And nobody gets more inside the 

• Through the first 20 WrestleManias, 271 different competitors have wrestled at the fabled event.
   
  • Of these, 229 were male wrestlers; 22 were women; 5 were midgets; 7 were football players; 4 were managers/announcers; one was a boxer (Butterbean); one was an actor (Mr. T); and two are McMahons (Vince and Shane), who don't quite fit into any of the above categories.  
     
     
• Last year's Class of WrestleMania XX was 19 strong, making it the fourth largest of all time (behind only very first two WrestleManias, and WM2000). And depending on how the chips fall, it could also go down as one of the strongest: already out of the class of WM20, Batista, John Cena, and Randy Orton have made huge impacts and should continue to do so for years to come. Beyond them, you have a few very strong, solid role players (Tajiri, the Basham Brothers) who will never be far from secondary titles, as well as a number of very young, very green prospects who may yet develop into true superstars (Dupree, Cade, Jindrak). A slew of Cruisers also debuted in a 10-man match and might have limited upside outside of their niche, the same which can be said for the three Eye Candy Divas (Torrie Wilson, Stacy Keibler, and Jackie Gayda) who debuted in an Evening Gown Tag Match. Rounding out the class was the rather unique case of Bill Goldberg: concluding his precisely one-year run with the company, the potential instant main-eventer walked away from WWE following his WM debut.
   
  • The Class of WrestleMania XIX was a smallish one, but one seemingly destined for greatness from the very start. Six men and one woman debuted in the Class, all in Title Matches! Three of them walked out with gold, 4 didn't... but over time, only one of them has really stood out as living up to potential: Rey Mysterio, who continues to be a staple performer for SmackDown!. Perhaps the most disappointing of the lot was Brock Lesnar, who could have written his own ticket in the business, but decided to walk away from wrestling after only 2 years, instead. Shelton Benjamin seems like the brightest prospect of the remaining debutees, a group that also included his partner Charlie Haas, Chavo Guerrero, Victoria, and Rhyno.
  • The Class of WrestleMania X-8 brought us a rather unique grouping of 11 first timers.  It may well go down as the Year of the Diva, as 4 women debuted (Trish Stratus, Lita, Molly Holly, and Jazz); not only did they make up over a third of the Class of WM18, but these four made up very close to a quarter of all the women to ever compete at WM at the time of their induction.  Trish and Lita have also distinguished themselves as exceptionally popular contributors to the product outside of the standard second-class-citizen/eye-candy Diva role.  Of the seven men in the class, Booker T and Rob Van Dam stand out as tops; both have already held a ton of WWF/E gold, and more is certain to follow.  The rest reads like a Who's Who of Mid-Card Mediocrity (except for Dallas Page, who might well have had a successful WWE career after debuting at WM18, if not for a career ending injury).
  • The Class of WrestleMania X-7 also added 11 new additions to the Mania tradition.  In addition to being sparsely populated, the Class also seems to have limited potential for future greatness.  Five of the additions were past-prime participants in the "Gimmick Battle Royal," and two more were managers who participated in the Battle Royal.  William Regal and Raven were the only guys with any real upside in the entire Class (which also featured eye candy in the form of Ivory and a part-time-at-best worker in the form of Vince McMahon).  This Class, however, just might hold the record for most non-wrestling appearances at WM before finally popping their in-ring cherries:  Vince, Brother Love, Ivory, Jim Cornette, and Michaels Hayes all have multiple past non-wrestling appearances on their records (and Raven also appeared as Johnny Polo at WM10).
  • The Class of WrestleMania 2000 added 22 men and women to that tally.  That's the third largest class ever (inflated by multi-way matches and a hardcore battle royal), though it may well also go down in history as being the greatest "Rookie Class" ever at WrestleMania.  Take a look at some of these names:  Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, the Hardys, the Dudleys, Edge, Christian, Tazz, Chyna, and Eddie Guerrero.  All have ALREADY worn WWE gold, and more is to follow.
  • The Class of WM15 added just six men, one woman, and Shane McMahon to our list (a total of eight)...  of them, only Big Show, Test, and Val Venis seem to have significant upside potential.  Also of note:  after years on the WWF roster and missing out on WrestleMania, X-Pac finally busted through at WM15.
  • The Class of WM14 featured 18 rookies, though that number was seriously jacked up by a tag team battle royal that featured a ton of one-time-charlies.  Kane stands tall as the valedictorian of the Class of WM14.
  • The Rock and Mick Foley co-headlined a strong Class of WM13 that featured a total of 10 new workers.  Ken Shamrock and Faarooq also enjoyed WWF success after making WM debuts that year.
  • The Class of WM12 was also a very important one:  it featured 11 first appearances, with Steve Austin and Triple H leading the pack.  Sable (as HHH's valet) and Goldust also debuted that year.
  • Only six men were part of the Class of WM11.  And of them, Jeff Jarrett was probably the most valuable; honorable mention to Billy Gunn, who remains with the WWE to this day.
  • WM10 is often thought of as a transition year for the WWF, but the rookie class from that event was still only 10 performers (including one woman and one midget). Of them, only Kevin "Diesel" Nash really amounted to much (he was at WM10 as Shawn Michaels' bodyguard).
  • Yokozuna topped a list of 10 performers (including one woman) who made their first WrestleMania appearances at WM9.  The Class of WM9 also featured Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall and the Steiner Brothers (who have all enjoyed even greater success in WCW since their WM debuts).
  • Though he only spent a little over a year during that initial WWF run, Ric Flair is still the cream of the Class of WM8.  Comprised of just eight men, Flair overshadows even Sid Justice.
  • The Class of WM7 brought us 10 new additions to the WM tradition...  the Undertaker is the hands-down MVP of the batch.  Sgt. Slaughter and the Road Warriors also made WM debuts at this event, though both probably had their best days behind them at this point.
  • The six-member Class of WM6 may be the thinnest of all.  Of them, only Earthquake would remain in the WWF long enough to ever appear at another WrestleMania.  
  • On the other hand, the 14 men who comprise the Class of WM5 are an elite bunch.  Shawn Michaels probably stands atop the group, but it's worth noting that Owen Hart, the Big Bossman, and Curt Hennig all debuted at this 'Mania, and all went on to become WM Veterans (4 or more WM matches)!
  • The Class of WM4 numbered 17 (thanks in part to a Battle Royal that artificially inflated the tally with one-timers).  Ted DiBiase and the Ultimate Warrior share honors as the most important men to make their first WM appearance at #4.
  • There were no stand-outs in the Class of WM3... but among the 15 debuting stars, there were a number of men who'd go on to be valuable role players (and future champions) in the WWF for years to come, including the Honkytonk Man, Jacques "the Mountie" Rougeau, and Rick Martel. 
  • The 30-member Class of WM2 is another case of a battle royal inflating the total number of rookies with participants who never appeared at another WM.  But there is no denying the importance of this Class.  Both Bret Hart and Randy Savage debuted at WM2 and developed into multi-time main eventers in future years.  Jake Roberts and Davey Boy Smith never main evented at WM, but were great upper-mid-carders who also debuted here.
  • Obviously, each of the 27 performers who appeared at the original WM were rookies at that time.  This "class" included Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant, all of whom are undeniable icons in this business.
     
