by Rick Scaia
OnlineOnslaught.com

WM Trivia: The Odd but the True

Some strange trends and occurrences have dotted WrestleMania's history....   and they are often the things that give depth and perspective to the entire WM phenomenon.  Here, I'll try to glance back and put a little order to all of it with some bizarre and obscure observations:

• All the WrestleManias taken together have been a pretty consistently fun-to-watch batch of shows.  However, some stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. The truly great WrestleManias have been: WrestleMania 3 (Hogan/Andre, Steamboat/Savage, and over 90,000 fans!!  Wow!),   WrestleMania 10 (Razor/Shawn Ladder Match, Bret Hart wins title after losing excellent match to Owen),  WrestleMania X-7 (headlined by Rock/Austin -- but stolen by Jericho/Benoit/Angle and a TLC match), and WrestleMania 12 (Hart/Shawn Ironman Match, Piper/Goldust brawl).
  
  
• But some 'Manias have disappointed.  Among the weaker WrestleManias: WrestleMania 9 (Hogan/Yoko/Hart title debacle with Hogan regaining title in unscheduled match), WrestleMania 13 (lackluster show from the WWF's nadir; other than the phenomenal Austin/Bret match there was absolutely nothing of worth on the entire show), WrestleMania 7 (Hogan/Slaughter main event in a match playing off of anti-Iraq sentiment at the time), WrestleMania 4 (World Title tourney:  too many short matches was the result)... 
  
  
• Over 19 years, WrestleMania has provided a lot of good matches... but six of them really stand out, not only as the best matches in WrestleMania history, but the best matches ever seen on PPV. They are:
   
  • Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon -- Ladder Match (WM10)
  • Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage -- IC Title Match (WM3)
  • Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin -- Submission Match (WM13)
  • Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart -- Ironman Match (WM12)
  • Edge/Christian vs. Dudleys vs. Hardys (TWICE!)-- Ladder Match (WM16) and TLC2 (WM17)
  • Other notably fun matches:  Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior (WM6), Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels (WM14), Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WM10), Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage (WM8), Steve Austin vs. the Rock (WM17), Hogan vs. Rock (WM18), and Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (WM19)
    
    
• Looking back at each of the first 19 WrestleManias, it's interesting to note how many from each show remain affiliated with the WWE.
   
  • For the first time since WMs 14, 15, and 16, there is not one single competitor from WM1 active on the current WWE roster.  In fact, WM14 is the only WM in history to not at least feature a cameo (non-wrestling) appearance by some competitor from WM1.  Unless there are surprise guests, WM20 will suffer the same fate.
  • In fact, there is nobody on the current active WWE roster from WM2, WM3, or WM4, either. [Counting non-active personnel still presently affiliated with WWE, Hillbilly Jim wrestled at all three of those shows, however.  And the Fabulous Moolah wrestled at WM2.] 
  • From WM5, Shawn Michaels was the only participant still active in WWE today.  [Counting non-active wrestlers, road agent Arn Anderson also competed in his only WM at WM5.]
  • The story is the same at WM6: Shawn Michaels is the only current WWE star to have wrestled at that show.  [And present day road agent Steve Lombardi also wrestled at WM6.]
  • At both WM7 and WM8, Shawn Michaels was again present, and was supplemented on both shows by the Undertaker in terms of present WWE workers. [Current road agent Sgt. Slaughter also wrestled on both shows; manager/non-full-time-wrestler Ric Flair also wrestled in one of WM8's main events.]
  • From the WM9 line-up there are four survivors on the WWE roster today: Taker, Michaels, Rikishi (then, Headshrinker Fatu), and Scott Steiner.
  • Shawn Michaels is the only performer from WM10 active with the WWE today.  [Current WWE trainer Tom Pritchard was also a part of WM10.]
  • Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker, and Billy Gunn are the only three men from WM11 actively competing for WWE today.  
  • Again at WM12, three men from the active WWE roster were present: a debuting Triple H, Michaels, Undertaker.  [Steve Austin made his WM debut at #12, and is still with WWE in a non-active capacity today.]
  • For the remaining Mania's there were more than five current WWE performers on each card:  six at WM13 (plus three more non-active WWE personnel), eleven at WM14 (plus four more non-active performers), nine at WM15 (plus five more non-active performers), twenty (plus six more injured/developmental/inactive performers) at WM16, sixteen (plus seven others still in non-active roles, NOT counting the Gimmick Battle Royal) at WM17, and twenty-four (plus six others on the injured/non-active list ) from WM18.
  • Out of 24 in-ring competitors from last year's WM19, a remarkable 23 of them (95.8%) are still affiliated with WWE!  Every single one of them except for Hulk Hogan is still with the company.  [Three of those 23, it should be noted, are not full-time active members of the roster: the Rock, Steve Austin, and Vince McMahon.  Also: please note that in OO's data, the Undertaker wrestled a Handicap Match at WM19, and Nathan Jones' appearance is currently listed as a non-wrestling run-in, so he also does not count towards this data.]
    
