Woah Woah WrestleMania

[DavidB6937]

Made it through WrestleMania 2 this morning. Forgotten most of it already. Makes it feel like a miracle we made it to 40.

I do enjoy old school heel Roddy Piper though. Such a great talker.

And guys like Savage and Jake Roberts who just had a different aura to them. And Elizabeth. What a woman.

Brutus Beefcake stole a living for a damn long time didn't he?

[Statto]

I had (still have actually, on top of the wardrobe) that VHS box set of the first 15 Manias that Silver Vision brought out, and set myself the "challenge" of watching all 15 between Christmas and that year's Mania.

WrestleMania 2 nearly stopped that in its tracks. Took me about a week to get through it. Hadn't seen it before, never watched a second of it again.

Not that the tape would have taken a second watch anyway - Silver Vision has obviously tried to keep the price point for 15 tapes down so the quality was of some iron filings wafted vaguely near the thinnest sellotape you can imagine. 

Edited March 9 by Statto
Typo.

[Chili]

The only good thing about Wrestlemania 2 that isn't seeing an interesting microcosm of one of their biggest eras, is that sweet as fuck saxophone job that also doubled as the Fuji Vice theme.

 

 

[westlondonmist]

First mania watched

7, and it was awesome at the time although I didn't really care for the main event. Warrior Vs Macho Man had an awesome build and then pure drama in the ring. Roberts Vs Martel may not make sense now but given the build at the time it was great. The tag title match really got me hating the Nasty Boys, LOD squashing Power and Glory really had me behind them, Undertaker had me shit scared and there was some good undercard stuff such as Rockers Vs Haku/Barbarian and Perfect/Bossman (I really thought Bossman would win).

 

Favourite Wrestlemania

7, see above. Without that I'm not sure I'd be into wrestling

 

Ever been to a Wrestlemania

Nope, no desire for it whatsoever.

 

Best Wrestlemania match

Warrior Vs Macho Man or Hart Vs Hart. I just feel those two really have you engaged the whole way through. Macho Man and Hart had a ton of crackers at Mania.

 

Worst match

Undertaker Vs King Kong Bundy, I mean what the fuck was that? It wasn't even a 2 minute squash it went about 7 or 8 minutes.

 

Best Moments 

Macho Man and Elizabeth, what can I say Wrestlemania 7 was grat.

 

Worst moment

Hulk coming out at Mania 9 and taking the title. At age 8 I thought it was shit. He fights a guy who just fought, and he doesn't even win clean. 

 

Best Entrance 

6, Rhythm and Blues pink Cadillac.

 

[Slapnut]

First WrestleMania watched?

It was probably 15, but I vividly remember the first since getting Sky was 16 and taping it to watch before school, and then being absolutely livid because the tape ran out just as the main event started. At the time I didn’t know Raw was shown on Mondays and thought Friday was the first UK showing, so waiting a full school week to find out what happened was excruciating. Absolutely no idea how I managed to avoid spoilers considering everyone and their mam watched wrestling back then.

Favourite WrestleMania?

Unsurprisingly, it’s 17, but for the sake of the conversation one of my favourites is 24. There’s something about the overall setting that I just absolutely loved, I think it being outdoors just gave it such a fresh feel that made it more enjoyable. I don’t think there’s a particularly stand out match, but also nothing I would consider outright bad. Aside from 17, it’s easily the one I go back to the most.

Have you ever been to WrestleMania?

I went to 32 in Dallas, the one where virtually everybody missed it due to injury so you ended up with completely bonkers matches such as Undertaker vs Shane. I know it’s not known as a good Wrestlemania, but I had a whale of a time to be honest and I’ve not watched it back on the Network at the risk of ruining it a bit. Plus, the NXT Takeover a few nights beforehand is the best they’ve ever done.

I had tickets to 33 in Florida but didn’t end up going because money was too tight, and I think I ended up giving away my tickets to somebody on here because selling them was too complicated.

Best/Worst WrestleMania matches.