     
• A disturbing observation:  the Class of WrestleMania 21 is going to include only two members, if the as-announced card stands, and neither stands much of a chance of being a serious contributor to WWE in coming years. Akebono, the sumo star, and Christy Hemme, a Diva Search Winner, are both "special attractions," and not future superstars. Considering the preceding year was one WWE had earmarked for making and introducing new stars, the smallest WM debuting class in history, and the least-potential-laden one by an even wider margin, is kind of an odd development. With only 8 matches announced, there are always possibilities for a few additions, but in terms of rookies, the best chances belong to Muhammad Hassan on the RAW side (in a possible impromptu match) and Paul London on the SD! side (in a CW Title match). Even if both those men end up competing, the dearth of fresh talent at WM21 is a bizarre development. 
   
  • WrestleMania 21, if it goes off as planned, would feature only 8 matches and 20 different wrestlers (18 men and 2 women). Only WM7 had fewer matches (7, mostly due to the hour-long IronMan main event), and it also only featured 20 different wrestlers. WM21, clocking in at an hour longer than WM7 and without the IronMan match to worry about, probably shouldn't be tying with WM7 for (by far) the fewest matches and numbers of active wrestlers...
     
     
• Out of these 271 WM competitors, a full 52 are still actively wrestling for the WWE.  That means 19.2 percent of all WM-experienced workers are still with the company, up substantially from 17.1 percent (43 of 251) at the time of last year's Mania.  Additionally, there are 22 more performers who are technically still associated with the WWE, but who are not on the active roster. This includes a mixture of guys who would be wrestling actively, but who are injured or rehabbing -- including Matt Hardy and others -- as well as performers who are on the WWE payroll, but who do not wrestle full-time, if at all -- such as announcers (Tazz, Ivory), current road agents (Slaughter, Steamboat, DiBiase), the McMahons, and a few others in unique capacities (such as Steve Austin's unique WWE relationship).
   