    
• The longest lay-off between WrestleMania matches is 14 years; thanks to the data-skewing Gimmick Battle Royal at WM17, the Iron Sheik can now lay claim to this honor, having had 14 years between his in-ring WM appearances (WM3 until WM17).  Sheik DID have a non-wrestling role at WM13. Other lengthy lay-offs:
   
  • Barry Windham -- 12 years (WM1 till WM13, and the longest lay-off if you discount the Gimmick Battle Royal))
  • Terry Funk -- 12 years (WM2-WM14)
  • Ric Flair -- 10 years (WM8-WM18)
  • Hulk Hogan -- 9 years (WM9-WM18)
  • Lelani Kai -- 9 years (WM1- WM10)
  • Matt Bourne/Doink the Clown (the original) -- 8 years (WM1-WM9)
  • Scott Hall -- 7 years (WM11-WM18)
  • Big Bossman -- 7 years (WM8-WM15)
  • Bam Bam Bigelow -- 6 years (WM4-WM10)
  • Ultimate Warrior -- 5 years (WM7-WM12)
    
    
• The only two men to have appeared on-screen at both the very first WrestleMania and last year's WM19 are Hulk Hogan and Howard Finkel; Hogan actually competed in matches on both cards, while Finkel gets on this unique list by being a ring announcer at both events.
   
  • Finkel is the only person to appear on-screen at EVERY WrestleMania to date.  That streak should almost certainly continue with this year's WM20.
  • With the stage set for many Blasts From the Past, it wouldn't be surprising for Finkel to be joined by other on-screen participants from WM1 on Sunday's big show.
     

• When the Rock and Steve Austin met at WM19, it was the first time ever that the same match has been contested three times at three separate Manias.  Even more impressive:  Rock and Austin main evented both WM15 and WM17. Although their match was not a main event at WM19, it was still a major selling point of the show.  
   
  • There's actually another pairing tied with Rock/Austin as having main evented two WMs together:  Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna was a headline match at both WM9 and WM10.
  • Removing the "main event" stigma, there are still only two other matches that have been repeated at two separate WMs: Hulk Hogan faced Andre the Giant at both WM3 and WM4... and the Dudleys, the Hardys, and Edge/Christian waged memorable three-way wars at both WM16 and WM17.
  • When Kane and the Undertaker face off at WM20, they will become only the fifth Repeat Match ever in WrestleMania history.
    
      
• Members of one of those repeat matches are also responsible for another unique piece of trivia: the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz actually wrestled against each other in their first three WM matches (WM16, 17, and 18).  In addition to being part of the repeat matches at WM16 and WM17, they were also a part of the same four-way contest at WM18.  That streak of co-dependence came crashing to an end at WM19, when the Dudleys were off the show entirely and Matt Hardy made his singles debut.
   
  
• Another exceptional streak ended at WM19.  Sort of.  In his first 10 WM matches, the Undertaker was not only undefeated, he also wrestled 10 consecutive one-on-one singles matches.  No partners, no multi-way matches, no battle royals.  Just one-on-one.  You can debate which label applies, but at WM19, Taker either wrestled a tag match (w/ Nathan Jones, who only showed up for the final 60 seconds of the match in a run-in), or a handicap match (against both the Big Show and A-Train).  OO is calling it a handicap match, but that still means Taker's streak of straight singles matches is over.  And even in the one day between publishing Part Two of this feature and finishing updates to this (Part Three), I've gotten plenty of angry e-mail that Jones SHOULD count as a tag partner, so... well, I'll address that possible change for next year.  Point is: Taker's no longer a perfect loner. 
   
