 (movie theatre-themed) and 22 (cityscape) to the return to 70-80,000+ football stadiums with 23 with sets with growing Serial Escalation leading up to WrestleMania XXX's colossal setup. WWE documented the evolution through 31 here.
• Artifact Title: WWE shies away from even calling itself 'wrestling' these days, and the 'mania' part harkens back to Hulkamania. The name has been kept thanks to the Grandfather Clause.
• The Bad Guy Wins: It's not uncommon for heels to win on the Grandest Stage of Them All, in hopes of averting Foregone Conclusion. Specific examples include:
  • IX: Subverted by Yokozuna. He defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, only to quickly lose to Hulk Hogan in an impromptu title match immediately after.
  • X: Owen Hart defeated his brother Bret in the opening match, though Bret redeemed himself in the main event by defeating Yokozuna for the WWF Championship.
  • 13: Played With when Bret Hart defeated "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. They were respectively a Face and a Heel going into the match, but the bout ended with the now iconic Face/Heel Double-Turn.
  • 2000: Triple H defeated The Rock, Mick Foley, and Big Show to retain the WWF Championship with the help of a newly-turned Vince McMahon. This was the first time that a heel won a WrestleMania main event.
  • X-Seven: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated The Rock for the WWF Title after revealing that he made an alliance with Vince McMahon.
  • X-8: The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair after Taker spent the past month or so tormenting Flair and his family.
  • XIX: Triple H defeated Booker T to retain the World Heavyweight Title, thus winning the feud which centered around Triple H making disparaging remarks about Booker T weeks prior to the event. Matt Hardy also defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the Cruiserweight Championship, while Team Angle retained the WWE Tag Team Championship.
  • XX: Christian defeated Chris Jericho with the help of a newly turned Trish Stratus, Chavo Guerrero retained the Cruiserweight Championship, and Evolution (Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and Batista) defeated the Rock N' Sock Connection after Orton spent nearly the previous year bullying Foley. Chris Benoit was a face when he won in the main event, but his final actions has retroactively cast him as a heel to many.
  • 21: Edge won the first ever Money in the Bank, cementing himself as one of the best heels in his generation. Kurt Angle also defeated Shawn Michaels in a feud where Angle started for being a Sore Loser in that year's Royal Rumble.
  • 22: Edge defeated Mick Foley in a Hardcore match, John "Bradshaw" Layfield defeated Chris Benoit for the United States Championship, and Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus to win her first ever Women's Championship after spending the last six months stalking the latter.
  • 23: invoked De facto Heel John Cena defeated the beloved icon Shawn Michaels to retain the WWE Championship, Mr. Kennedy won Money in the Bank, Melina retained the Women’s title, and The Great Khali defeated Kane. A possible retroactive example, however, is the "Battle of the Billionaires" where Donald Trump faced off against Vince McMahon with their hairs on the line. Bobby Lashley defeated Umaga to give Trump the victory, and while it was a face win at the time, Trump’s highly controversial presidency has caused him, and by extension Lashley, to be seen as heels by many.
  • XXIV: Randy Orton defeated both John Cena and Triple H to retain the WWE Championship. John "Bradshaw" Layfield beat Finlay after several weeks of tormenting his son Hornswoggle. Beth Phoenix and Melina won a tag team match. Floyd Mayweather knocked out Big Show in a boxing match that the latter was supposed to be the heel for.
  • XXV: Matt Hardy defeated his brother Jeff after causing him misfortune for the past year. Chris Jericho also defeated (then, in Snuka's case) beloved legends Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, and Roddy Piper. Santino Marella won a Miss WrestleMania battle royal against several other divas disguised as his twin sister Santina; However, "Santina" would be booked as a face even as Santino would remain heel. CM Punk won the Money in the Bank ladder match as a face but turned heel upon his cash-in.
  • XXVI: Chris Jericho defeated the returning Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, Jack Swagger won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, ShowMiz defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championship, and the heel team of LayCool, Vickie Guerrero, Alicia Fox, and Maryse won the 10-Diva tag match^note Though the victory where Vickie used her late husband's Finishing Move is appreciated by fans.
  • XXVII: The Miz retained the WWE Championship after The Rock restarted the match and Rock Bottom'd John Cena. Cody Rhodes also defeated Rey Mysterio, though it was ironically seen as one of the night's highlights^note The event was greatly criticized for the burial of their new and up and coming talents, with Rhodes' victory being the sole exception. Michael Cole also defeated Jerry Lawler in a match that the latter originally won, but was latter overturned.
  • XXVIII: Kane defeated Randy Orton, and John Laurinaitis led his seven-man team to victory over Teddy Long’s. An unofficial example, however, could be Sheamus’s eighteen-second squash of Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight title, which angered the latter’s fans and caused his popularity to skyrocket; however, neither man would turn in the aftermath of the match.
  • 29: The Shield, Mark Henry, and Fandango all won their matches (although the Shield were mostly cheered against their opponents, all of whom were largely disliked veterans)
  • XXX: Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker to end the latter's legendary undefeated streak. Also of note was Cesaro winning the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and A.J. Lee prevailing in a multi-woman Divas title defense.
  • 31: Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Unlike the previous examples, this doesn't really count as a Downer Ending—because the fans were a) extremely negative towards Reigns and b) a little weary of Lesnar's absentee championship run, the usually hated heel Rollins was mostly cheered. A more straightforward example would be Triple H defeating Sting in the latter’s only WrestleMania match.
  • 32: The event was notorious for over half of its card being won by Heels, often cleanly (see Too Bleak, Stopped Caring on the YMMV page for complete details). However, one heel, Triple H, was a de facto Face in his match because the actual Face he was up against was the extremely hated Roman Reigns.
  • 33: invoked De facto Heel Roman Reigns defeated the beloved The Undertaker, seemingly retiring him. Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship, ending their feud that began the previous November and finally avenging his series of loses and humiliations which appropriately began in WrestleMania XX. Subverted by AJ Styles, who turned Face a few days later following his victory over Reasonable Authority Figure Shane McMahon by acknowledging the latter as a Worthy Opponent. A more straightforward example would be Kevin Owens defeating Chris Jericho for the U.S. title.
  • 34: Brock Lesnar pretty much dominated Roman Reigns; despite taking four Spears and a number of Superman Punches, Lesnar would fire back even harder, hitting a bevy of suplexes, cutting open Reigns deep with bare-knuckle punches and elbow strikes to the forehead, and hitting a half-dozen F-5s, including one through the announce table. Of course, with Reigns as the opponent, it’s hard to portray Lesnar as the heel here.
  • 35: Samoa Joe defeated Rey Mysterio in one minute and retained the United States Championship. Baron Corbin defeated Kurt Angle in what was Angle's last match. The IIconics defeated Sasha Banks and Bayley, Beth Phoenix and Natalya and Nia Jax and Tamina in a Fatal-4-Way Tag Team match and won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Shane McMahon defeated The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
  • 36: Sami Zayn defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Intercontinental Championship. John Morrison defeated Jimmy Uso and Kofi Kingston to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Women's Championship. Bayley defeated Lacey Evans, Naomi, Sasha Banks and Tamina to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. The Fiend defeated John Cena in a bizarre "Firefly Fun House" match.
  • 37: Roman Reigns defeated Edge and Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal Championship. Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE Championship. AJ Styles and Omos defeated The New Day to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Randy Orton defeated The Fiend. Sheamus defeated Matt Riddle to win the United States Championship. Apollo Crews defeated Big E to win the Intercontinental Championship.
  • 38: Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to unify both WWE and Universal titles. Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's championship. The Miz and Logan Paul defeated Rey and Dominik Mysterio. The Usos defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Sheamus and Ridge Holland defeated The New Day. Edge defeated AJ Styles.
  • 39: Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE-Universal Championship. Austin Theory defeated John Cena to retain the United States Championship. Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Woman's Championship (though considering Charlotte's reputation, Rhea's the one people cheering for). Gunther defeated Sheamus and Drew McIntyre to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
  • WrestleMania XL: Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins to win the World Heavyweight Championship, only for the more straightforward heel (as Drew is admittedly beloved by the fans) Damien Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank contract to win said championship. Priest's teammate Rhea Ripley defeated Becky Lynch to retain the WWE World Woman's Championship the night prior. Logan Paul defeated Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to retain the United States Championship. The Rock and Roman Reigns also defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the main event of Night 1 but Cody defeating Roman the next night softens it a little.
• Big "OMG!": This was Paul Heyman's reaction when Brock Lesnar broke The Undertaker's streak. The reaction was genuine, as he was in the dark about the plan for Brock's victory.