The best is easily Bret vs Austin. Nothing comes close. Shout outs to Rock vs Austin and TLC both from 17 too.

There have been some right stinkers but the one that sticks in my memory the most is Undertaker vs Roman from a few years back. Absolute dud.

Best/Worst WrestleMania moments.

Bryan at 30, the end of Bret vs Austin, Edge’s spear from the ladder at 17 to name a few. Brock ending the streak was mental - I’d gone for a shit during the match because I wasn’t interested in such an obvious result and only came back into the room about a minute before it ended luckily. Also, an honourable mention goes to Linda McMahon standing up from the wheelchair. Say what you want about Austin’s pop when Foley won the title, but *this* is the biggest pop of all time.

Worst Wrestlemania moment? Take your pick from the last 6 or 7 years. There have been far too many unfortunately. Undertaker/Roman, Brock/Roman, HHH/Roman, Roman/Cody. Poor Roman.

Favourite WrestleMania theme and/or intro?

17 obviously. Peter Gabriel at 22 too.

Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? ("The boyhood dream has come true" etc etc)

The one that always sticks out to me is “it’s Vince McMahon’s saddest day!” from JR when Austin wins the title at 15. Not sure I’d necessarily say it’s the best, but certainly the one that I feel the most nostalgic about.

Fuck it, I’m on the weekend shift alone in work, I’m sticking on 17.

 

[simonworden]

1 hour ago, Statto said:

I had (still have actually, on top of the wardrobe) that VHS box set of the first 15 Manias that Silver Vision brought out, and set myself the "challenge" of watching all 15 between Christmas and that year's Mania.

WrestleMania 2 nearly stopped that in its tracks. Took me about a week to get through it. Hadn't seen it before, never watched a second of it again.

Not that the tape would have taken a second watch anyway - Silver Vision has obviously tried to keep the price point for 15 tapes down so the quality was of some iron filings wafted vaguely near the thinnest sellotape you can imagine. 

I had the tape of WM2, was given toe by a mate who didn't want it. Certainly takes some watching. The Silvervision cut is bloody awful to be fair making it a lot worse. The PPV was longer wasn't it with more promos and entrances?

3 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Yes, I used to love the end-of-show video packages they’d do. 17 being the best one, of course. I feel like X-8 didn’t and that was one of the reasons I considered it so disappointing at the time.

Speaking of X-8, probably my favourite ever bit of wrestling merch I own is the commemorative magazine hyping up that show. The second half of the book was just photo pages of the entire roster - including my first glimpses of Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton - and the first half had two page recaps of every WrestleMania from 1-17 with photos and full match line ups. I’d never seen these early shows but I could have recited the major happenings and match order of most of them due to the number of times I read this mag. Made Mania feel so special and important.

I remember around the same time, might have only gone up to WM 16/2000 there was a big glossy coffee table book with a double page spread on each Wrestlemania for sale in Smiths and Borders, I used to read that and the WCW 2000 annual allowance the time while my mum went shopping. 

[DavidB6937]

I've started skipping stuff because life's too short for Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules and some of the other shit on WrestleMania 3.

I haven't seen Savage/Steamboat in decades. If ever? You know when something is so famous and talked about a lot that it feels like you've seen it. I'm sure I have but I'm not sure when.

But damn that shit holds up. Both guys had their working boots on and were the perfect opponents for each other. And I think I've oddly underappreciated both mens work over the years.

Probably the first match in WM order that I'd willingly watch again. True quality. The spectacle of the Silverdome giving it a real classic Mania vibe. Jesse and Gorilla were great on commentary. Yeah nothing that hasn't been said a million times before but it's just nice to reach a genuinely exciting match finally.

Obviously Hogan/Andre get that iconic slam visual for history but we all know who really deserves the spotlight.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Great Thread idea!