  • Steve Austin, though he can't match the WM winning streak, is the man closest to matching Taker's Streak of Solitude.  At WM19, Austin wrestled his seventh singles match in seven WM contests.  A
  • Neither Triple H (8 matches) nor the Rock (7) have ever taken on partners at WM before, either, though both have deviated from straight-up one-on-one action.  At WM16, both men competed in a four-way match to drop them down just a notch in this quest for lone wolf status.  At WM20, Rock will blow it for good when he teams with Mick Foley, while HHH will wrestle "alone" but in a three-way match.
  • Other WM Vets (4 or more matches) who have only wrestled in singles action:  Ultimate Warrior (5 matches), Ricky Steamboat (4), Scott Hall (4), Mr. Perfect (4), and Dino Bravo (4). Semi-honorable mentions go out to Kurt Angle (5) and Chris Jericho (4), both of whom have never partnered up with anyone, but both of whom took part in multi-way action.
     
     
• At the other end of the spectrum are guys who have never wrestled a singles match at WM.  Jim Neidhart and Demolition Smash (a/k/a Repo Man) jointly hold the honor of most non-singles WM matches:  both competed in six Mania matches, never alone.  Smash wrestled in four straight-tag matches as part of Demolition, then morphed into Repo Man for his participation in an 8-man tag and in the Gimmick Battle Royal.  Neidhart competed in three straight-tag matches as part of the Hart Foundation, one six-man tag match, and both of the early WM battle royals.
   
  • Two men -- Bradshaw and Faarooq -- have wrestled in five Manias without any singles action, and teamed together for two of those appearances.  They will join the Anvil and Smash after WM20, when they again team up.
  • Four more -- the Bushwhackers, the Iron Sheik, and Hillbilly Jim -- wrestled exclusively in tag or battle royal action in four separate Mania appearances.
  • Honorable mentions to these hangers-on:  Davey Boy Smith (1 singles match out of 7), Nikolai Volkoff (1 out of 6), and Billy Gunn (1 out of 5).  
     
     
• Until WM16, a heel had NEVER walked out of WrestleMania as the champion:  good always prevailed in the main event.  After WM1/2/3, the champ was Hulk Hogan.  Randy Savage was the champ after WM4, then turned heel and dropped the title back to Hogan at WM5.  Ultimate Warrior took at the strap at WM6 in a face/face match.  Hogan regained it from the evil Sgt. Slaughter at WM7.  Randy Savage -- back to being a babyface -- won the title from Ric Flair (who lost his only WM match ever) at WM8.  WM9 saw Hogan beat Yokozuna for the belt.  Yoko lost the belt again at WM10, this time to Bret Hart.  Diesel beat Shawn Michaels at WM11.  Michaels turned face and rebounded by winning the title at WM12.  The Undertaker defeated Sid to win his second title at WM13.  At both WM14-15, the beloved Steve Austin walked out with the big title belt. 
   
  • Triple H broke that streak at WM16, walking out victorious in the four-way main event title match.  Few expected him to retain his title and break the 15 year tradition, but he did.  Austin would make it two in a row for heels when he actually turned DURING THE MATCH at WM17, and then won the title from the Rock.
  • Triple H, testing the waters as a babyface, ended the mini-streak for heels that he, himself, had begun two years early when he walked out of WM18 as the champ and as a fan favorite.
  • Beginning with the Brand Split Era, it's now possible -- if not LIKELY -- that a heel will walk out of WM with at least one of the two Big Belts.  The Fed is usually going to avoid telling the same Happy Story twice on the same show, so one title will often leave with a heel, the other (likely the one defended in the main event) with the fan favorite.  In fact, this is the precise scenario that played out at WM19, where the heel HHH retained his World Title in the middle of the show.  But babyface Brock Lesnar won the WWE Title in the main event.
    
    
• In the two "straight up" WM Battle Royals to date, Bret Hart was the last man to be eliminated. At WM2, Andre the Giant tossed Hart out to win the match; at WM4, Bad News Brown pearl harbored Bret after the two agreed to accept a draw.  Another note of interest from the first two WM Battle Royals (held at WM2 and WM4):  the Killer Bees -- B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell -- along Hart's partner Jim Neidhart and Hillbilly Jim were the only other men men to compete in both matches!
  
  
• After the early WM tradition brought us 2 Battle Royals in 3 years, the practice of tossing about 20 otherwise inactive workers into the ring for a little exposure fell out of favor for a decade.  But then, it came back in full force, as there was a stretch between WM14 and WM17 where the Fed held three decidedly non-traditional battle royals (a tag team BR, a hardcore BR, and the infamous "gimmick" BR)!
   