  • The largest group of former WM participants -- a total of 99 men and women -- exist in a giant "Miscellaneous" category, meaning they are still working in some capacity in the wrestling business, just not for the WWE.  This includes some pretty big name wrestlers who are top players for NWA:TNA or other international touring groups, and also some guys at the other end of the spectrum, guys just trying to hang on to former glory by squeezing out a few last indie shows in podunk venues.
  • An additional 79 former Mania workers are thought to be officially retired and done with the business.  Of these 79, there are 15 that I'm not completely sure about (they might still be working indies, sporadically, but they could also be fully retired)...
  • Unfortunately, 19 former WM stars are deceased.  In the last year, the Big Bossman was added to that list far too soon.
    
    
• Over the course of WrestleManias, 60 men have stood the test of time by wrestling in 4 or more WM matches, becoming "WM Veterans."  Last year at WM20, four men were added to this list: Bubba and D-Von Dudley, Eddie Guerrero, and Rikishi (who left the company shortly after joining this elite group).
   
  • Of these 60 WM Veterans, 14 remain on the ACTIVE WWE roster (Undertaker, Triple H, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Christian, Kurt Angle, Bradshaw, Chris Benoit, Big Show, Matt Hardy, Bubba, D-Von, and Eddie).  An additional six have varying types of relationships with WWE, either in everyday non-wrestling capacities (such as Rick Steamboat, Sgt. Slaughter, and Ted DiBiase), or in less-defined special attraction capacities (despite lack of written contracts, Rock and Mick Foley remain classified this way to me, as both are on good terms with WWE; Steve Austin rounds out the half-dozen).
  • Potential additions to this list in future years include: Edge (who is locked in to join following Match #4 at WM21), Ric Flair (who will almost certainly get a farewell match at some point, which would make his fourth), Scotty 2 Hotty (who remains on the WWE roster for the time being), and Marty Jannetty (who was recently rehired, and is a guy who has 3 WM matches to his credit).
    
    
• "WM Ironmen" -- long-term WWE "franchise players" who have wrestled in at least 8 'Mania Matches to date -- number just ten.  These 11 men have truly established themselves as some of the WWE's signature stars:
  
  • Bret Hart -- 13 WM Matches (12 different WM appearances)
  • Hulk Hogan -- 12 (11)
  • Undertaker -- 12 (12)
  • Randy Savage -- 11 (9)
  • Shawn Michaels -- 11 (13)
  • Triple H -- 9 (9)
  • Tito Santana -- 9 (9)
  • Jake Roberts -- 8 (8)
  • Ted DiBiase -- 8 (8)
  • Owen Hart -- 8 (8)
  • The Rock -- 8 (8)
  • The Rock joined this list after last year's WM20, and should Steve Austin ever decide to come back for one final WM match, he'd join the list, too. But the more likely next additions to this club won't come until after WM22, when Chris Jericho, Kane, JBL, and Kurt Angle (all competing in their seventh matches at WM21) could be eligible. Benoit, Christian, and Big Show could conceivably follow in 2007 if each wrestles in both WM22 and WM23.
    
    
• At the other end of the spectrum, you've the got WrestleMania One-Timers, who worked one match and then disappeared from the WM landscape...  there are presently 116 WM One-Timers, but that includes the entire Class of WM20 as well as a few other still-active WWE roster members.  
   
  • Due to the smallish-nature of the announced WM21 roster, the only one-timers who project to get off this list at WM21 are: Batista, John Cena, and Randy Orton. 
  • Besides those three lucky enough to be included on the WM21 line-up, there are 19 other one-timers on the active roster who could improve their WM legacies in coming years.
  • It is, therefore, perhaps more fair to say that out of 116 WM One-Timers, only 93 of them seem doomed to endure that label for all eternity.  Or at least until they can get back to The Show.
    
    
• The most consecutive WM in-ring/wrestling appearances were by Bret Hart, who wrestled in 12 straight WMs (WM2 through WM13). Triple H, Hulk Hogan, and Tito Santana (all 9, but only HHH's is active), Shawn Michaels and The Rock (both 8), and Owen Hart, Brutus Beefcake, Andre the Giant, Jim Neidhart, Hercules, and Rick Martel (all 6), also had streaks worthy of note.
  