• First WrestleMania watched? This is a tough one, I think it was 6, off a VHS tape my mate had. The first proper one I watched though (as in remember it all, was 9, I remember setting up the Video Recorder to record it over night and watching it when I finished school that day.
• Favourite WrestleMania? 17. Obvious I know, but when I was in College there were a group of us who were into it and we would all go to one house and stay up and watch it live and stumble into College after a few hours sleep. It had everything we wanted, Hardcore matches, TLC, Limp Bizkit and Rock vs Austin. Just a fantastic event, all killer no filler pretty much
• Have you ever been to WrestleMania?  Me and my best mate from College always vowed to go to a Mania. we had tickets for Mania 30, full weekend, and then 6 months out he got a job on Geordie Shore and we had to sell them. Gutting. But we were on the floor for All In last year which made up for it.
• Best/Worst WrestleMania matches. Warrior v Hogan (Mania 6), Bret vs Shawn Iron Man (I know its not aged well, but still), TLC 2 and Rock vs Austin at 17. Savage/Steamboat from 3 is also still a great match. It's the one thing modern Wrestlemanias have lost. If you asked me what my favourite match was from any of the last 6 Mania's was, I would struggle.  Worst Match, Playboy Match at whatever Mania that was (27?). Awful. 
• Best/Worst WrestleMania moments. The Crowd for Hogan/Rock at 18. Bryan winning twice at 30. The Hardy Boyz return in the tag team match. All great. Worst is some of the events in the last few years. Some proper guff Manias. 
• Favourite WrestleMania theme and/or intro? I loved the intros to 16-19. 16 I think was the Classy Freddie Blassie one, that was insane. The one for 21 was pretty good to, what with the movie parodies. 
• Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? ("The boyhood dream has come true" etc etc) By the time The Iron Sheik gets to the ring, it will be Wrestlemania 37. God bless the Brain.

[Snitsky's back acne]

First Mania - 8. Bret / Piper was (and is) great. I marked for Liz slapping Flair, was a massive Undertaker fan so loved him tombstoning Jake all the way to WCW. Plus 'Its the Ultimate Warrior!!!!'...'Is it?! Who the hell's that guy?' and then the talk of the playground over the next few days was that the real Warrior had died and this was an imposter. 

My first VHS that my dad bought me at a local shop was 'Best of Wrestlemania' that must have been released in 89 as it had one match from the first 4 Manias - the main event tag at 1, the battle royal at 2, the 6 man tag at 3 and Beefcake v Honky at 4. Still have it gathering dust somewhere. 

Fave Mania? I'm going to say 1998. It just hit at the right time. I was 16 and massively in to ECW so WWF getting edgier got big points from me. I remember thinking Sable was the best wrestlers in the world (credit to Luna Vachon for that one) and thought that crazy bump off the ladder into the dumpster was the coolest thing I'd ever seen (next to some softcore porn on the German sports channel DSF after WCW Nitro had finished). 

[DavidB6937]

Back to the first one I ever saw - WrestleMania IV.

Nice to see some of my favourites turn up - Bam Bam Bigelow, Rick Rude. Wish I could look like Rude but that's far too much effort. And that Ultimate Warrior music will always get me hyped.

The show wasn't as long as I remember it being but it was definitely a tournament to forget.

Savage does encapsulate one of my favourite things in WWF/WWE though and that's the journey from the IC title to the main belt. I love seeing progress and a crowd fall in love with someone and support them over the years up the ranks. In later years, guys like Bret, Austin, Rock, HHH etc. I just really enjoy the long term payoffs and natural progression.

It'll be interesting to watch some of my favourites not massively progress though. Bigelow, Rude, Diabase, Roberts, Steamboat.. all incredibly talented in their own ways but never taking the world by storm like they may have at a different time and place.

Getting a bit bored of Hogan already and we're nowhere near done yet.

[air_raid]

My first Mania watched is a story I’ve told on here at least half a dozen times; it’s Mania VI :

Spoiler

My first REAL memory was being round a mate's house, and he had loads of the trading cards and a couple of Hasbros. I asked "Why do you watch that? Isn't it fake?" He passed me a cassette in a generic box, borrowed from his sister's video shop (Remember those? Dating myself) and simply said "Just watch it" showing remarkable restraint for an eight year old. I got the tape home, and it was WrestleMania VI.

