It’s the most important night of the year for wrestling fans of all ages.
by Al Foran
The Superbowl of professional wrestling takes place in the gigantic AT&T Stadium (capacity: 105,000) in Dallas, Texas on Sunday night.
Major players on the roster like John Cena, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins will be badly missed at this year’s event but if it’s a full-house in Dallas, the event will break the attendance record currently held by Wrestlemania 3 (93,173) that took place in the Pontiac Silverdome Detroit, Michigan in 1987.
Just one month ago Shane McMahon shocked the wrestling world by making his grand return on Raw.
McMahon will face arguably Wrestlemania’s greatest ever performer, the Undertaker, in the infamous Hell in a Cell.
It’s a match of massive kayfabe (storyline) potential because if McMahon wins he takes control of the company from his father Vince and he will also force The Undertaker to retire. Well, that’s what the kayfabe dictates right now anyway.
Bottom line – it’s gonna be one hell of an event.
Wrestlemania has provided fans with some thrilling moments over the years and here’s ten of the best.
10. Brock Lesnar executes the Shooting Star Splash on Kurt Angle….well kind of (Wrestlemania 19)
It remains of the craziest moments in Wrestlemania history. Brock Lesnar at 295lbs unexpectedly reminded the world of his athletic prowess by performed a Shooting Star Press on Kurt Angle.
The fact he botched it led to genuine concern for his well-being but doesn’t take away from the skill involved to even attempt such a bold move.
9. The Heartbreak Kid closes the door on The Nature Boy’s phenomenal career (Wrestlemania 24)
Ric Flair is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
In this famous match-up Shawn Michaels ended The Nature Boy’s storied career by lining Flair up for his signature Sweet Chin Music as he mouths the words “I’m sorry, I love you”.
8. The ultimate unification bout (Wrestlemania 6)
Two of the companies biggest stars The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan clashed at Wrestlemania 6 for the first time, and it would prove to be an epic encounter between the two titans of professional wrestling.
With Hogan’s put his WWF and Warrior’s Intercontinental titles up for grabs, Warrior would go on to win the match in what many believed to be a passing of the torch match at the time.
7. A heartbreaking end to an amazing career (Wrestlemania 26)
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker delivered arguably the greatest Wrestlemania match of all time a year earlier at ‘Mania 25 and this match didn’t disappoint either as the two legends delivered a thrilling 30 minute bout of pure entertainment.
It signalled the end of HBK’s career, described by many fans as the greatest in-ring performer of all time.
6. The Hulkster, The Great One and The Rattlesnake provide the goosebumps (Wrestlemania 30)
An iconic wrestling moment that opened the 30th anniversary at Wrestlemania with three legends going head to head in front of hyped-up crowd.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x35se0c
5. The Austin era begins! (Wrestlemania 14)
A career-threatening neck injury halted Steve Austin’s push in the WWF less than a year earlier at Summerslam but his recovery was quick and he came back in explosive fashion winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 14.
Mike Tyson, serving as a special enforcer in the match, added massive PPV buys which crucially edged WWF ahead of WCW in the wrestling federations’ arm wrestle.
4. Tables, ladders and chairs in tag-team madness (Wrestlemania 17)
‘Mania 17 included one of the craziest matches of the Attitude Era as three iconic tag-teams The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boyz went toe to toe.
The moment to remember saw Jeff Hardy dangling mid-air holding the tag-team titles only to be met with a mid-air spear from Edge. Unbelievable scenes.
3. Rock Vs. Hogan: Icon Vs. Icon (Wrestlemania 18)
When The Brahma Bull challenged the Hulkster to a match at Wrestlemania 18 it was two generations clashing.
The Rock would overcome the odds at ‘Mania 18 and defeat Hogan but not without a win of sorts for the moustachioed one.
HH had been the heel (wrestling villain) before the match but he would go on to make a face turn (good guy) afterwards by showing his sportsmanship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_gZsE7cuwc
2. Hogan Slams The Giant (Wrestlemania 3)
The biggest main event in professional wrestling history provided us with one of most iconic wrestling moments of all time.
The match wasn’t that special, but the hype for this blockbuster match made it absolutely unmissable.
93,000 fans witnessed Hulk Hogan do the impossible and slam Andre The Giant, a moment which solidified him as the biggest star in pro wrestling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdmNejtg-Hs
1. The greatest streak of them all ends (Wrestlemania 30)
The most shocking moment in Wrestlemania history – nobody in their right mind would have thought that The Undertaker’s phenomenal Wrestlemania streak would end.
There was a mystique to the streak that provided fans with excitement every year but Brock Lesnar left over 70,000 fans in the Louisiana Superdome speechless hitting The Deadman with three F5s.
Cue social media meltdown.
