The legacy of WrestleMania spans more than three decades, and with The Show of Shows’ longevity comes countless milestones and records being made along the way.
Here’s a brief snapshot of 34 amazing WrestleMania facts that demonstrate why Superstars and fans across the WWE Universe celebrate what can happen on The Grandest Stage of Them All, presented by Cricket Wireless.
1
Triple H now owns the dubious record for most losses at WrestleMania.
With his loss at WrestleMania 33, Triple H now owns the most defeats in WrestleMania history, surpassing Big Show and Shawn Michaels. Of course, HBK suffering 11 losses didn’t stop him from earning the moniker “Mr. WrestleMania.”
2
The WrestleMania attendance record is 101,763.
More than 100,000 WWE fans packed AT&T Stadium in Dallas for WrestleMania 32, topping the 93,173 attendees for WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Mich, and smashing a record that was thought to be unbreakable.
3
Goldust has the most matches at WrestleMania without a victory.
The Bizarre One made his Show of Shows debut at WrestleMania XII, and he hasn’t found any luck in the two decades since, losing all six of his matches on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
4
The Undertaker still holds an active 17-year WrestleMania streak.
The Streak may be dead, but The Phenom has still competed at WrestleMania in 17 consecutive years, from 2001 through 2017. Kane is right behind him, having fought on The Grandest Stage of Them All in 13 consecutive events from 2003 to 2016.
5
The inaugural WrestleMania did not have a WWE Title Match.
While the WWE Title wasn’t up for grabs in 1985, three title matches did occur — the Intercontinental Championship, World Tag Team Championship and classic Women’s Championship.
6
The Rock’s only one-on-one pinfall victory over “Stone Cold” happened at WrestleMania.
The Great One pinned “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for the first — and only — time in singles competition in the third match of their WrestleMania trilogy at WrestleMania XIX.
7
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels squared off in WrestleMania’s longest match.
Unsurprisingly, the WrestleMania XII WWE Iron Man Match between Hart and HBK set the record at one hour, one minute, 52 seconds in a marathon battle that needed overtime to decide the winner.
8
The Rock won the shortest match in WrestleMania history.
The People’s Champion crushed Erick Rowan in six seconds at WrestleMania 32, besting a record set eight years earlier in an ECW Title bout between Kane and Chavo Guerrero Jr.
9
With five appearances, Trish Stratus has competed at WrestleMania more than any female Superstar.
Stratus made her WrestleMania debut in a Women’s Title Match in her hometown of Toronto at WrestleMania X-8. She bookended her WrestleMania tenure in 2011 alongside Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi & John Morrison.
10
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 30 featured the most Superstars in a single WrestleMania match with 31.
Cesaro outlasted 29 other Superstars before eliminating Big Show to win the coveted trophy named for Andre the Giant. Andre won a 20-man Battle Royal at WrestleMania II, which was WrestleMania’s first multi-Superstar bout.
11
Beth Phoenix has eliminated a record 12 Superstars from a WrestleMania Battle Royal.
Phoenix, who will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, was a one-woman wrecking crew at WrestleMania XXV, but finished as the runner-up in the Battle Royal to decide who would be called “Miss WrestleMania.”
12
The Undertaker’s Streak included victories against every member of Evolution.
In addition to defeating Triple H on three occasions, The Deadman also stood tall against Ric Flair (WrestleMania X8), Randy Orton (WrestleMania 21) and Batista (WrestleMania 23).
13
Eleven Superstars competed in two or more matches in a single WrestleMania event.
Seth Rollins was the most recent Superstar to achieve this feat, though that’s only because he chose to make WrestleMania history by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract during the WWE Title Match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
14
“Macho Man” Randy Savage holds the record for competing in the most matches in one night with four.
Savage defeated Greg Valentine, “The Natural” Butch Reed, One Man Gang and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase to clinch the WWE Title at WrestleMania IV. DiBiase, Macho Man’s final opponent, benefited from a bye in the semifinal round.
15
Miss Elizabeth wore four different outfits at one WrestleMania.
Of course, the WWE Universe didn’t just keep a close eye on Macho Man during the WrestleMania IV tournament. Miss Elizabeth shined just as brightly on The Grandest Stage of Them All because she wore a different dress during each of Savage’s matches.
16
Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Rick Rude once ran out the clock during a WrestleMania clash.
Meeting in the quarterfinals in the WWE Title Tournament at WrestleMania IV, Roberts and Rude fought to a time-limit draw, making them the only pair to have their battle stopped because of the timekeeper’s clock.
17
WrestleMania hosted the WWE debut match of six Superstars.
Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao became the first duo to do it at WrestleMania VII. Big E and Fandango joined them in separate bouts at WrestleMania 29. Sting joined the quintet with his once-thought-impossible WrestleMania debut two years later. Most recently, Baron Corbin won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32.
18
John Cena is the only Superstar to win WWE and United States Titles at The Showcase of the Immortals.