I was engrossed almost immediately from Vince's "ULTIMATE CHALLENGE" spiel - listen to what he's saying! How could a small child NOT immediately think "This is a big deal" upon hearing that? By the time Demolition were making their entrance in the jam-packed SkyDome, I was hooked. The characters, the music, the way Gorilla and Jesse talked about every match like it really mattered. Earthquake's been sending people to hospital! That cunt Bad News Brown pulled Roddy Piper out of the Royal Rumble even though he was already out! The Harts have already challenged the winners of the tag title match! Speaking of the Harts, Bret counting along with the pin as he looked into the camera after him and Anvil splattered the Bolsheviks in 40 seconds instantly made him the coolest fucker on the face of the planet. I was livid that mother called me down for tea before the main event had started because I just didnt want to stop watching and next morning I was scart-to-scart copying that tape as soon as I was up. Or asking Papa Raid to do it for me at least.

So yeah, my earliest real memory of wrestling is a lad putting WrestleMania VI in my hand and saying "Just watch it." I'm glad I did.

https://ukff.com/topic/137345-your-first-memory-of-pro-wrestling/?do=findComment&comment=3011315

Favourite Mania is a tough question. So many have been inconsistent or sometimes too long to want to revisit. The one that’s probably spent most time in my VCR is Mania VII because, like many PPVs from 90-92, it’s an easy watch from start to finish full of nostalgia and bright colourful characters, and you get a lot of feel good factor from so many good guys getting to win - Bulldog wins, Tornado wins, LOD win, even The Rockers finally win on PPV, and your two dads Hogan and Warrior both win big, one to win the Gulf War and recover the big belt from Iraq, one to destroy his nemesis and that’s followed by Macho Mans redemption and Liz n Randy reuniting to live happily ever after. I mean, it’s not SummerSlam - the Harts lose the tag belts, Boss Man doesn’t win and Virgil’s forgotten first crack at the Million $ belt isn’t a patch on his second, largely because of missing extra sparkle from him having music, Piper on comms, Sherri ringside and the proper finish. But at least there was also Undertaker winning his first match at a Mania… I think he might have won others.

When push comes to shove I’d say Mania X edges it over 17, 19 and 21. Bret vs Owen is the best opener in company history and one of the best Mania matches of all time, and if you can endure the dross (and there’s plenty) you’re rewarded with the ladder match, which is also one of the best Mania matches of all time, before finally, unashamedly biased as I am, my hero limping his way to redemption over the fat twat that cheated him the year before. Blessed I was to see his first defence anywhere just five days later in (of all places) Telford, before I’d even had chance to know he’d won it. Finally I got to borrow it from my mate from swimming whose parents “could afford” Sky, repeat viewing with ads though it was, ah the “Atmosfear - The Video Board Game” era. Never could figure out why they pixelated the moment of impact when Piper punched Cornette. Of historical note, forgetting for a moment that the 10 man tag got postponed in the end anyway, this was the third Mania in a row where Marty’s demons cost him his cheque.

No, I haven’t been to a Mania. A bunch of lads I knew went to Mania XX but as a student with no fixed income I couldn’t justify it. Me and my housemate enjoyed 21 and talked about saving up to go to a Mania but no time after a few 1PW shows that didn’t quite hit the mark, he lost interest in wrestling. Over the years a serious conversation never arose with anyone about making a trip although in my head I was definitely going to XXX because I assumed they’d be back at the Garden but as soon as they announced the Met Life, I lost interest. My WWE bucket list now is just “Boxing Day at MSG” because I can’t be bothered making the flight for anything less than seeing “the Mecca.”