• Bittersweet Ending: For Seth Rollins in XL. He loses his title to Drew McIntyre during Night 2 after trying to help Cody win the grueling main event last night against Roman and The Rock but failing to succeed at that, leaving him battered for his own match. However, he still has the last laugh, for he manages to provoke Roman in going for him in a key spot of his match against Cody Rhodes, meaning the American Nightmare had enough time to recover and counter the Spear to win the match and the title. At the end of the day, he once more was the bane of Roman's life. On top of this, he gets a moral victory in that Drew immediately loses his title via cash in.
• The Bus Came Back: If there's a star who's injured at the time, they'll sometimes make a one-off appearance at WrestleMania for the night.
• Call-Back:
  • At WrestleMania XX, The Undertaker switches back to his deadman gimmick after spending the last three years as a Badass Biker. Taker would then reuse said Biker gimmick (keeping the deadman's supernatural powers this time) during his match with AJ Styles sixteen years later at WrestleMania 36.
  • At WrestleMania XXX, Cesaro won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by scoop-slamming Big Show over the top rope - much like Hulk Hogan scoop-slamming André to hit him with the Atomic Leg Drop back at WrestleMania III. Bonus points, Big Show was billed as André's son when he first debuted.
  • At WrestleMania XXX, Triple H made his entrance on a throne, dressed as a king, with several women flanking him. One of those women, Charlotte Flair, made the same entrance at WrestleMania 34, herself on the throne. Hunter had previously used the entrance method at 22, minus the women.
  • WrestleMania 36: Aside from The Undertaker example above, the Firefly Funhouse match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena made references to the latter's WWE career as well as the Monday Night Wars.
  • At the climax of Cody vs Roman at XL, Solo Sikoa is the second interference from the part of the Bloodline, and he does so by performing a Samoan Spike when Cody was about to apply the third Cross Rhodes on Roman - the same maneuver that knocked him out during last year's Mania.
• Cat Fight:
  • 2000 featured a 'match' between Terri Runnels and The Kat billed as a sanctioned Cat Fight.
  • And XIX featured the Miller Lite Cat Fight girls on the show having one of these with Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson.
• The Centerpiece Spectacular: Shawn Michaels's entrance at WrestleMania XII, where Shawn came to the ring on a zip line in an iconic WM moment, which came before a main event 60-minute Iron Man Match against Bret Hart, went into overtime when the time limit expired without a single fall being scored; Michaels eventually scored the winning pinfall to dethrone Bret as the WWF Champion. Logan Paul would make a variant of this entrance as he moved for his bout against Seth Rollins during WrestleMania 39.
• Central Theme: The road to XL has a recurring theme about "obsession" and how it can lead to one's downfall or glory.
  • Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins call each other out for their obsessions during the buildup — Drew with his distaste CM Punk and Seth with his mission in dismantling the Bloodline from their iron grip on the roster — that led to them both losing the championship. Drew would've been more alert to Damian Priest cashing in if he didn't waste precious minutes mocking CM Punk. Meanwhile, Rollins' obsession with stopping the Bloodline, while it resulted in him losing the title he had been defending for almost an entire year, ended with him being a key factor in Cody Rhodes pinning Roman Reigns.
  • Speaking of Roman, Roman's obsession with trying to move past the "There's always a Plan B" moment 10 years prior ended up being his downfall. When Rollins, dressed in his Shield attire, arrives to save Cody, Reigns, steel chair in hand, has two choices: he either uses the chair on Cody or gets one last chance of vengeance against Rollins. He chooses the latter, and this ends with his undoing. His obsession with being acknowledged also has numerous wrestlers from his past charging in and dismantling the Bloodline. On a lighter note, Roman's tunnel vision on Cody made him unable to stop himself from spearing The Rock on Day 1 when Rollins pulls Cody out of the way.
  • Jimmy Uso is still obsessed with being better than Jey. Even after Jey wins their bout and wishes to bury the hatchet with his brother, Jimmy refuses to move forward. This culminates in Jey returning the favor during Cody vs Reigns at Night 2 and Jimmy's desires to fight his brother makes him rush out of the ring and onto the ramp, where they both get wiped out, costing Reigns one Bloodline member.
  • Damian Priest is so obsessed with retaining the RAW Tag Team belts that he wasn't paying attention to Referee Jessica Carr trying to warn him that the ladder he's using will break if he does another stunt. Miz and Truth, however, are aware of this with Miz climbing the ladder to get his attention — just as the ladder buckles — and R-Truth taking the time to slip in a new ladder, goading Priest to climb it before Truth pushes him off and out of the ring. In another match involving a member of Judgement Day, Santos Escobar and Domink Mysterio are obsessed with beating Rey Mysterio up for different reasons, Santos for what he believes Rey is overshadowing him and Dominik hating his dad in general by being a Spoiled Brat, but they are blindsided when Rey and Andrade gain extra help on their side. Take note that the only victories The Judgment Day had in the event were when they went beyond their personal obsessions and focused on finishing their jobs - Rhea defeated Becky clean and Priest later redeems himself by capitalizing on Drew's bitter obsession with Punk to make his cash-in and leave Mania as the World Heavyweight Champion.
  • Damage CTRL's desperate need to prove they are the strongest woman group in WWE makes them powerful enemies - in special, Asuka's quick ascension to power alienates Bayley, the former leader of the stable, to the point that she makes a Heel–Face Turn and goes against IYO, managing to triumph in the end, whereas the other women of the group get beaten swiftly by Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill.
  • The showdown between The Final Testament and Bobby Lashley plus the Street Profits is motivated by the obsession of both groups to get rid of each other - Kross's group as a statement of power and Lashley's to get vengeance because the Testament just keeps screwing their chances to gather more power in the card.
  • AJ Styles is annoyed with LA Knight being a cocky hotshot and wants him silenced, which is further aggravated by how they kept getting in each other's way during their Fatal Four match against Roman and Randy in the Royal Rumble. The annoyance goes to the point that in the build-up to the feud, AJ traveled to Australia to screw Knight in the Elimination Chamber.
  • iShowSpeed couldn't help but taunt Randy Orton throughout his match against Logan Paul and Kevin Owens and eats an RKO for his troubles. Logan Paul averts this, despite his cockiness: While he kept being a smug asshole, do note that in his match at WrestleMania and the build-up he did take care to put himself in theoretically superior positions to Owens and Orton, and he utilizes the fact that the two were fighting each other to get title by pinning Kevin after he takes an RKO.
  • The Rock crows that he's the Final Boss — the big obstacle in Cody's path to being champion and also a literal boss — and obsesses over the power and dread he gives to everyone, even beating Cena with a Rock Bottom after Cena decides to taunt him instead of just going for the punch. He quickly gets blindsided by The Undertaker, the true boss of WrestleMania. Undertaker defies this by simply going after the Rock then vanishing since he's already gotten his revenge on the Bloodline (and Paul Heyman by extension). Meanwhile, Solo's obsession with being the enforcer of the Bloodline and constantly kicking Cody around to support Roman when he should stay out of the way has him taken out by John Cena.
  • And you could argue Cody is the Ur-Example for positive obsession: His main goal since his return two years prior was to conquer the title his father never obtained and never really lost focus of this goal, although he had to deal with occasional obstacles along the way. However, he didn't let this obsession dominate his life, and never stepped out of bounds against Roman or anyone from the Bloodline even when they did it constantly and his heroic acts made him respected by many in the roster - including former bitter rival Rollins and former Bloodline member Jey Uso, who both end up being the keys in ending the Bloodline's reign of terror.
  • In parallel with the obsession theme, there's also an interpretation about "keeping your eye on the prize." The A-Town Down Under team (Grayson Waller and Austin Theory) wasn't as great as the other five teams of more experienced tag wrestlers, but their focus and opportunism allowed them to nab the Smackdown Tag Team Titles under everyone's noses. GUNTHER ends up losing his record-breaking Intercontinental Championship streak to Sami Zayn because he ends up playing around too much with him, which allows for Sami to mount a comeback and seal the deal after applying a Brainbuster into double Helluva Kick combo. Likewise, while Seth loses his World Heavyweight Championship match against Drew because of his focus on ending Roman's tenure as a champion resulting in him being heavily damaged by the time they fight at Night 2, he manages to reach the latter achievement by playing a key part in the Bloodline's downfall. And Drew, by mocking CM Punk after winning the championship, finally gets punished for it, which allows Damian Priest to ambush him and cash-in the Money in the Bank contract to steal the title right under his nose.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Sometimes overlapping with Early-Bird Cameo below (but not always):
  • VI: The driver of Honky Tonk Man's Cadillac turns out to be future WCW Legend and WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page. Future multi-time World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Edge was also in attendance, as VI took place in Toronto, near Edge's hometown.