  
• Currently, nobody is even close to toppling Bret Hart from the "Most Consecutive" spot... leading the pack is Triple H's aforementioned ACTIVE streak of nine straight Manias which will become ten this year).  
   
  • The Rock is right behind at eight straight WMs, but unless something extraordinary happens, that streak will snap this year at WM21. The Rock is not even expected at the event, much less in a wrestling capacity.
  • That leaves a pair of stragglers -- all at five-going-on-six consecutive Manias -- lagging behind HHH's active streak:  Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho.  Both will keep streaks alive this year, but Angle's long-term status is a huge question mark.
    
    
• The Undertaker stands alone as the man with the most WrestleMania wins ever.  In twelve WM matches, the 'Taker has got an unprecedented twelve wins.  Hulk Hogan stands alone in second place, with eight WM wins.  Tied for third on the list are Bret Hart and Randy Savage (with 7 wins each).
   
  • HHH, with six wins and counting, is the only active WWE competitor even close to jumping up and making the top levels of this list.
  • In fact, Shawn Michaels (4 wins), Christian (3), and Edge (3) are the only other active WWE competitors with more than two WM wins.  
  • To be fair, I'll note that the Rock does boast 4 WM wins, while Steve Austin has 5 WM wins, and with the correct celestial alignment, one or the other could add to that tally in the future. Hey, nobody thought Hulk Hogan would ever be back, and he added TWO more matches to his WM resume; and he might not be done! So you never know... but other than those two, there really are no current WWE-affiliated wrestlers with more than 2 WM wins, which strikes me as absolutely remarkable.
    
    
• In addition to having the most wins, the Undertaker also boasts the best overall winning percentage with his twelve wins and zero losses (1.000). The other "WrestleMania Veterans" (4 or more matches) who have won more than two-thirds or their matches (.667 percentage) are:
   
  • Ultimate Warrior -- 4-1 (.800)
  • Earthquake -- 4-1 (.800), Quake would still be undefeated if not for participating in WM17's Gimmick Battle Royal
  • Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall -- 3-1 (.750)
  • Iron Sheik -- 3-1 (.750)
  • Ricky Steamboat -- 3-1 (.750)
  • Steve Austin -- 5-2 (.714)
  • Hulk Hogan -- 8-3-1 (.708) 
  • Owen Hart -- 5-2-1 (.688), including one loss as "the Blue Blazer"
  • Triple H -- 6-3 (.667)
  • Big Bossman -- 4-2 (.667) 
    
    
• The most losses ever at WM belong to Tito Santana, who recorded a total of 8 losses (including a loss that took place at WM9, but did not air on PPV) in his career. Other notable losers include:
   
  • Shawn Michaels -- 7 losses (also good for the most losses among active WWE performers)
  • Bret Hart -- 6 losses
  • Jacques Rougeau -- 6 losses
  • John Bradshaw Layfield -- 5 losses
  • Faarooq -- 5 losses
  • Big Show -- 5 losses
  • Greg Valentine -- 5 losses
  • Goldust -- 5 losses 
    
    
• The losingest record among WM vets (4 or more matches), however, belongs to three men who never scored WrestleMania wins in their careers: the Big Show, Goldust, Bubba Dudley, D-Von Dudley, and Crush all stand at a spotless .000 winning percentage...  Big Show and Goldust hold the edge, however, as both count five WM losses to his record, one more than the other three men; Crush and the Dudleys only racked up 0-4 records. Big Show actually seems like an underdog this year in a Sumo Match and could add to his streak of futility (while at least the Dudleys will not be on the card, and Goldust and Crush are both out of WWE). Perhaps Show's choketastic performance at WM will be as big a story as Taker's dominance? Other pathetic winning percentages (.250 or worse) among WrestleMania Veterans (4 or more matches):
   
  • Tito Santana -- 1-8 (.111)
  • Jacques Rougeau -- 1-6 (.143)
  • Faarooq -- 1-5 (.167)
  • Bradshaw -- 1-5 (.167)
  • Haku -- 1-3 (.250)
  • Hercules -- 1-4-1 (.250)
  • Dino Bravo -- 1-3 (.250)
  • King Kong Bundy -- 1-3 (.250)
  • Ko Ko B. Ware -- 1-3 (.250)
  • Curt Hennig -- 1-3 (.250)
  • Hillbilly Jim -- 1-3 (.250)
  • Matt Hardy -- 1-3 (.250)
    