Best Mania matches covers a lot of ground in 39 shows. From the “simpler times” of stories like Warrior vs Savage and Bret vs Piper or my original main event, The Ultimate Challenge, through Attitude bells and whistles right through to modern hell for leather “workrate” scraps. The ones that stand out to me are the ones that eclipsed my expectations - the one-two punch at Mania 21 of HBK vs Angle spectacularly not delivering the letdown I expected, plus Undertaker vs Orton - which was one of those “interesting on paper” matches I expected to be rubbish, which was not only very enjoyable but actually fooled me that Taker was about to lose. The two title matches at 23 were both better than I expected too, Lesnar vs Reigns at 31 was a great brawl compared to some of their later bores, Lesnar vs Goldberg at 33 was everything a match between them should have been. That said, the absolute best of WrestleMania for me is the relentless onslaught of “something for everyone” quality in 17, between the bump and stunt tag title ladder rematch, Angle and Benoit taking to the mat, the soap opera thrill ride of Vince vs Shane, probably the best Taker vs Triple H match ever which kept us guessing right to the end, and the Rock vs Austin “end of chapter” title fight which still sits as the moment US wrestling peaked. And to be honest… the final Austin vs Rock match from 19, which I might have in my top 10 favourite matches of all time.

Worst matches also, sadly covers a lot of ground. Disregarding any that I was never arsed about because of the limitations of those involved and going for what had no right to be as bad as it was…. Jake Roberts vs Rick Rude at Mania IV was offensively boring for how good the two in the ring were. Bret vs Shawn in the Iron Man looks awesome in highlights form but was soul crushingly dull. Eddy vs Rey at 21 didn’t click for two guys who always clicked. Bret vs Vince should never have gone that long. Conversely Joe vs Rey would have been a good match if they’d had time to have one. Y2J vs HHH at Mania 18 was so boring with such an obvious winner they may as well not had the match and just given Hunter the belts. HHH vs Reigns at 32 was a similar slog, Lesnar vs Reigns at 34 might have been the worst match I ever chose to watch. But the bigger disappointment was probably Taker vs Reigns which had to follow a great title match and other fun happenings, which was both dull and depressing when the ending made you believe Taker was bowing out after a crap match, magic well and truly gone, a shadow of his former self.

Oh… Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole.

Best moments…. Christ. Hogan slamming Andre, obviously. Bret counting with his fingers into the camera as he pinned Boris at Mania VI lives with me because in that moment I thought he was the coolest man alive, forgive me. Demolition making their entrance on the same show virtually singlehandedly made me a wrestling fan. Liz and Randy at VII. Piper picking up the bloody Hitman and strapping the belt on him at VIII. Owen celebrating with the tag belts at XI. Sable tricking us into thinking she was a natural at the old wrestling lark at XIV with an excellent powerbomb and smooth TKO. Linda standing up out of her wheelchair at 17, I think we all loved. The Brain back on form in the gimmick battle royal. Trish turning heel. Benoit actually making HHH tap the belt away at the time caused me to actually fall out of my chair. Mickie enjoying beating Trish up a little too much at 22. Ricky the Dragon rolling back the years at 25. Hunter coming down to For Whom The Bell Tolls at 27. Miz getting such a great video later the same night. Cesaro winning the first Andre battle royal tricking me into thinking he was about to get the push. The Hardys coming back at 33 popped me too even though I’d expected it in the days before. Ronda looking like a natural in her first match. Cena bringing Thuganomics back to face off with Elias. Joe in a poncho. The bell ringing to confirm Steve Austin vs Kevin Owens was going to be an actual match.