  • 22: One of John Cena's entourage in his gangster car entrance is future five-time WWE World Champion CM Punk, who would go on to mention this in the run up to the 2011 Money in the Bank event. 22 (and the 2011 Money In The Bank) took place in Punk's hometown of Chicago, which had been the base of operations for notorious gangster Al Capone.
  • XXX: Triple H's wrestling entourage are future multi-time Women's Champions Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Alexa Bliss.
• Costume Porn: WrestleMania gear tends to be more elaborate or eye-popping in favour of the event. Extra flamboyant accessories will often be donned for entrances.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Part 12 has The Ultimate Warrior squashing Hunter Hearst Helmsley by no-selling The Pedigree.
  • WM34 gives us The Undertaker defeating John Cena in under 3 minutes.
• Dangerous Terrain: The Tables, Ladders and Chairs (TLC) matches, which started with a Triangle Ladder match at WrestleMania 2000 between Edge & Christian (winners), the Hardy Boyz, and the Dudley Boyz. WrestleMania X-Seven had "TLC II" with the same teams; each team got a little help from a third party (Lita, Spike Dudley, and Rhyno, respectively), and there were several memorable moments, including the insane mid-air Spear that Edge delivered to a dangling-from-the-belts Jeff Hardy.
• Dawn of an Era:
  • WrestleMania X is the post Hulkamania WrestleMania that features the rise of wrestlers like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Scott Hall.
  • WrestleMania 13 was the first event where wrestlers born in The '70s (Dwayne Johnson and Headbanger Mosh) competed at the show. It was also the event that saw the beginning of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's rise as a main event wrestler (which leads to the following entry).
  • WrestleMania XIV and XV saw the true rise of the Austin Era (and the Attitude Era in general), as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin won the WWF Championship at both shows (first against Shawn Michaels with some help from Mike Tyson, and then against The Rock).
    Jim Ross [at WrestleMania XIV]: The Austin era has begun!
  • WrestleMania XX was the first event where wrestlers born in The '80s (Randy Orton, Rene Dupree, Jackie Gayda, and Garrison Cade) competed at the show.
  • WrestleMania 21 saw the creation of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, whose winner (in this case, Edge) is guaranteed a world title match before the next year's WrestleMania. Every year since, people look forward to the match to see just who's going to get a world title push. It's also the WrestleMania where both John Cena and Batista won their first World Championships (WWE and World Heavyweight respectively).
  • WrestleMania XXX saw Daniel Bryan's ascension to the top of the card after two brief title runs, and the end of The Streak.
  • WrestleMania 31 had both a wrestler younger than 'Mania itself (Seth Rollins) headline the show, and the first wrestler born in The '90s (Paige) competing at it.
  • WrestleMania 35 was the first ever with a women's match as the main event, with Becky Lynch winning a three-way match against Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, claiming both titles. Kofi Kingston also became the first ever African born wrestler to win the WWE Championship.
  • WrestleMania XL was the first WrestleMania under the TKO banner, the first without Vince McMahon and first fully booked by Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
• Decoy Protagonist: The Royal Rumble winner got the main event match at WrestleMania, but starting from 2006, it's become common for them to sometimes be put as a co-main event.
• Defeating the Undefeatable:
  • WrestleMania X centered around the idea if anyone can beat Yokozuna for the Championship. He gets two separate challengers, and it is Bret Hart who defeats him.
  • One of the major stories of WrestleMania 21 is whether or not Kurt Angle can, if not beat, then at least outperform "Mr. Wrestlemania" Shawn Michaels.
  • "The Streak" of The Undertaker was explicitly stated time and time again as having been a greater accomplishment than winning a world title and a guaranteed one-way ticket to the WWE Hall of Fame, and that if someone ever managed it, they'd be able to brag about it for the rest of their career. And then, at WrestleMania XXX, Brock Lesnar shockingly did end The Streak.
  • A lesser example came at WM34, when Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka after the latter had gone unbeaten through her entire WWE tenure, including her year-plus run in NXT.
  • WrestleMania XL saw the end of three long title reigns in the 21st century; Cody Rhodes ended Roman Reigns' 1316-day Undisputed WWE Championship reign^note and that is actually from his Universal Championship reign; Reigns' WWE Championship reign is also long at 735 days, Sami Zayn ended GUNTHER's reign as the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in history at 666 days, and Bayley ended IYO SKY's 246 days reign as WWE Women's Champion which was the third longest in the title's history.
• Demoted to Extra: WrestleMania 29 was an example of several WWE wrestlers being left off the card in order to give more time for the three main events (John Cena vs. The Rock, Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar, and CM Punk vs. The Undertaker). This also marked the first time in 16 years that there wasn't any sort of women's match, as the one that was supposed to take place was moved over to Raw.
• Deus ex Machina:
  • Hulk Hogan infamously winning the Championship in an impromptu match at IX.
  • In XL, Cody Rhodes was saved from The Rock's attack by The Undertaker, of all people.
• Early-Bird Cameo: WrestleMania will sometimes use wrestlers from developmental as extras in some of the more elaborate entrances:
  • Diamond Dallas Page was the Honky Tonk Man's Cadillac driver in VI.
  • CM Punk appeared as one of the gangsters◊ in John Cena's entrance at 22. This was acknowledged by him years later in a feud.
  • Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte were the trio of women◊ in Triple H's entrance at XXX.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • When discussing bad WrestleManias, 2 is given a mulligan despite some issues with the card, due to the still-experimental nature of the event at the time, as well as the gimmicky and one-time-only simulcast from three different venues, with closed circuit TV being used for folks at one location to watch the other two-thirds of the show.
  • The first WrestleMania has closing credits.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Generally the case for WrestleMania main events, usually involving a face wrestler finally achieving his dream in front of a grand stage:
  • Bret Hart winning the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X after not only having lost it to Yokozuna the previous 'Mania^note Only for Yokozuna to immediately lose it afterwards to Hulk Hogan for a month before regaining it at King of the Ring, but also losing his match against his brother Owen earlier in the night.
  • Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, winning the WWF Championship after a long (and by "long" we mean over an hour long) match.
  • The Undertaker wins the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 13. While this was his second reign, this was his first in over five years and his first legitimate with a considerable length^note His first reign only lasted a week. This was also his longest run in all his seven World Title reigns.
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin winning the WWF Championship at both WrestleMania XIV and XV, with the latter even having Austin literally standing over Vince McMahon.
  • Trish Stratus wins her fourth Women's Championship at WrestleMania XIX, tying her record with that of The Fabulous Moolah. Especially notable because she had been antagonized by Victoria and Jazz for months. The Rock also finally defeats Stone Cold at this event.
  • Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XX definitely qualifies. However, real-life events tainted this. John Cena also won his first ever championship (United States) in the opening match.
  • John Cena and Batista both winning world titles (the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship, respectively) at WrestleMania 21.
  • WrestleMania 22: Even though Mick Foley lost to Edge, he did finally get his own Mania moment after he was speared into a flaming table. Also, Rey Mysterio, in honor of his dear friend Eddie Guerrero, surviving a triple threat match against Randy Orton and defending Champion Kurt Angle^note Rey won the Royal Rumble Match and was going to compete, but lost the chance to Orton at No Way Out until Teddy Long reinstated Rey back in and against all odds became "The Ultimate Underdog" to achieve the World Heavyweight Championship.
  • WrestleMania 22 and 23: John Cena defeats Triple H and Shawn Michaels, respectively, and earns his spot as a made man in the eyes of the WWE establishment.
  • WrestleMania 28: Big Show finally breaks his non-Tag Team victory drought at this event since his debut by winning the Intercontinental Championship, making him a Grand Slam Champion in the process (and the first to achieve this feat at this event at that).
  • WrestleMania XXX: Daniel Bryan after slugging through all of 2013 and up to the beginning of 2014 against The Authority, Randy Orton and Batista, had to fight Triple H in a 25+ minute slobberknocker just to even get a chance to fight Orton and Batista and then had to survive everything thrown at him: the Authority, being taken through a table, sledgehammers, to the point that he had to be taken out on a stretcher—yet he still made Batista tap to the Yes! Lock and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
  • WrestleMania 31: Daniel Bryan again, this time by winning the Intercontinental Championship and becoming a Grand Slam Champion.
  • WrestleMania 33: Naomi regains the SmackDown Women's Championship she was forced to relinquish due to injury, in front of her hometown crowd.