    
• By a wide margin, Hulk Hogan has participated in the most WM main event matches, wrestling in 10 of them (and going 7-3, winning 3 WWF Titles in the process).  In fact, Hogan has only wrestled in two non-main event WM matches; at WM4, Hogan faced Andre the Giant in a mid-show WWF Title tourney match, and then at WM19 he wrestled Vince McMahon in a mid-show streetfight (though both were hyped as major selling points of the shows, neither counts as a Main Event by our ground rules).  The only other multiple main eventers:
   
  • The Rock -- 4 main events (with a 1-3 record)
  • Shawn Michaels -- 4 main events (1-3)
  • Steve Austin -- 3 main events (a perfect 3-0)
  • Triple H -- 3 main events (2-1)
  • Randy Savage -- 3 main events (2-1)
  • Bret Hart -- 3 main events (1-2)
  • Yokozuna -- 3 main events (1-2)
  • Ted DiBiase -- 2 main events (1-1)
  • Sid -- 2 main events (0-2)
  • The one-time-only main eventers include:  Roddy Piper, Mr. T, Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, the Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, Irwin R. Shyster, Lawrence Taylor, Bam Bam Bigelow, Diesel, Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, the Big Show, Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit.
  • Note:  For these numbers to work out, you've gotta use the same assumptions I did.  First, the final match of the show is ALWAYS considered the main event.  But at some WrestleManias, the WWF/E promoted cards that featured explicitly-defined Double Main Events, in which case BOTH matches do count towards these numbers.  There were clearly-marketed double main events at WM8, WM9, WM11, and WM18.  Additionally, WM9 wound up featuring a third match that must count as a Main Event: the final Yoko/Hogan match was unscheduled but took place last, which makes it a by-definition Main Event (joining the other two clearly-promoted Main Event matches, and meaning that both Hogan and Yoko got credit for wrestling in two main events on the same WM!)... 
  • In each of the 15 WrestleManias not specifically exempted above, there was only a single main event match (by definition, the final match of the night).  That means that in 20 years of WM history, there have been a total of 25 Main Event matches contested by a total of 29 different men (10 of them competed in multiple main events).
  • EFFECTIVE WITH THE BRAND-SPLIT: the final match of the show is the "main event," and unless the show is clearly marketed with equal-but-separate brand events, OO will NOT honor the lesser brand's "main event" claim. The match that goes on last is selected to do so for a reason, and OO will not dilute that honor by artificially doubling the number of available WM Main Events. This is OO's decision. So for WM21: with Cena/JBL being *called* the "SD! main event," the fact that it is clearly 4th or 5th on the "depth chart" means there's no way that it will be granted a special "equal-but-separate" dispensation this year. It'd more more likely for the Angle/Michaels cross-brand match to receive that dispensation, but I don't believe that'll happen, either...
     
     
• Hogan didn't only dominate in terms of main event appearances, he also dominated when gold was on the line; he wrestled in a total of 7 title matches (5 WWF Title matches, 1 WWF Title vs. IC Title match, and 1 WWF Tag Title Match), which is easily the most ever.  And Hogan ended up winning 5 or them, and and only losing 2.
   
  
• By virtue of the WrestleMania 6 Title vs. Title main event, Hogan contended for all three primary titles (WWF, IC, Tag) under the WM spotlight, though most folks don't remember that Hogan could, conceivably, have walked out of that show with the IC strap.  Others notable in the quest for multiple titles include:
    