Cena made his WrestleMania debut by winning the U.S. Championship at WrestleMania XX, then seized the WWE Title one year later. For what it’s worth, only two Superstars — Bret Hart and Daniel Bryan — won both the WWE and Intercontinental Titles at WrestleMania.
19
A former Women’s Champion performed “America the Beautiful.”
While her rendition might not be as memorable as Aretha Franklin’s version in 1987 or her encore two decades later, Rockin’ Robin is the only one of 20 “America the Beautiful” performers at WrestleMania who was also an active champion.
20
Ultimate Warrior is the only Superstar in WrestleMania history to vacate a title.
It’s not entirely his fault, however. Warrior only vacated the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania VI because he won the WWE Championship in the main event, which meant he had to officially end one reign to start the other.
21
Two physical trophies have been awarded to Battle Royal recipients.
The trophy Bad News Brown received at WrestleMania IV met an explosive end courtesy of Bret “Hit Man” Hart. Meanwhile, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy is presented to the Superstar who wins the namesake bout.
22
Twenty-four cities across 16 U.S. states and two countries provided the backdrop to The Grandest Stage of Them All.
The Showcase of the Immortals has taken place from sea to shining sea, from New York in 1985 to Santa Clara, Calif. in 2015 and everywhere between, including two memorable trips north of the border in 1990 and 2002.
23
Five Intercontinental Champions left with their reigns intact but without a victory.
Because a championship cannot change hands due to disqualification or count-out in a standard match, Shawn Michaels, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, The Honky Tonk Man, “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig and Jeff Jarrett all left WrestleMania as a champion, if not a victor.
24
WrestleMania 2 happened on a Monday.
That scheduling choice makes the 1986 edition the only one to not take place on a Sunday. WrestleMania returned to Sunday the following year, while WWE embraced the idea of Monday night fights nine years later with Raw, the longest-running weekly episodic program on television.
25
Nearly three out of four champions lose their title in the final match at WrestleMania.
The Road to WrestleMania is a long one, and it is clearly an easier one for challengers to travel than a champion. In 2016, Roman Reigns became the latest of the 74 percent of challengers to claim championship gold in the last fight of the night.
26
The WWE Championship has changed hands 22 times.
Is there a curse on WWE Champions at WrestleMania? Of the 34 WWE Title defenses to occur at The Showcase of The Immortals, only 12 of them ended with the champion retaining, most recently in 2012.
27
Nearly 1.6 million fans have attended WrestleMania since its inception in 1985.
Of course, it helps that the number of fans coming to experience The Showcase of the Immortals continues to grow. Attendance at WrestleMania has steadily increased from WrestleMania 22 at Chicago’s Allstate Arena to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., a decade later.
28
Run DMC was the first music group to perform at WrestleMania.
Excluding patriotic displays opening The Showcase of the Immortals, Run DMC made WWE history in 1989 when they introduced the WrestleMania Rap to the WWE Universe. Their performance opened the door to the likes of Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kid Rock and Flo Rida, among others.
29
Each Shield alum has won a WrestleMania match via pinfall.
Roman Reigns achieved the feat by felling WWE Champion Triple H at WrestleMania 32. Seth Rollins did it by pinning Reigns one year earlier. Ambrose did it first, clinching the 3-count in The Shield’s pinfall victory against Sheamus, Big Show & Randy Orton at WrestleMania 29.
30
Motörhead are the only musical act to have performed during a Superstar’s entrance at two separate WrestleMania events.
From The DX Band to Snoop Dogg, musicians can add a special touch to a Superstar’s entrance at WrestleMania. Motörhead just happened to do it on two occasions at WrestleMania X-Seven and WrestleMania 21, recreating the entrance music they previously produced for Triple H.
31
Roman Reigns is the owner of a new streak.
Roman Reigns has competed in the final match of WrestleMania in each of the last three years, tying John Cena and The Rock. Hulk Hogan holds the record with four consecutive main events. Could The Big Dog tie him this year?
32
Three championships have changed hands during an event immediately preceding WrestleMania.
The Bodydonnas became World Tag Team Champions by winning a tournament finale preceding WrestleMania XII, The Colons became the first Unified WWE Tag Team Champions prior to WrestleMania XXV and The Miz became Intercontinental Champion during the closing moments of the WrestleMania 29 Pre-Show.
33
As of WrestleMania 33, there have been 389 Superstars to compete on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Tito Santana won the first match in WrestleMania history, while Roman Reigns became the most recent victor more than three decades later. It’s not the easiest club in sports-entertainment to join, but the perks are definitely worth it.
34
Little Miss Bliss can tie — and make — history at WrestleMania 34.
If she can hang on to her title until Sunday, April 8, Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss will join Victoria and Trish Stratus as the third competitor to defend a Women’s Title at consecutive WrestleManias. Bliss will also become the first Superstar to defend both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles at WrestleMania.
Article source: WWE.com
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