  • WrestleMania 34: Seth Rollins wins the Intercontinental Championship, making him a Grand Slam Champion. This win also made The Shield the first Power Stable in wrestling history to have all its members achieve this feat.
  • WrestleMania 35: Kofi Kingston, after eleven years of blood, sweat and tears, finally wins the WWE Championship, becoming a Grand Slam Champion.
  • WrestleMania 36: Braun Strowman finally wins the Universal Championship, his first World Title. Same goes for Drew McIntyre, who after getting fired, rehired and then crawling his way through the ranks, finally winning the WWE Championship and becoming a Triple Crown Champion in the process.
  • WrestleMania 38: Bianca Belair has finally got her payback on Becky Lynch since SummerSlam, by winning the Raw Women's Championship. Sasha Banks finally scores her first WrestleMania victory since her 2015 (main roster) debut by winning the WWE Women's Tag team Championship with Naomi, herself winning her first gold in almost five years.
  • WrestleMania XL: Cody Rhodes finally defeated Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, ending the latter's three and a half year reign. Bayley defeated her Evil Former Friend IYO SKY to win the WWE Women's Championship, also a title Bayley only won once in her career over seven years prior. Drew McIntyre finally won a top Championship in front of a live crowd, short-lived though it was. Sami Zayn gets a huge triumph as a solo act in WrestleMania by beating GUNTHER clean for the Intercontinental Title. R-Truth also gets his first Mania win.
• End of an Age:
  • WrestleMania X: The first Mania post-Hulkamania and the beginning of the New Generation.
  • WrestleMania X-Seven: The end of the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era.
  • WrestleMania X8 was the last Mania under the WWF banner.
  • WrestleMania XIX saw "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the face of the Attitude Era and WWE, work his final match (lingering injuries from the botched piledriver in '97 is partly to blame).
  • WrestleMania XXIV saw Ric Flair work his final WWE match.
  • WrestleMania XXVI saw Shawn Michaels (who defeated Flair at XXIV) work his final match. He would return in a one-off match in 2018, but this is his official retirement as a wrestler.
  • The Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania XXVIII between Triple H and The Undertaker (with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee) was billed as "The End of an Era", building on the fact that they are the last, largest wrestlers from the Attitude Era still actively competing, and acknowledging the possibility that they may both retire soon; 'Taker due to injuries and old age and Hunter due to his backstage responsibilities.
  • WrestleMania 29: In retrospect, this was the last Mania to feature John Cena in a World Title match or/and in the Main Event, which he's been in since WrestleMania 21. The event was also the final time WWE's version of the Big Gold Belt was defended, as well as the final Mania victory for The Undertaker with his streak intact.
  • At WrestleMania XXX, The Undertaker's Streak was finally broken, and it was referred to by the announce team as "truly the end of an era."
  • WrestleMania 32 marked the end to the Diva Era, with the Diva moniker being retired, the Divas' Championship swapping out for a new Women's Championship and an actual match at the PPV as opposed to a celebrity segment, a lumberjill match, a multi-woman tag match or even worse, the infamous Miss WrestleMania battle royal which was won by a man.
  • At WrestleMania 33, The Undertaker, after his second Mania loss to Roman Reigns, apparently retires. This turned out to be a 10-Minute Retirement, as he came back to squash John Cena at WM34.
  • WrestleMania 35 saw Kurt Angle and Batista work their final matches. It was also the first WrestleMania since 2000 with no involvement from The Undertaker.
  • At WrestleMania 36, The Undertaker defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard match, which was later revealed to be Undertaker's final match.
  • At WrestleMania 38, Triple H officialized his already-announced retirement by giving one final speech and leaving his boots in the ring, ending his career on account of severe heart problems.
  • WrestleMania 39, after the announcement of the sale to Endeavor the next day, turned out to be the last WWE event under McMahon ownership.
  • WrestleMania XL ends up as this, being the first WrestleMania fully managed by Triple H, the first in which Vince McMahon had no hand in producing (though Stephanie appears to introduce the second night) and the one to change the champions, as the only ones to still retain their respective titles by the end of it were Rhea Ripley as Woman's Heavyweight Champion and Logan Paul surviving the triple threat with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens barely.
• Face–Heel Turn: Since WrestleMania is considered the final episode of that yearly chapter, one can expect some changes in previously heroic characters:
  • V: Rick Martel, who had recently returned after a several-month-long absence ^note in real life, to tend to his ailing wife; in kayfabe, he had been injured during a match with tag team champions Demolition and reunited with old tag-team partner and longtime friend Tito Santana (they called themselves Strike Force) for a match against Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard (aka the Brain Busters). The reunion didn't last, as after a mistimed move by Santana sent Martel sprawling to the mat, Martel threw up his arms in frustration and walked out on Santana, turning a competitive match into a Curb-Stomp Battle with Santana on the losing end. After the match, Martel explained that he was tired of having Santana ride his wave of success ("I'm sick and tired. Sick and tired of him. I was doing great as a singles wrestler, but Mr. Tito wants to ride my coattails some more").
  • 13: Bret Hart. Technically a double-turn. Austin as a heel that time was given more cheers and Hart decided to attack him after the match, solidifying himself as a heel. Backstage, Hart didn't feel comfortable about the idea due to his established babyface character but did it for the love of the business.
  • XV: Triple H, leader of DX, turning on his own group to join The Corporation. Fans believe that this was the biggest impact on his career as it solidified himself out of Shawn Michaels' shadow.
  • 2000: Vince McMahon turning on The Rock to give Triple H a defending victory for the WWF title. Shane also turned on his man, Big Show; only Linda (aligned with Mick Foley) stayed against Triple H.
  • X-Seven: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin selling his soul to the devil Vince McMahon to win the WWF title. Despite being considered one of the best matches, fans never expected this to happen. Austin's heel turn didn't go so well and ended after Survivor Series. This also was the closing the Attitude Era that Austin was a part of for years.
  • XX: Trish Stratus turning to Christian instead of Chris Jericho.
  • 34: Shinsuke Nakamura giving AJ Styles a low blow after losing to him in the WWE Title match, and then proceeding to attack him.
• Fanservice: When WWE had ties to Playboy, it was tradition for the Playboy covergirl to get a match at WrestleMania. These matches usually took on this form.
• Final Battle:
  • WrestleMania XIX had "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock battle for the third and final time at the event and it was their final match to end their epic rivalry. (It was also Austin's last match until he fought Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38.)
  • The HIAC match between The Undertaker and Triple H served as their "End of an Era" match at WrestleMania 28 and their third and final WrestleMania match against each other.^note It wasn't until Super Showdown 2018 where the two fought again for the "last time ever".
• Finale Production Upgrade: Mania is THE biggest event of the calendar year in all of Professional Wrestling, let alone the WWE, so the company ramps up the production almost a year in advance. Giant, packed stadiums, the company showcasing the best they have to offer in addition to celebrity guests and all the fanfare... The event is not called "The Showcase of the Immortals" for nothing.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Brock Lesnar put The Undertaker down with a third F5 in WrestleMania XXX, if one paid attention, they could see Lesnar getting overwhelmed with emotion before using the cover pin to make sure Taker stayed down; they could also hear Lesnar manage to utter an emotional "Thank you, Taker" during the pin moments before the count of three, indicating that not only did Lesnar know he would end the Streak, but he had to do so under Vince McMahon's decision and with Taker's blessing almost four years earlier.
• Foreshadowing:
  • At WrestleMania X-Seven, before his match against Shane McMahon, Mr. McMahon foreshadowed Austin's heel turn during his match against The Rock for the WWF Championship:
  Mr. McMahon: You want shocking? Tonight, you'll get... shocking. I guarantee it.
  • At WrestleMania XXX, right before the match with The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, there were fewer fans holding up signs that said "21-1". In the first few minutes of the match, the announcers said it would be a sad day if Taker lost to Lesnar. And when Brock got injured a few times, Paul Heyman kept encouraging him with, "You're the 1 in 21-1!", although Heyman didn't know that he would soon be proven right due to Vince McMahon's decision.
• Gag Haircut:
  • Molly Holly put her hair on the line against Victoria's Women's Championship. When she lost, her head was shaved completely bald.
  • The Battle of the Billionaires at 23 pitted Umaga against Bobby Lashley as proxies for Vince and Donald Trump. Umaga lost and Vince had to have his head shaved.
• Groin Attack:
  • Chris Jericho kicks Shawn Michaels in the groin after losing to him in their match at 19.