  • Hillbilly Jim, the Iron Sheik, and Nikolai Volkoff are the only three men to appear in one of the early BRs AND one of the more recent ones (by virtue of the Gimmick BR).  In fact, Hillbilly Jim appeared in BOTH early BRs as well as last year's Gimmick Battle Royal, making him the only man in WM's history to wrestle in three Battle Royals.
  • Mosh, Thrasher, Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Bob Holly are the five men to appear in both of the non-gimmick recent affairs.
  • If Bret Hart was the master of the early pair of BRs, then Bob Holly gets that honor for the latter day ones:  he was (as a member of the New Midnight Express) eliminated last in the WM14 tag BR, and he was victorious in the WM16 hardcore BR!
    
    
• When the Big Bossman and Undertaker met at WrestleMania 14, it was the first time ever that two undefeated WrestleMania Veterans (four or more Manias) clashed in the ring at a WM.  Undertaker won the Hell in the Cell match, boosting his record to a perfect 8-0, while Bossman fell to a still-respectable 4-1.
   
  • An honorable mention goes to the Undertaker/Triple H match from WM17, where the combined WM record between the two was an amazing 12 wins and 1 loss (Taker was 8-0, HHH was 4-1); Taker won to keep his undefeated record intact, while HHH fell to 4-2.
    
     
    
• At WM17, the Rock set an incredible record by wrestling in a title match in all of his first five WM appearances.  He had, previously, been tied with Randy Savage (wrestling in title matches in their first four Manias).  Both Savage and the Rock debuted with back-to-back IC Title matches, and then moved on to back-to-back WWF Title matches.  Both Savage and Rock split their first four matches.  At WM17, claimed the record outright by wrestling in his third consecutive WWF Title match (he lost).
   
  • Both Chris Jericho and Christian have since joined Randy Savage in that second-place tie, having wrestled in four title matches to start their WM careers.  Jericho's streak ended with a non-title match against Shawn Michaels at WM19; Christian, who did not wrestle at WM19, will, ironically, see his streak end with a non-title match against Jericho at WM20.
  • A special mention to Yokozuna, who actually wrestled for gold in all of his first five WM matches before the Rock did it.  However, Yoko did it in only three separate WM appearances (two matches each at WM9 and WM10, one at WM11).  In his fourth WM appearance (two shy of they Rock), Yoko wrestled a non-title six-man tag match.
    
    
• Demolition Ax and Smash get special mention as they appeared in title matches in each of their first three WrestleManias...  but unlike the Rock and Savage, they WON ALL THREE.
  
  
• Owen Hart has also established himself as something of a tag team title expert on the WrestleMania landscape.  Before his untimely death, Owen wrestled in three Tag Title matches, and more incredibly, did it with three different partners.  And on top of that, he NEVER LOST.  With Yokozuna, Owen won the tag titles at WM11 from Billy and Bart Gunn.  With Davey Boy Smith, Owen successfully defended the tag titles from Vader and Mankind at WM13 (the match was a draw, but it was a successful defense).  And at WM15, Owen and Jeff Jarrett successfully defended the tag titles from D'Lo Brown and Test.
  
  
• If you check your WM video collection, you'll come across four matches between men who are currently deceased.  At WM1, Andre the Giant wrestled Big John Studd. The second WM brought us a match between Adrian Adonis and Uncle Elmer. WM5 saw "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig taking on the Blue Blazer (a masked Owen Hart). At WM7, Dino Bravo battled Kerry von Erich. 
   
  • There have also been two instances of both members of the same WM tag team passing away in recent years, both involving Owen Hart.  At WM events, Owen teamed with both Yokozuna and Davey Boy Smith. 
  • Another semi-morbid observation: at WM7, one member of each tag team has since passed on...  Hawk from the Legion of Doom and Hercules from Power and Glory.
  • In addition to the twelve men listed above, the wrestling world has seen the unfortunate deaths of these six WrestleMania legends:  Rick Rude, Junkyard Dog, Crash Holly, Little Beaver, Haiti Kid, and Sapphire.  Referee Joey Marella and his father Gorilla Monsoon have also passed on after having left their mark on many WrestleManias.  Also, the Lovely Miss Elizabeth is now dead after being a memorable ringside fixture at seven consecutive WrestleManias (2-8).
    
    
• Sid has only wrestled in two WM matches... but both were main events!  He lost them both:  at WM8 to Hulk Hogan and at WM13 to the Undertaker.
  