Worst moments…. personally, Hogan stealing the limelight at Mania IX, proving we hadn’t moved on and that they were never serious about my hero becoming the hero. Again, personally, the cop out ending at Mania 12. I knew Bret would lose but… well, he didn’t, did he? It was a draw. “You have to beat the champion, the champion doesn’t have to beat you.” At the announcement of sudden death when Bret goes “Why??” I said it with him. Screwed, he was. Tyson botching his 3 count at 14 and tainting the arrival at the summit of the next Hogan-level megastar. Taker “hanging” Boss Man. The crushing predictability of Vince’s turn and denying Rock getting to win the title back at Mania 16. Trish not winning in Toronto at 18. Booker T getting buried at 19. “I’m sorry, I love you” - shit match all round to be fair though. Shawn being allowed to survive a Tombstone on the floor at 26. Kane pinning Orton at 28 for me, selfishly - real coupon buster. New star in the making AJ Styles senselessly jobbing to old hat Y2J at 32. The terrible spooky bollocks in Wyatt vs Orton in 33. Braun being allowed to win the tag titles with a child and Reigns getting Lugered again at 34. Becky having her big moment ruined at 35 by a shit finish designed to gear toward a rematch that never happened. Cody losing last year.

Favourite theme/intro : well, the instrumental they used from VI-IX was the first that meant “WrestleMania” to me, and the “Ultimate Challenge” intro probably still is my favourite, but the “woah, woah… WrestleMania” instrumental they used from X - XV probably eclipsed it in my heart. Using something else was one of the many failings of 16/“2000”. While “My Way” is obvious beyond mention, I also was fond of the aforementioned “I Dare You” by Shinedown from 22, in particular over the closing montage - it felt like a nice end of chapter at a time I was feeling good about WWEs direction. After a couple of ropey years the previous 12 months had been pretty good, aside from the obvious heartbreak of Eddy dying. Finally creating new lasting main event stars in Cena, Batista and Orton being a big factor. Nothing they’ve used since has stuck in my head for better or worse.

My favourite call is a really weird and personal one and not even the full sentence! Jesse Ventura ends a sentence during his call of Mania VI with (the pressure of wrestling at WrestleMania,) “the world is watching.” It resonates in my head, still, because even prior to Simon lending me the Mania VI tape, I saw the Sky ads for the forthcoming Mania in the breaks on his tape of Simpsons episodes with Hogan ripping his T-shirt off and that quote played over the top. So it takes me straight back to childhood when I hear that line ; I never did watch Melrose Place or 21 Jump Street though. Honourable mention to “You know Monsoon, I do believe Hulkamania will live forever” also at Mania VI from Ventura. In isolation The Ultimate Challenge is a fascinating match to listen to “The Body” commentating - without a heel to cheer for he just calls it like he sees it, unbiased, explaining the strategy behind the moves at various points. It’s a bit surreal hearing him endorse Hogan at the end, but it fit in well with the endless celebrations for Warrior, Hulkster going off in his little cart looking forlorn, and generally a powerful sense of “end of an era.” Which it wasn’t, but you sensed it was.

Edited March 10 by air_raid
Typo, if that’s cool with Bacon.

[Michael_3165]

• First WrestleMania watched?

WM13 and I bloody loved it (and still do!) Of course THAT submission match will go down as a classic and cemented me as a life-long Bret Hart fan but there was some other fun on the show that a 12 year old me loved. The Street Fight with LOD and Johnson vs Nation of Domination was fun, and I'd never seen anything like it before. The four way tag wasn't bad as an opener and I adored the Undertaker so the main event - whilst dull as fuck - was a spectacle with two giant men bashing the crap out of each other. I have a soft spot for Bulldog & Owen vs Vader and Foley too. 

• Favourite WrestleMania?

I have a soft spot for WM19, that was one hell of a stacked card. Vince's  bleeding McMahon-face, Rock vs Austin, Lesnar vs Angle, Michaels vs Jericho. A lot of good fun all round though there were some stinkers (Taker vs Show and A-Train, ergh!) but every show has one match that is a bit iffy. I suspect the "feel" of the show with a rather unique stadium was also a factor; that weird outdoors but not feel.

For some reason I also like WM8. It may be that it was the first time I saw a proper stadium show (on VHS), but it was bright, bold with a good crowd. The intro was decent. Of course we got Flair vs Savage and Hart vs Piper that were both very good. I am a Sid mark (no idea why, just love his size, look, intensity etc) and the Warrior coming in at the end was electric. 

• Have you ever been to WrestleMania?

No. Unless they come to London I probably won't. 