  • Mickie James's infamous implied-crotch-lick to Trish Stratus at 22.
  • In 34, Shinsuke Nakamura gives one to AJ Styles after losing to him in the WWE Championship match, certifying his Face–Heel Turn.
  • In 35, Seth Rollins did this to Brock Lesnar followed by with three Curb-Stomps to win the Universal Championship.
  • In 39, Austin Theory nailed John Cena below the belt to win the United States Championship.
• Heel–Face Turn: Much like the Face–Heel Turn, WrestleMania has brought the best out in one-time fearsome, nefarious characters:
  • The first WrestleMania provided the impetus for "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to turn good, after ally Bob Orton Jr. accidentally hit Orndorff in the head and caused him and Roddy Piper to lose their main-event match to Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
  • III: Brutus Beefcake, who had been part of a successful tag team with Greg "the Hammer" Valentine (as the Dream Team), having been former Tag Team champions before hitting a slump by late 1986. With Beefcake becoming increasingly popular with fans despite being a heel, a storyline was devised where, on camera the two began spatting and newcomer Dino Bravo was starting to show more chemistry with Valentine. The straw that really broke the camel's back was during a televised match where a miscommunication led to "Adorable" Adrian Adonis cutting Beefcake's hair by mistake. While Beefcake helped Valentine defeat The Rougeau Brothers at the pay-per-view, the team argued and Beefcake was left in the ring while Valentine and Bravo left with manager Jimmy Valiant. Beefcake was portrayed as sympathetic and solidified his status as a good guy when, later in the show, he returned to ringside for Adonis' match against Roddy Piper, allowing Piper to score the win by preventing Jimmy Hart from interfering; afterward, Beefcake gleefully cut Adonis' hair, per a pre-match stipulation. Beefcake earned the nickname "The Barber" and quickly became hugely popular with fans.
  • VI: André the Giant, in his last major pay-per-view match of his career, after he and tag team partner Haku had lost the Tag Team Championship back to Demolition (after Haku's superkick accidentally nailed Andre instead of Smash). Bobby Heenan was so upset at Andre that he (foolishly) slapped the big guy in the face ... and "the Brain" paid dearly (and so did Haku, who tried a sneak attack that Andre immediately stopped).
  • VII: Randy Savage, after losing his "retirement" match with the Ultimate Warrior, had a very emotional reunion with Miss Elizabeth; Liz stopped Savage's manager, the Sensational Sherri, from kicking and beating on him post-match. After that, he went from "Macho King" back to "Macho Man".
  • 13: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, as part of the double-turn with Bret Hart (see Face–Heel Turn above).
  • X8: After "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan loses to The Rock in a match dubbed "Icon vs. Icon", they would shake their hands in sign of respect. The Rock would come back into the ring to save Hogan from Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. This would be a standing ovation for Hogan after three years.^note Before his match, he asked Nash and Hall to not interfere in his match with The Rock and wants to win this match clean. And during the match, the crowd cheered for him, despite being a heel.
  • XIX: Kurt Angle acknowledges Brock Lesnar as a Worthy Opponent and hugs him afterwards. He was out for three months but was a face when he returned.
  • 34: MIA since the Ultimate Deletion, Bray Wyatt returns to help Matt Hardy win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
• Heroic Resolve: The big match at WrestleMania 13 was the Submission Match between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Bret Hart. Busted open, bleeding like crazy, and locked in Hart's signature Sharpshooter submission hold, Austin refused to tap out; instead, he passed out from the pain in a puddle of his own blood rather than submit to Hart. If King of the Ring 1996 was Austin's breakout moment, this was the moment that catapulted him into superstardom.
• History Repeats: WrestleMania featured a lot of rematches. Sometimes thrice.
  • The Undertaker had the most rematches. So far, he fought and defeated Triple H three times, while Kane and Shawn Michaels both lost to him twice. Shawn's losses were in consecutive Manias. Next to Taker with most rematches is Roman Reigns, who fought against Brock Lesnar three times and Cody Rhodes twice.
  • The very first WrestleMania trilogy is of course, The Rock vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (while the former only won at their third encounter, it was the latter's last match in nineteen years). The second was The Undertaker vs. Triple H (see above). Third was Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns.
  • Both Trish Stratus and Jazz fought each other for the Women's Championship in a triple-threat match twice at this event (first with Lita at X8, then with Victoria the following year). The same can be said about Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair (first with Sasha Banks at 32, then with Ronda Rousey three years later)
  • Other wrestlers who fought in this event twice are; Hulk Hogan and André the Giant (III and IV), Bret Hart and Yokozuna (IX and X), the three-way rivalry of Edge and Christian, the Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boys (2000 and X-Seven, with all three teams having a wingman for the latter), Goldberg and Brock Lesnar (XX and 33), Triple H and Batista (21 and 35), Sheamus and Daniel Bryan (XXVII and XXVIII), The Rock and John Cena (XXVIII and 29), John Cena and Bray Wyatt (XXX and 36), Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt (33 and 37; the latter in which Wyatt was "The Fiend"), and Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley (36 and 39).
  • Some wrestlers who actually fought at this event twice but were also in a multi-opponent match involving someone else. Namely; Mick Foley and Big Show (competed one-on-one at XV before squaring off in a four-way with both Triple H and The Rock the following year), Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle (fought in a three-way with Chris Jericho at 2000, a double-falls match for two titles Kurt held entering, before competing one-on-one in the following year), John Cena and the Big Show (competed one-on-one at XX before squaring off in a three-way with Edge at XXV), John Cena and Triple H (competed in a one-on-one match at 22 before competing in a three-way with Randy Orton at XXIV), Triple H and Randy Orton (competed in a three-way with John Cena at WrestleMania XXIV before competing one-on-one the following year), John Cena and The Miz (competed one-on-one at XXVII before squaring off in a Mixed Tag Team match at 33 that involved Nikki Bella and Maryse), Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks (competed in a triple-threat at 32 with Becky Lynch (who would wrestle another triple-threat with Charlotte three years later) before squaring off in a fatal-four way the following year with Bayley and Nia Jax), Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns (competed in an impromptu three-way at 31 after Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract before competing one-on-one without any distractions years later in both 34 and 38), and Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins (competed in an impromptu three-way at 31 after Rollins cashed in his MITB contract before competing in a proper singles match four years later).
  • Champions have walked out of this event with two championship belts five times: Ultimate Warrior (Intercontinental and WWF in VI), Triple H (Undisputed in X8), The Colons (Unified Tag Team in XXV), Daniel Bryan (WWE World Heavyweight in XXX), and Becky Lynch (Raw and SmackDown Women's in 35). Becky and Warrior were the only ones whose two-belt victories were for two separate titles; the other three were for individual titles being represented by two belts at the time.
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin served as Special Guest Referee at this event thrice (XX, 23, and XXVII) while Mick Foley served twice (XV and X-Seven).
  • At WrestleMania XXIX, Triple H defeated Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred Match at MetLife Stadium in which Triple H's career was on the line with a friend of Hunter's Lesnar had previously injured (Shawn Michaels) in Triple H's corner. At WrestleMania XXXV at the same stadium, Triple H defeated Batista in a No Holds Barred Match in which his career was once again on the line with a friend of Hunter's Batista had previously injured (Ric Flair) in Triple H's corner.
  • At WrestleMania X, the Main Event was a rematch of the previous year's 'Mania Main Event between Bret Hart and Yokozuna^note Or rather, scheduled Main Event, as Hulk Hogan would show up after the match to defeat Yokozuna in a quick impromptu title match afterwards, where Hart, who lost the previous year's match to Yokozuna, ends up winning the rematch. Thirty years later, the Main Event of WrestleMania XL is a rematch of the previous year's Main Event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, where Rhodes, who lost the previous year's match to Reigns, ends up winning the rematch. Coincidentally, Reigns and Yokozuna happen to be cousins.
• Hoax Hogan: In WrestleMania 36, The Firefly Fun House match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena had a section when both were part of The '80s Saturday Night Main Event show with Wyatt in his Gym outfit mimicking and quoting Hulk Hogan in his Hulkster persona. Later in another section, they recreated WCW/nWo Monday Nitro where Wyatt became Eric Bischoff and now Cena appeared as Hogan in his Hollywood persona (including his "belt guitar" intro).
• Important Haircut: The Undertaker cut off his hair in the build-up for 28, as he was preparing to fight Triple H in Hell In A Cell. He didn't unveil the hair until he was in the Cell.