  
• Four WMs have featured Double Main Events:
   
  • WM8: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan vs. Sid
  • WM9: Money, Inc. vs. the Mega-Maniacs, Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna (a show that also featured a third, unscheduled main event, as Yoko had to defend his newly-won title against Hulk Hogan in an impromptu final match)
  • WM11: Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor
  • WM18: Hulk Hogan vs. the Rock, Triple H vs. Chris Jericho
  • It's unclear how WWE will end up promoting this year's event, but there are no fewer than four legitimate "main event" caliber matches scheduled: two from the RAW side, one from SD!, and one that is hyped as "interpromotional."
    
    
• WM19 was a notable one on the main event front:  not only was it the first Mania since WM11 with no main event experience in the main event(s), it also featured the first man since WM11 to make his WM debut directly into a main event.  At WM11, none of Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Bam Bam Bigelow, or Lawrence Taylor had ever worked a WM main event before.  And further, neither Diesel nor LT had ever worked a WM match AT ALL before.  At WM19, eight years later, Brock Lesnar made his WM debut in a main event against Kurt Angle, who had never been in a WM main event before.
   
  • Though it's unclear what match will be WM20's main event, at least one of these two rare phenomena could recur: if Lesnar vs. Goldberg is selected as the final match of the night, Goldberg would make his WM debut directly into a main event.  And Brock Lesnar would become the only man besides Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna, and Psycho Sid Vicious to wrestle in a main event in both of his first two Mania matches.
     
    
• Charles Wright holds a unique distinction:  he's the only man to perform at WrestleMania under FOUR different gimmicks.  He was "Papa Shango" at WM8 (run-in only) and WM9, was known as Kama Mustafa at WM11 (ringside appearance only), wrestled as the Godfather at WM16, and them morphed into the Goodfather for WM17.  An honorable three-gimmick mention goes to both present day Rikishi (WM16, WM17), who also wrestled as the Sultan (WM13) and Fatu (WM9), and also to present day Mick Foley (WM16), who had previously worked as Cactus Jack (WM14) and did a "double reverse" under the Mankind gimmick (used it at WM13, lost it, brought it back for WM15).  After these three schizos, there are a TON of two-timers we should quickly list:
   
  • Matt Bourne (WM1) came back as the original Doink the Clown (WM9); the Doink who wrestled at WM10 was a different guy.
  • Tito Santana (WM1/2/3/4/5/6/7) was "re-invented" as El Matador (WM8, WM9).
  • Mike Rotundo (WM1) returned to action as Irwin R. Shyster (WM8, WM9).
  • King Tonga (WM2) grew a beard and was renamed Haku (WM4, WM5, WM6, WM7).
  • Jacques Rougeau (WM3, WM4, WM5, and WM10) donned a RCMP uniform and was called simply "The Mountie" for two WM appearances (WM7 and WM8).  Jacques then pulled the rare "double reverse" by returning to his real name for a brief appearance at WM14.
  • The One Man Gang (WM4) morphed into Akeem the African Dream (WM5, WM6).
  • Demolition member Smash (WM4, WM5, WM6, WM7) became Repo Man (WM8).
  • Owen Hart (WM8/10/11/12/13/14/15) originally wrestled as the Blue Blazer (WM5).
  • Tom Pritchard of the Heavenly Bodies (dark match at WM10) was recreated as Bodydonna member Zip (Free For All Match at WM12).
  • Once a lovable rapper, Mabel (WM10) matured into Viscera (WM16).
  • Raven (WM17) was previously known as Johnny Polo in a managerial-only role at WM10.
  • Diesel (WM10, 11, 12) made a non-wrestling appearance as Kevin Nash at WM18.
  • Razor Ramon (WM9, 10, 11, 12) wrestled under his real name, Scott Hall, at WM18.
    
    
• Can you believe that Brutus Beefcake and Sgt. Slaughter will both go down as having wrestled in WM main events? Irwin R. Shyster, too...  kind of devalues the whole thing for everybody else, doesn't it?
   
  
• Before they were famous?  At least three men who would later compete on the WM stage made anonymous, blink-and-miss-it appearance on camera at much earlier WrestleManias.  Edge (WM16, 17, 18), is visible sitting on the aisle as a fan during the WM6 broadcast.  Also at WM6, Diamond Dallas Page (WM18) was actually a part of the show, as he was the driver of Honkytonk Man's pink caddy.  And at WM8, Shane McMahon (WM15, 17) shows up on camera as one of the suited "officials" who tried to pry Miss Elizabeth away from ringside.  Actually, by that point, she was officially "Mrs. Elizabeth" on-screen, but old habits die hard....
  