• Best/Worst WrestleMania matches.

Andre vs Hogan for me. Yes it was a moment but holy fuck was it boring. Andre barely mobile is never good and that botched headbutt to the ring-post? Come on!  Also Martel vs Roberts blindfold match, any number of women's matches will probably take it (from the 80s up until mid 2010s).  Show vs Akebono, Sid vs Taker, Taker vs Gonzales. Ergh.

Michaels vs Angle, Jericho, Undertaker, Razor. Hart vs Austin, Piper, Owen. Austin vs Rock. Plus I've been impressed with many matches in recent years (though I don't watch the shows anymore, I do catch occasional matches).

• Best/Worst WrestleMania moments.

Hogan swooping in at WM9. Any of the celebrity related bullshit. Wrestlemania ending up being 8 days long.

Michaels flying in from the rafters was my memory of WM for decades. Andre getting slammed (not the rest of the match mind). Savage's title wins. Hart lifted on shoulders at X. Austin bleeding out his face in the sharpshooter. 

• Favourite WrestleMania theme and/or intro?

The WM13 intro for me. It was moody, solemn and focused very clearly on a few of the matches. The voiceover guy was brilliant for this too. It really captured the essence of each feud in a minute. So good. 

• Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? ("The boyhood dream has come true" etc etc)

"I can't believe Hogan would stoop that low!" (complete with inflection as Savage hits the elbow). Just SO good. I think Ventura is hugely under-rated as an announcer. Also "I just had an out of body experience!" (JR at WM25).

Edited March 10 by Michael_3165

[air_raid]

On 3/8/2024 at 7:54 PM, Matthew said:

First Wrestlemania - 14 - For some reason chose this on DVD with some Woolworths gift vouchers I got for Xmas. I wasn’t a big fan at this point, but Rock/Austin fighting was a big enough deal that even then I knew it was a must watch.

If you bought Mania 14 for Rock vs Austin… well, that was waste of a bus fare 😉 

[BomberPat]

• First WrestleMania watched?
  
  Wrestlemania 17. I've talked about my journey into wrestling fandom before, but the short version is that I was into it as a kid in the early/mid-90s, fell off around '96/'97, and got back into it in 2000. In that first bit of fandom, I watched it pretty much solely through C-shows and recaps, I can't have watched a single PPV and probably not one WWF A-show or even B-show during that time, as my parents hated wrestling and wouldn't have put up with it. 
  
  So my first PPV that I watched in its entirety was probably Summerslam 2000, and 17 my first Wrestlemania. At some point in-between, though, mates started lending me videos and I was buying up every wrestling VHS or DVD that any of the local shops got in, so there's every possibility I saw an older 'Mania before the first one I saw as it happened.
   
• Favourite WrestleMania?
  
  Probably a toss-up between 17 and 19. 17 gets all the plaudits, but there's some phenomenal stuff on 19 that's as good as anything WWE have ever done. Less psychosexual and pervy weirdness on 19, too.
   
• Have you ever been to WrestleMania?
  
  Never. Never been to a WWE show at all, and never been particularly tempted to. I think even if I had the option now, I would rather be in town for 'Mania weekend just to watch all of the other stuff going on, all the big indie shows and so on, rather than the event itself.
   
• Best/Worst WrestleMania matches.
  
  Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin is by far my favourite 'Mania match. Runner ups/honourable mentions for Bret vs. Owen, Hogan vs. Vince, TLC 2, Warrior vs. Savage.
  
  Worst Wrestlemania match is probably Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole. The easiest thing in the world would have been just to replicate Lawler/Kaufman, but instead it dragged and dragged with them letting Cole get heat on King, because they just booked it as a conventional WWE match structure. 
   
• Best/Worst WrestleMania moments.
  
  Best - Hornswoggle getting wolloped with a bin
  Worst - I'm sure there's some dreadful celebrity or pop culture crossover stuff that's worse, but Hogan vs. Yoko at Wrestlemania IX.
   