• Invincible Hero: The Undertaker's track record at WrestleMania is likely never to be topped: he was not defeated in the first 21 matches he wrestled at the event. (In an odd reversal, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels' match at WrestleMania XXV, which was perhaps 2009's Match of the Year, was 'Taker's first one-on-one victory over Michaels.) Of course, after WrestleMania XXX, Undertaker's record read 21–1, thanks to one Brock Lesnar. As of WrestleMania 36, Taker's record stands at 25–2 (thanks to one Roman Reigns at 33).
• It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans:
  • 30 was set in New Orleans, and most of the TV spots were Mardi Gras-themed. However during the event itself, this wasn't really played up—Bray Wyatt had a Mardi Gras-themed entrance and Layla wore a carnival mask, but nothing else really.
  • 34, on the other hand, played this straight, with the entire stage modeled after a carnival mask◊.
• It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: Every WrestleMania is billed as the best, most historic WrestleMania ever. Until next year, of course.
• Just One Little Mistake: Brock Lesnar botching a Shooting Star Press at WrestleMania XIX against Kurt Angle. The move is a diving backflip splash off the top rope and widely considered one of the hardest top rope moves to perform due to the rotation being the opposite of the momentum of the jump. Lesnar hadn't performed this dangerous maneuver since his time in WWE's feeder league OVW and put Angle way out of position, with Angle being closer to the opposite corner than the one Lesnar was jumping from. Lesnar under rotated landing just short of angle on his head, by pure luck not managing to paralyze or even kill himself, suffering only a concussion then Angle (who had actually broken his neck previously and still wrestled fairly well) managed to get him through to an improvised finish. A common view in the wrestling community is the botch cost the match a position as one of the greatest matches of all time, although the botch has still entered wrestling folklore forever.
• Laser-Guided Karma: A running theme of Wrestlemania XL is the heels getting a richly-deserved comeuppance for being petty Jerkasses:
  • Günther had Sami Zayn dead to rights but decided to showboat and hit him with several unnecessary high-flying moves to humiliate him in front of his wife, giving Sami an opening to make a Heroic Second Wind, win the match, and end Gunther's record-breaking Intercontinental Championship reign.
  • Drew McIntyre couldn't resist rubbing his World Heavyweight Championship win over Seth Rollins in the face of guest commentator CM Punk, who McIntyre had previously injured. He finally provoked Punk enough for Punk to beat him with his arm brace, allowing Damian Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank contract and end Drew's title reign after a little over five minutes. To rub it further, a few minutes before he tempted fate by making a tweet saying that he was "bored" in the middle of the fight against Seth.
  • Roman Reigns finally got his just desserts for all the crap he pulled as the head of the Bloodline as all of his past enemies, Jey Uso, John Cena, Seth Rollins and The Undertaker, showed up to help Cody Rhodes even the odds and end his 1316 day WWE Universal Chamionship reign. To make it even sweeter, Roman still could have won the match had he hit Cody with a steel chair instead of the already injured Seth, but he was blinded by his desire for revenge for Seth betraying the Shield 10 years earlier, allowing Cody a chance to recover and get the win. Not only that, but all the other interferences in Cody's favor were of men that Roman challenged in the past: Jey, John Cena, the Undertaker and, last but not least, Seth.
  • Damien Priest and the rest of The Judgment Day harassed The New Day, #DIY, and especially R-Truth (and Miz) throughout the Road to Wrestlemania. All three teams help to defeat the team in some way, with Truth being the one to throw Priest out of the ring through an Attitude Adjustment and grab the Raw Tag Team Belts.
  • After being betrayed by Damage CTRL, Bayley gets revenge on IYO Sky, the one who would begin the fracturing of the group.
  • Rey Mysterio's son Dominik (once again) and former LWO member Santos Escobar got what they deserved after weeks of tormenting the masked Hall of Fame luchador, with the help of Andrade, the members of the LWO including Carlito, and the unexpected assistance of Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Mêlée à Trois: While title matches are usually contested in one-on-one matches, some were contested in triple threat, fatal-four way, or even multiple opponent matches:
  • 2000: This year's Mania has the distinction of not having any traditional single matches on its card. The main event featured Triple H vs The Rock vs Big Show vs Mick Foley for the WWF Championship (HHH retained). Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho all fought for both the Intercontinental and European Championships (both called by Angle entering) in a two falls triple-threat match (Benoit won the IC title, while Y2J won the European, neither of which were by pinning Angle). The Tag Team titles were contested in the now iconic Triangle Ladder Match featuring the teams of Edge and Christian vs the Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boys (E & C won).
  • 2001: Raven vs Big Show vs Kane for the Hardcore Championship (Kane won), plus the Triangle ladder rematch from last year (E & C won again, in a TLC this time, with help from Rhyno and despite outside help from Spike and Lita).
  • 2002: The Women's Championship was contested in a triple-threat match between Jazz, Lita, and Trish Stratus (Jazz retained). Meanwhile, the Tag Team titles were contested in a four-way elimination match between Billy and Chuck vs APA vs the Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boys (Billy and Chuck retained).
  • 2003: The Women's Championship was once again contested in a triple-threat match, this time between Victoria, Jazz, and Trish Stratus (Trish won). Same goes for the SmackDown Tag Team titles, which consisted of Team Angle vs Chris Benoit and Rhyno vs Los Guerreros (Team Angle retained).
  • 2004: Chris Benoit vs Triple H vs Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship (Benoit won). The Tag Team Titles of both Raw and SmachDown were also both defended in fatal-four ways (both Tag Champs retained).
  • 2006: Kurt Angle vs Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship (Rey won).
  • 2008: Randy Orton vs Triple H vs John Cena for the WWE Championship (Orton retained).
  • 2009: Edge vs Big Show vs John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship (Cena won).
  • 2014: Batista (the Royal Rumble winner) vs Randy Orton (the defending champion) vs Daniel Bryan (who won his way into the match earlier in the night) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Bryan won), while A.J. Lee defended the Divas Championship against every other woman on the roster ^note That's thirteen opponents, specifically: Natalya Neidhart, the Bella Twins, The Funkadactyls, Layla, Emma, Eva Marie, Aksana, Summer Rae, Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, and Tamina Snuka (AJ retained).
  • 2015: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Seth won).^note This was actually a traditional singles match between Lesnar and Reigns until Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract midway through
  • 2016: Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to win the new Women's Championship (later rechristened as the Raw Women's Championship).
  • 2017: The Raw Tag Team Championship was contested in a fatal-four way ladder match involving The Bar, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo and Cass, and the returning Hardy Boyz (the Hardys won). Bayley also defended the Raw's championship against Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax (Bayley retained), while Alexa Bliss defended the SmackDown's championship against Naomi, Natalya Neidhart, Becky Lynch, Carmella and Mickie James (Naomi won).
  • 2018: The Miz defended his Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor and Seth Rollins (Rollins won). The Usos defended their SmackDown Tag Team Championship against the Bludgeon Brothers and The New Day (the Bludgeon Bros won), while Randy Orton defended his United States Championship against Bobby Roode, Jinder Mahal, and Rusev (Mahal won).
  • 2019: The main event saw Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch in a three-way match, with Lynch winning to take the Raw women's belt from Rousey and the SmackDown women's belt from Charlotte. Both the SmackDown (The Usos retained against Aleister Black and Ricochet, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, and The Bar) and Women's (The IIconics won the titles from champions Sasha Banks and Bayley in a match that also involved the teams of Nia Jax and Tamina as well as Natalya and Beth Phoenix) Tag Team Championships were defended in a Fatal-4 Way matches.
  • 2020: John Morrison defended the SmackDown tag titles against Jimmy Uso and The New Day's Kofi Kingston (Morrison retained). Bayley defended the SmackDown women's title against Lacey Evans, Naomi, Sasha Banks, and Tamina (Bayley retained).
  • 2021: Night 2 featured Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Edge and Daniel Bryan for the Universal Championship with Reigns retaining his title.
  • 2022: Night 2 featured both tag team title matches, such as a triple threat with RK-Bro, Street Profits, and Alpha Academy for the Raw titles (RK-Bro retained), and a fatal 4-way between Queen Zelina and Carmella, Sasha Banks and Naomi, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, and Natalya and Shayna Baszler for the women's tag titles (Sasha and Naomi won).
  • 2023: Night 1 has The Street Profits, the team of Braun Strowman and Ricochet, Alpha Academy and the Viking Raiders, which the Street Profits won, while Night 2 has four individual women team with Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler the victor, along with Gunther, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship with Gunther retaining his title.