  
• When Jerry Lawler missed WM17, it was the first Mania he was not present at since WM8...  his eight consecutive year run (WM9-WM16) is the best ever by a WM announcer, and was snapped when his contract negotiations fell apart, resulting in Paul Heyman replacing him on color.  Lawler has since returned to the company, and is working on a new streak (two years and counting).
   
  • Jim Ross has been ringside calling the action at every WrestleMania since WM13, a string of seven years.  This counts WM15, where JR made a semi-surprise return to call only the main event match after one of his bouts with Bells Palsy.  In any case, when he appears to quarterback the RAW half of WM20, he'll tie the King's record streak.
    
    
• Bobby Heenan -- a manager -- wrestled in 2 WrestleManias! He was 1-1, getting a win when he teamed with the Islanders at WM4, but losing a one-on-one match to the Red Rooster (a/k/a Terry Taylor) at WM5.  Batting .500 is not bad for a manager!
  
  
• Shane McMahon, another non-wrestler, may go down as having similar success as the years go on.  Already, he holds WM wins over X-Pac (WM15) and his dad Vince (WM17).
   
  • Speaking of the father, Vince has also worked two matches.  Unlike his son, he's been a loser in both (in addition to losing to Shane, Vince also dropped a decision to Hulk Hogan at WM19).
    
    
• There have been four mixed tag matches in WM history: one involved midgets teaming with full-size counterparts, two involved women teaming with male partners, and a third included both a woman AND a midget (each paired off with a male wrestler). Luna is the only person to have competed in two of these four matches (winning one and losing one).
   
  • In deference to Chyna ability to compete with men (as witnessed by an IC Title run), I'm not counting WM16's six-person tag match as a genuine mixed tag. 
    
    
• Yokozuna is the only man to wrestle more than once at 2 separate WrestleManias. He pulled double duty at both WM9 and WM10; both times, he first won a World Title match, and then proceeded to lose the World Title in the final match of the night.  Yoko was also booked into the main events on both those shows, which may make him one of the more under-appreciated WWF Superstars of his era.
  
  
• Shawn Michaels is the Human Book End:  he's just as capable at EITHER end of the show.  In addition to his pair of main event appearances, Michaels is also the only man to have participated in three WM openers.  At WM7, the Rockers' win over Haku/Barbarian started the show; at WM8, Michaels got a singles win over Tito Santana in the opener; at WM9, the show kicked off with Michaels losing by count-out to Tatanka (he still retained his IC Title).
   
  • Paul Orndorff is the only man in WrestleMania history to go from main event (WM1) to opener (WM2) in one year's time.  
  • More recently, Chris Jericho became the first man to go the other direction: from WM17's opener to WM18's main event!
  • Don Muraco (WM2/3), Davey Boy Smith (WM11/12), Rick Martel (WM3/6), Haku (WM5/7), Owen Hart (WM10/12), and William Regal (WM17/18) are men who competed in two WM openers.  Strange how many of these curtain jerkers seem to do their work in consecutive years, no?
  • In compiling these numbers I did NOT include show-opening battle royals from WM4, WM14, or WM16.  That would taint the value of this observation, if you ask me.
    
    
• In many cases, there's a match BEFORE the opener at WM...  dark matches and Free For All matches are -- for the sake of this document -- considered as part of the WrestleMania event (even if Sunday Night Heat matches are not).  Both the Bushwhackers and the Brooklyn Brawler participated in dark matches at two different Mania's.  The Bushwhackers split dark matches at WM8 and WM10 (beating the Beverly Brothers at WM8, then losing to the Heavenly Bodies at WM10).  The ever-suffering Brawler (who made his only on-air WM appearance by doing a run-in at WM5) lost both his WM matches, losing to Paul Roma at WM6 and Ko Ko B. Ware at WM7, both before the show went live on PPV.
   
  • And finally, perhaps the ultimate footnote:  Tom Pritchard is the only man to perform on both a Dark AND a Free For All Match.  He's never actually appeared on a WM PPV telecast, but he's undefeated in his unique WM experience, nonetheless.  As half of the Heavenly Bodies, he got a win over the Bushwhackers in the WM10 dark match.  Then, as "Zip" (half of the Bodydonnas), Pritchard won the tag titles courtesy of a win over the Godwins in the WM12 FFA Match.

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