The idea behind the formation of WrestleMania was simple - putting on a “Super Bowl of Wrestling” type of card. There were all sorts of supercards and shows throughout the territories, but never quite like the idea that Vince McMahon had: to combine the pageantry and the wrestling to make the ultimate Sports Entertainmentexperience.
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That doesn’t mean that The Golden Era WrestleManias hold up as well as they might using rosy-colored nostalgia glasses. So let’s take those off and see some of the lesser qualities about the first few Showcases Of The Immortals.
9 WrestleMania 2 - Multiple Locations
In theory, having WrestleMania, or any show for that matter, come from different locations sounds like and seems like an awesome idea on paper. But in practice, there’s a reason the practice wasn’t done ever again. WrestleMania 2 wasn’t a disaster but the logistics of planning three different events combined with all of them having to be planned with top stars. The event is seldom spoken about when it comes to WrestleMania history, and this is why.
8 WrestleMania 4 - The Tournament
To date, one of the greatest angles of all time - The Twin Referees Angle - was used to set up an entire WrestleMania devoted to crowning an undisputed WWE Champion. The performance of Miss Elizabeth and The Macho Man is certainly worth a watch.
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But the rest of the card leaves little to be desired. Zero tournament matches told any kind of story or had any kind of storyline behind it except for the tournament itself.
7 WrestleMania 9 - Hulk Hogan Steals The Title
Ok, so Hulk Hogan didn’t really steal the WWE title at WrestleMania 9, but he certainly stole the spotlight from the evening’s main event and new champion, Yokozuna. There are a lot of issues with WrestleMania 9 and Hulk Hogan arbitrarily getting a world title match after Yokozuna defeated The Hitman was a strange decision.
6 WrestleMania 4/5/9 - Tickets For High Rollers Meant Less Die Hard Fans
WrestleMania is supposed to be that special time a year when the biggest fans come out to make the biggest night of the WWE year feel all the more special. But with three of the first ten WrestleManias taking place inside of casinos, the company helped pad the arenas out by giving tickets to high rollers. If you were ever wondering why some of the crowds for these Manias seemed a little flat, that’s part of it.
5 WrestleMania - The First Event Isn't Very Good
While we all should be very thankful that the very first WrestleMania was a big success, looking back on it, this show is just not very good.
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The matches, even for their time, are slow and plodding. The interviews all seemed out of place, and there was a huge over reliance on celebrities, of which looking back in retrospective, only Cyndi Lauper and Muhammad Ali remain as cultural touchstones.
4 WrestleMania 5 - Hogan Must Pose
For a whole year, The Macho Man was one of the best WWE champions ever. Then The Mega Powers exploded, leading into WrestleMania 5. There are plenty of fans who look back, more than any other Mania, pondering, “what if Savage retained?” By this point, Hogan was already a made guy, so was Savage. But a Macho Man victory would have shot the WWE into a huge unpredictable direction.
3 WrestleMania 6 - The Hot Scot
If you know then you know, and you’re probably halfway to the next entry. But for those who don’t remember or haven’t seen Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 6, that’s because any evidence of his interview and match with Bad News Brown has been stricken off the Peacock Network. For his match, Piper painted himself half-black. The connotations became more prevalent over the years, which is why the match has been deleted from the event.
2 WrestleMania 7 - The Poor Card
While WrestleMania is remembered because it’s the first one, and WrestleMania 9 because it’s probably the worst one, WrestleMania 7 has one memorable moment and everything else is just honestly not WrestleMania-worthy.
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The Macho Man wrangled a great match out of The Warrior and had the crowd in tears reunited with Miss Elizabeth, but the rest of this card was a glorified House Show.
1 WrestleMania 6 - The Warrior Went Over
Nowadays, it’s one of the strangest choices WWE ever made - to put the title and the rocket ship to The Ultimate Warrior. With Hulk Hogan wanting to try his hand with more movies, Vince McMahon had wanted to try a new top guy and the neon-colored wrestler was his choice.
While The Ultimate Warrior made sense as WWE Champion when taking into consideration his look and over-the-top persona, everything he did was nonsense, from the poor in-ring product and weird promos, to his unprofessional attitude backstage.
