WrestleMania is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated Pay-Per-View events in the WWE Universe. It has been around for the longest time and has played host to some of the most iconic matches in the history of the WWE! Here are five incredible moments as we take you back through the history of WrestleMania:
Iron Man Match – WrestleMania 12
The concept behind this match is to pin your opponent as many times as possible in sixty minutes. One of the most colossal Iron Man matches, takes us way back to 1996 at WrestleMania 12, where Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win his first ever WWE Championship. The match went into extra time as none of the superstars could pin the other in the sixty minutes allotted. It also saw a shocking moment where a ringside official was caught by the sweet chin music of Shawn Micheals. WWE President Gorilla Monsoon then decided that the match should go to sudden death and that’s when HBK seized the opportunity to land another bit of sweet chin music right on the jaw of Hart to clinch his first title.
Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker – WrestleMania 32
The WWE chairman Vince McMahon some how manipulated Shane McMahon and had him slotted in a match against the Undertaker inside a Cell – the Undertaker’s home. Shane trained really hard for the few weeks prior to give the phenom a proper fight and during the match, Shane actually had the advantage and was about to seal the victory when he decided to jump from the top of the Cell on Undertaker who was lying unconscious on the announcers table. But, the Undertaker did just enough to get out of Shane’s way which saw Shane crash through the announcers table from the top of the cell, from which he never quite recovered. This incident eventually led to the Undertaker emerging as the winner but people still do remember this moment and have respect for Shane’s mettle, which prompted a standing ovation when he returned to Monday Night Raw.
Battle of the Billionaires, WrestleMania 23
In WrestleMania 23, the headline of the main event was “The Battle of the Billionaires”, a fight between the two billionaires Donald Trump (yes that same guy who became the President of America) and Vince McMahon. Umaga was the fighter from Vince’s side and Bobby Lashley from Trump’s side. Both Trump and McMahon had agreed that the one who loses will have to shave their head in the middle of the ring. Umaga had victory in his sight when Shane McMahon (the original referee) was on the count of two but the Special guest Referee pulled his leg to stop the count. Later on, we saw Donald Trump performing a clothesline on Vince to take him out. The match ended with Bobby Lashley pinning Umaga, which meant that Vince McMahon had his head shaved by Bobby Lashley, Steve Austin and Donald Trump right in the middle of the ring, a moment that no wrestling fan will ever forget.
Rock breaker
A WrestleMania without The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, isn’t really a WrestleMania. Throwback to WrestleMania 32 where he made a surprise appearance and was given a match against Erik Rowan of the Wyatt Family. Rowan didn’t quite smell what the Rock was cooking and it took The Rock just six seconds to pin Rowan with his rock bottom doing the damage. The victory was also recorded the fastest victory in WrestleMania history!
Thank You Taker, WrestleMania 33
The Undertaker has been a part of the WWE Universe for almost three decades and has choke-slammed, pile-driven and pinned almost every opponent who has come in his way be it wrestling icons like Shawn Micheals to young wrestlers like AJ Styles. WrestleMania was the Phenom’s second home after Hell in a Cell, with a record breaking twenty-three match winning streak at WrestleMania, which came to an end after a loss to Brock Lesnar. At WrestleMania 33, there were speculations about the Taker ending his career after his match with Roman Reigns as he was in a lot of pain a number of years. The match between the Undertaker and Roman Reigns Lasted for twenty-five minutes in which the taker got hit by steel chairs, superman punches and spears and finally gave up. After reigns left the ring Undertaker got up to his theme song and removed his iconic coat, hat and gloves and placed it in the center of the ring. Even though the Taker returned to wrestling after that, this is considered to be one of the most emotional moments in the history of WWE.
[Image Credit: WWE]
Shashank Iyer