  • 2024: A six-pack Ladder match challenge for the Tag Team titles featuring triple-threat match with the teams of The Judgment Day's Finn Balor and Damien Priest, Awesome Truth, The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, New Czech Republic, A-Town Under, and #DIY with Awesome Truth and A-Town Under respectively winning the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team titles, and Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, and Randy Orton for the US Title with Paul retaining.
  • Also, since XXX, there's the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which grants the winner a trophy in the likeness of André the Giant. While it's not a part of the event anymore, it still is held in the pre-Mania Smackdown.
• Numbered Sequels: Historically, most editions have used Roman numerals as part of their branding, although there have been exceptions, including 13, 2000 (16), the unusual X-Seven and X8, 21 through 23, 29, and every one since 31 (29 and every edition since 31 don't even have numbers in their logos anymore)
  • Played straight once again for 2024's milestone 40th show, with the logo reclaiming the old Roman numeral convention as WrestleMania XL.
• Oddball in the Series: Thanks to COVID-19, WrestleMania 36 will always be most remembered for being the show that went down in an awkwardly-silent Performance Center in front of an audience of zero.
• Once a Season: The Undertaker takes on a legend or main event superstar and wins, an honor perhaps greater that being World Champion multiple times. Until 2014, he had never lost at the event, defeating the likes of Jimmy Snuka, Jake Roberts, Giant González, King Kong Bundy, Diesel, Sycho Sid, Kane, Big Boss Man, Triple H, Ric Flair, Big Show and A-Train, Kane again, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Batista, Edge, Shawn Michaels (twice), Triple H again (twice), and CM Punk. And then WrestleMania XXX came... Fortunately he rebounded at the next two events, but wasn't so lucky come 2017. He then surprisingly came back in 2018 to squash John Cena. Returned two years later to send AJ Styles to his grave.
• Passing the Torch:
  • The Ultimate Warrior defeating Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI to win the WWF Championship, seen as a "passing the torch" moment (even if it didn't fully work out).
  • WrestleMania XXX was full of this: Cesaro winning the André the Giant Battle Royal, Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker's streak, and Daniel Bryan winning the main event. Unfortunately, Bray Wyatt didn't quite get Cena's torch.
  • Bray Wyatt invoked this during the buildup to his match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31, saying that due to his loss last year, the latter can no longer be WWE's personification of fear. Taker definitely proved him wrong.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: WrestleMania 36 was split into two nights to lessen the people in the venue due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. WrestleMania 37 was also split into two nights, but with fans in attendance at a limited capacity. Since then, every WrestleMania became a two-night event.
• Red Baron: This event is christened as "The Grandest Stage of them All"; "The Show of Shows"; "The Showcase of the Immortals"; "The Biggest Show of the Year"; "The Greatest Spectacle of Sports Entertainment"; "The Granddaddy of them All".
• Retired Badass:
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the guest referee of Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg at WrestleMania XX. What should have been a dream matchup was ruined by Lesnar's surprise decision to quit WWE to try out for the NFL, and Goldberg seemed to think the whole match was a joke. The only cheering was for Austin, who delivered a Stunner to both Lesnar and Goldberg after the match.
  • Similarly, at WrestleMania XXVII Austin was guest ref for Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole. Cole spent close to 10 minutes beating on Lawler. To say that the crowd did not enjoy this would be an understatement. The end of the match then had the Raw general manager retroactively disqualify Lawler because Guest Referee Austin got involved in the match. Booker T and Josh Mathews also got Stunners without doing anything - likely just an excuse to get J.R. and King back together on commentary for the rest of the show.
• Rivals Team Up: WrestleMania 2000 is the only WrestleMania to never have a true one-on-one singles match on its card. The main event featured four wrestlers, with a member of the McMahon family in each corner of a WWF Championship match: the champion, Triple H, had Stephanie McMahon in his corner; The Rock had Vince McMahon backing him; Big Show was backed by Shane McMahon; and surprise entrant Mick Foley, who had been "retired" the month prior in a Hell in a Cell Match by Triple H, had the backing of Linda McMahon. In the end, Vince turned on The Rock and allowed Triple H to win, letting Triple H retain the WWF Championship against staggering odds, and made history as the first heel to win at a WrestleMania main event.
• Scenery Porn: Most of the stages from 1999 onwards invoked this. Beforehand, the Roman theme of WrestleMania IX is probably the most well-remembered part of the event.
• Season Finale: WrestleMania serves as one for most storyline feuds in WWE every year. While some rivalries continue after the event (which for many years was the theme for Backlash), most rivalries in general end here and from then on, the company starts new ones. In the video games, the Career modes usually climax at a WrestleMania.
• Serial Escalation: At WrestleMania XL, the interfering parties in the main event got progressively more imposing. First, we have Jimmy Uso appearing to help Roman, only for his brother Jey to appear and Spear him into a table in the side of the stage of the entrance. Then Solo appears and gives the Samoan Spike on Cody like in the end of the fight against Roman in ''39'', which then leads to a surprise return from John Cena evening the odds for Cody Rhodes as he handles Sikoa. Then, in a flashback to just over a decade prior, The Rock marched to the ring and neutralized Cena with a single Rock Bottom. At that point, all the lights in the arena died and a familiar gong echoed across the stadium. When the lights returned, the specter of WrestleMania itself, perhaps the only entity capable of striking fear in the heart of The Final Boss, loomed over The Rock, and he was felled almost instantly by an Undertaker chokeslam.
• Sequel Hook: WrestleMania XXVII/XXVIII seemed to like this trope a lot:
  • The WrestleMania XXVII main event between The Miz and John Cena was a slow, boring match that led to a double countout. The Rock came out and ordered the match to continue, but it ended again about 5 seconds later with The Rock hitting the Rock Bottom on Cena and Miz retaining. The Rock then gave Miz the People's Elbow so the night ended with a semi-retired wrestler standing over The Miz, WWE Champion, and Cena, WWE's currently most popular wrestler. It was nothing more than a Sequel Hook for the main event for WrestleMania XXVIII, Rock vs. Cena.
  • The Undertaker refused to let his Pyrrhic Victory over Triple H at XXVII be his lasting memory, thus demanding a rematch at XXVIII.
  • The overarching theme of Cody Rhodes' journey in between WrestleMania's 39 and XL: he lost to Roman right in the final moments of his bout with Roman, which leads to him waiting for an entire year for a new chance at winning the title in the grandest stage of them all. It even becomes the tagline for WWE 2K24, "Finish the Story."
  • World Heavyweight Championship contenders Sheamus and Daniel Bryan also had a match at XXVII that was demoted to DVD Bonus Content and led to a no-contest.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is the night before, and the inductees appear on stage all dressed to the nines (which notably has the female ones appear a few inches taller by wearing high heels).
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Sable's feud with Tori leading into XV was based around Sable thinking she was better than her Loony Fan. Just when it looked like Tori was about to defeat Sable and become Women's Champion, Nicole Bass debuted and helped Sable win. The feud ended there.
• The Show Must Go On: WrestleMania 36 was initially scheduled to take place in the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The logo for the event was even similar to the logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the local NFL team. But the 2019-2020 coronavirus outbreak canceled those plans, moving instead to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. It was the first WWE pay-per-view without a live audience.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad:
  • WrestleMania XXV had an example that affected two matches: the event should have seen the Colón Brothers defeating John Morrison and The Miz to become the first Unified Tag Team Champions. However, their victory was relegated to taking place before the actual card, to make room for a song performance by Kid Rock (worse, the concert was taken out of the DVD release of the event). The following Divas' battle royal had several older past Divas returning such as Sunny, Molly Holly, Torrie Wilson and Victoria, but the Divas had no entrances for that match and came out dancing to Kid Rock, so no introductions for the past Divas.
  • The Royal Rumble winner should get a title shot at WrestleMania's main event, but John Cena has stolen this spot every year since 2006, except in 2009^note Rumble winner Randy Orton vs. champion Triple H, although Cena was still in the other title match and ironically, 2008^note Cena himself won the Rumble that year but didn't headline WM 24, an honor that went to Edge and The Undertaker. The same thing happened in 2017 and 2018, but with Roman Reigns instead of Cena taking the Main Event spot from the actual Winner (or in 2018's case, Winners).
  • Occasionally a non-title match will headline and/or close out the show. The most notable in recent years is the rematch between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker at XXVI (which would be Shawn's retirement match), John Cena facing The Rock for the first time at XXVIII, and The KO Show with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin turning into a no-holds barred match at night 1 of 38.
• Squash Match:
  • 1: This one started very early, as in the second match in WM history. King Kong Bundy defeated S.D. Jones in what was billed as nine seconds^note Actually fourteen.