• Favourite WrestleMania theme and/or intro?
  
  Hard not to say "My Way", but I'm going with the time they used Peter Gabriel's "Big Time", just because it was a refreshing change from the musical sludge that WWE normally rely on.
   
• Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? ("The boyhood dream has come true" etc etc)
  
  "What a man! ....And what a woman!" - Gorilla Monsoon at WM7.

 

 

EDIT:
Someone mentioned the Wrestlemania 18 souvenir magazine - I had that for 18 and 17, and for a kid just getting obsessed with wrestling, but not having really learned much about it yet, those things were incredible.

My brother stopped watching wrestling around 2002, but for WM17 we were both fully invested, and he's a big stats and data nerd, and he decided that it would be a good idea to keep a tally of every wrestler who we saw wrestle on TV. I think it was born of the rosters on the video games being so out of date, that he figured this was the best way to get a clearer picture of who actually worked for the WWF, so he had these two sheets on A4 paper that he just wrote every wrestler's name on when they "first" wrestled on TV, and then kept a tally every show we watched. We didn't understand that half of the talent on Heat and Metal would be unsigned, so names like JR Ryder, Scoot Andrews, and Low-Ki ended up on there.

And then we end up with this magazine that just has everyone's photo on it, and some of them are wrestlers we've never seen, some are developmental talent that haven't debuted yet, plus a ton of backstage staff and producers and so on that we've never heard of, so we start fixating on who those guys are too. Absolute catnip for the precise sort of nerds we were at that age.

Edited March 11 by BomberPat

[tiger_rick]

I genuinely don't have the nostalgia I used to have for Mania, or anything really, for reasons I've banged on about, but I've very much enjoyed reading everyone's posts. A nice thread.

• First WrestleMania watched?

I think the first Mania I saw was 3 on a video a friend brought round but I'd consider 7 my first Mania. That was the first one I saw reasonably close to it airing and the first where I was following the stories, even if it was mostly through WWF magazine as we were too poor for Sky.

• Favourite WrestleMania?

9. I know everyone thinks it's the worst Mania. I know that objectively, it probably is. But I know it's still my favourite and along with 7 & 10, is easily my most watched ever. I'm all in for Bret Hart, for Doink and Crush, for Shawn and Tatonka, for Luger's deadly forearm, for the big naked Giant, for Taker's entrance, for Jim Ross being incredible on the call, for the 3 people who turned up in togas. Even my least favourite booking decision of all-time doesn't hurt this. 

• Have you ever been to WrestleMania?

No. I'd like to say I never will but who knows? Maybe they sort their shit out and I will one day.

• Best/Worst WrestleMania matches.

Warrior/Savage is my favourite match ever. Austin/Bret is the best match in pro-wrestling history. The double-header from Mania 10 is the best 1-2 ever. Rockers v Haku & Barbarian is a brilliant and under-rated opener at 7. Herc and Billy Jack Haynes and the midget match from Mania 3 are probably the best ones that have no right to be. And on that note, Hogan & Warrior are magnificent at Mania 6 considering the expectations there. Worst is difficult. There are millions of terrible matches on most of the early Manias but they're generally short and designed only to put someone over and maintain their momentum. I'd watch them any day over the "epics" of the last 15-20 years that everyone has decided are 7 stars before the bell. They're not for me. On similar note, Bret & Shawn is the biggest disappointment of your life. I'll never love Hogan/Rock as long as I live either. 

• Best/Worst WrestleMania moments.

Best - Savage & Liz reuniting, obvs. Doink cloning himself. Owen beating Bret and still watching him be the man. The spectacle of Hogan/Andre. The production on Bret/Austin is all-time great, particularly the camera work.

Worst - Turning Steve Austin heel. 

Also, I'd always give them a pass because of the circumstances but, a Mania with no fans and "Cinematic" "matches" can get to fuck. 

• Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? 

Not individual calls but Gorilla & Bobby at 8 and JR at 9 are magnificent calls. Nothing since JR's peak has been 1/10th as good as this.