  • X-Seven: Chyna defeated Ivory for the Women's Championship in a mere two minutes.
  • 24: Kane squashed Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship in eleven seconds.
  • 28: Sheamus (infamously) defeated Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship in eighteen seconds.
  • 32: The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in six seconds. John Cena then returned to help Rock avoid a subsequent beat-down by Rowan and the Wyatts.
  • 34: John Cena got what he'd been after for weeks when The Undertaker came out and squashed him in less than 3 minutes.
  • 35: Samoa Joe defeated Rey Mysterio in one minute.
  • 39: Both nights saw co-host The Miz squashed quickly and easily. On Saturday, Pat McAfee answered his challenge and pinned him down in less than four minutes. On Sunday, his co-host Snoop Dogg pitted against Shane McMahon, only for Shane to hurt himself out of kayfabe - at which point Snoop Dogg took over and beat The Miz himself in even less time than McAfee did.
  • XL: Justified with Damien Priest beating Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship in about eight seconds. Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on McIntyre after the latter's skirmish with CM Punk immediately after just winning said championship in a competitive match.
• Stopped Numbering Sequels: WrestleMania 29 did not have the event number in the name. Mania XXX (30) had, but after that, the WWE stopped putting the event number in the name. Now calling it simply 'WrestleMania' every year. The move ended up working well for WWE in 2021 as the COVID-19 Pandemic forced them to change the venue of 37 from Los Angeles to Tampa (where they originally intended to hold 36). The old "WrestleMania Hollywood" logo for 37 was then repurposed for 39 when they announced that LA would be the host of that year.
• Stunned Silence: The audience of WrestleMania XXX, when Brock Lesnar broke The Undertaker's streak clean.
• Sudden Downer Ending:
  • IX: Hulk Hogan defeats Yokuzuna in an impromptu match for the WWF Championship. Hulk Hogan was the Face, but still this twist makes no sense.
  • XIV: Shawn Michaels is betrayed for no reason by his new friend Mike Tyson.
  • X-Seven: Stone Cold joins forces with Mr. McMahon.
  • XXVII: John Cena loses his Championship match no thanks to the host, The Rock.
  • 31: Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank to win the WWE Championship.
• Token Evil Teammate: The Team Total Divas vs Team BAD & Blonde tag match at 32 had the former team as the faces. Eva Marie was part of that team and was the lone heel, as is tradition with her.
• Unexplained Recovery: WrestleMania XV featured The Undertaker defeating The Big Boss Man in a plodding, boring, forgettable Hell in a Cell match. After the match, Undertaker had The Brood (Gangrel/Edge/Christian, then members of the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness) slip a noose down through the roof of the Cell so he could "hang" Boss Man. Big Boss Man suddenly showed up on Raw the next night as if nothing happened, and the whole thing was never mentioned again. Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness attire and entrance was probably the best part of the whole thing.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: With Mania being WWE's Season Finale, the Final Battle for various feuds often times culminate in this event.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: John Cena did this to Nikki Bella following their victory against The Miz and Maryse.
• Wham Episode: Mania has certainly had its moments.
  • WM VI - Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan for both the WWF Intercontinental & World Heavyweight Championships, thereby ending, conclusively, Hogan's run at Mania where no one decisively beat him in a contest. It also marked a turning point for the WWF, as those who began following Hogan, starting at the point where he beat The Iron Shiek, were transitioning away from being fans of the company to embark in their own journeys in life, which triggered the very slow decline of the WWF's overall popularity.
  • WM IX - Hulk Hogan comes out and defeats Yokozuna in an impromptu match.
  • WM 13 - Face Bret Hart and Heel "Stone Cold" Steve Austin make a Face/Heel Double-Turn after the former starts brutally beating the latter. It marked the beginning of Austin's rise as a main event wrestler and the beginning of the last chapter of Hart's WWF career.
  • WM XIV: Shawn Michaels drops the WWF Championship and goes on a long hiatus to recover from a lingering back injury.
  • WM XV - Triple H turns against DX and joins The Corporation signaling his main event push.
  • WM X-Seven - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin joins forces with Mr. McMahon.
  • WM XX - Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit win their respective main event matches. It becomes harsh to remember it considering latter circumstances, though.
  • WM 24 - Ric Flair, retires (in WWE at least).
  • WM XXVI - The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels in a Career vs. Streak match, sending the latter to retirement (at least for eight years).
  • WM XXX - Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak.
  • WM 31 - Seth Rollins cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the main event and wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
  • WM 33 - The Hardy Boyz return to WWE and win the Raw Tag Team Championships. In the Main Event, Roman Reigns seemingly retired The Undertaker.
  • WM 34 - Charlotte Flair successfully retains her SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka, ending the latter's undefeated WWE streak.
  • WM 35 - Baron Corbin defeated Kurt Angle in Angle's last match.
  • WM 36 - A Wham Episode before it even began; WWE hosted this WrestleMania without a live audience at their Performance Center in Orlando due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • WM 38 - Cody Rhodes returns to WWE and defeats Seth "Freakin'" Rollins.
  • WM 40- Cody Finished. The. ''Story'' by finally beating Roman Reigns. On a lesser note, there's also Sami Zayn having a Dark Horse Victory and defeating Gunther, ending the longest Intercontinental Championship reign in history.
• Wham Line: Seth Rollins heads into WrestleMania 38 squaring off against a mystery opponent. Weeks of heavy speculations are confirmed when the opponent's entrance hits with a prelude saying "Wrestling has more than one royal family".
• Wham Shot: At WrestleMania XXX, the graphics displaying The Undertaker's WrestleMania record of "21-1".◊
• Where It All Began: The tagline for WrestleMania XX and its return to Madison Square Garden was "Where It All Begins Again."
• Worked Shoot:
  • The boxing match between Butterbean and Bart Gunn was real, and thus an aversion, but easily the least entertaining and the most pointless match of WrestleMania XV. For a little context: earlier in the year, WWE staged the Brawl for All tournament, a set of legit shootfighting matches long thought to have been a way to reintroduce seriously legit tough guy "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Bart Gunn didn't get the memo and knocked Williams out in the quarterfinals, eventually winning the tournament. Several WWE performers have gone on to state that the match against Butterbean (a five-time World Toughman champion and the reigning IBA Superheavyweight boxing champion) was a punishment, as it transformed almost instantly from Unworked Shoot to Very Bad Shoot when Bart Gunn was knocked out two minutes in. That theory is bolstered by the fact that WWE released him not long after (and if some accounts are to be believed, right after Gunn returned to backstage). Luckily for him, Williams had a huge following as a legit tough guy in Japan, so Gunn was able to have a long run there. All in all, Roddy Piper and Mr. T worked a better boxing match at WrestleMania II, and that's saying something - that one was worked, however (video).
  • The match between Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX had elements of this - referee Chad Patton wasn't told the finish and was instead ordered to treat every pinfall as if it was the match finish and to count to three unless there was a kick-out. When he counted the three count that ended the Streak, Patton was so shocked that he forgot to call for the bell. It very well might have been that, at ringside at least, only Lesnar and Undertaker knew the finish; once Patton made the three-count, the announcers were stunned into silence, and even Paul Heyman, Lesnar's manager, had his jaw on the floor.
• Writers Cannot Do Math:
  • When Undertaker was set to face Triple H at WrestleMania XXVII, they pretended that Triple H and 'Taker had never wrestled before. 'Taker said that he had "beaten 19 men" at WrestleMania, when he had faced Kane and Shawn Michaels twice. He had said "18 men have come..." on the promo the previous year, which was accurate up until the second time he faced Michaels, with his two matches against Kane being balanced by the fact that one of his matches was a two-on-one handicap.
  • When promoting a WrestleMania milestone, WWE forgets that the number of the WrestleMania doesn't actually indicate how many years it's been since the first one. WrestleMania XXV wasn't actually the 25th anniversary of the first WrestleMania, it was the 24th anniversary. If you wanted to mark the 25-year anniversary of the first WrestleMania, you had to wait until WrestleMania XXVI.
• "X" Makes Anything Cool: The thinking behind naming the 17th and 18th installments WrestleMania X-Seven and WrestleMania X-8.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: The summation of the RAW commentary team's reaction to the RAW Tag Team Title Match at WrestleMania 34, wherein the challenger Braun Strowman announced that his mystery partner would be a member of the WWE Universe (i.e. a fan from the crowd). Said reaction increased when Braun chose a ten-year old kid (named Nicholas) as his partner, again when Braun actually tagged him in, culminating in the ultimate reactions of disbelief when they won the match.

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