  • Bret Hart is the only other man to wrestle for all three "Original Recipe" WWF titles, en route to a remarkable second-best-ever total of five title matches at WM.  Every time he wrestled in a title match at a WM, the title changed hands. Hart was 2-3 in title matches, winning the IC Title once, losing the Tag Titles once, and going 1-2 with the WWF Title on the line.  
  • The brand-split era will severely complicate this record keeping in future years.  With the split of the "WWF/World" and Tag Titles so that one version exists with each brand, and with the the resurrection of both the InterContinental and United States Titles, there now appear to be two separate Three-Peats for wrestlers to chase; the problem is that the Original Recipe WWF Three-Peat is impossible to achieve on a single brand.  On RAW, you have the World Title (ostensibly the off-shoot of the old NWA/WCW Title), the World Tag Team Titles (which were actually renamed and ARE the original WWF Tag Titles), and the InterContinental Title (again, this one traces back to one of the original WWF belts).  On SD!, you have the WWE Title (which is the same WWF Title that appeared at the first 17 WrestleManias), but then two "Bearded Spock" titles (the US Title traces back to NWA/WCW, and the tag titles, though called the "WWE Tag Titles" are actually a new creation which have no legacy prior to 2002).  The "Original Recipe" Three-Peat would be winning the secondary RAW titles (tag and IC), the moving on to SD! to win the WWE Title.  Anything else is...
  • Well, since it's happened, we might as well give it a name. Effective with the brand-split era, OO will honor THREE different types of three-peats: the RAWpeat, the SmackPeat, and an "a la carte" Peat. An a-la-carte-peat will consist of wrestling for the (1) World OR WWE Title, (2) IC OR US Title, AND (3) WWE OR World Tag Team Titles. One from each group makes you an a-la-carte-three-peater. Under this new designation, both Hogan and Hart's remarkable accomplishments are basically "a la carte three-peats," and theirs (the WWE Title, IC Title, and RAW brand Tag Titles) remains the purest form of the three-peat, in my opinion. The "Original Recipe" Threepeat.
  • But with this new heuristic, Chris Benoit joins Hogan and Hart as WM's third three-peater. By wrestling for the World Title at WM20, he finished an a-la-carte-peat that also included the IC Title and the SD! Tag Titles. If you want to throw in WWE's niche and retired titles, Benoit actually wrestled for a fourth: the Euro Title. Pretty remarkable.
  • Of potential future three-peaters, the case of Chris Jericho is the most interesting: he's already done the hardest part of the job, but competing for BOTH the WWE and World Titles (when they were unified as the Undisputed Title). He's also fought for the IC Title, and is just one tag title match (either brand) away from a threepeat. In fact, fighting for the RAW Tag Titles would give him the venerated Original Recipe Threepeat. [If he accomplished that and then jumped to SD!, he'd be a US Title and SD! Tag Title short of hitting the first ever WM Clean Sweep.] Jericho, like Benoit, also competed for the Euro Title when it was still around...
  • Other ACTIVE wrestlers who are just one title match short of one form of a three-peat or another: Kurt Angle (who, like Jericho/Benoit, has another notch on his belt, as he wrestled for the Euro Title), Shawn Michaels, and Big Show (all of whom need a tag title match of either flavor). And after this year, you'll be able to add both JBL and John Cena to that list; JBL will need a secondary singles title match (US or IC) to go with his WWE Title and tag title shots, while Cena will need a tag title match to go with his US and WWE Title matches.
  • And because I love you, here's two other men who weaseled their ways into title matches, although not necessarily for any of the Big Three (or bearded Spock Big Three) belts. They competed for three or more different titles at WM, including tertiary/forgettable belts that abounded in the pre-split era WWF: Christian (WWF Tag, Euro, Hardcore) and  Brutus Beefcake (IC, WWF Tag, and the once-considered-semi-legit Million Dollar Belt).
  • And a VERY special mention, because this is quite remarkable and not just because I have a cripplingly powerful grown-man-crush on her: Molly Holly is the only woman to compete for two different titles at WM, including one that was primarily a men's title. At WM18, she wrestled for (and briefly WON) the Hardcore Title during a show-long 24/7 schmozz. At WM20, she wrestled for the more conventional Women's Title (although in a non-conventional match, as she put her hair on the line). So keep THAT in mind you idiots want to mail in and tell me Molly's not worth the time I put into advocating for her! She's clearly the greatest female performer in WrestleMania history! 
     
     
    
• Other very notable performances in title matches at WrestleMania:
    
  • Stone Cold Steve Austin is a perfect 3-0 with gold on the line.  Remarkably, all three of those matches were main events for the WWF Title.  They are Austin's only title matches in his WM history; all for the Big Gold and all wins.
  • Ax and Smash of Demolition were also a perfect 3-0, albeit in WWF Tag Title matches.  Still a pretty remarkable achievement...
  • Of those not perfect, Shawn Michaels stands tall as being the only man in WM history to wrestle in SIX different title matches. Unfortunately, his record in those contests? An abysmal 1-5 (he lost both his IC matches out of the gate, then in three of the next four Manias competed for the WWF Title, sandwiching one win between two losses; he capped that off with a World Title loss at WM20).
  • Leading the pack of those with FIVE title matches under his belt: Triple H started out his WM career with 4 straight wins in title matches, but currently stands at 4-1 following a loss to Chris Benoit in his fifth. A sixth title match looms this year, and prospects seem bleak for HHH against Batista.
  • Randy Savage wrestled five title matches over his WM career, going 3-2.  He was 1-1 for the IC Title, and 2-1 in matches where the WWF Title was on the line. 
  • Yokozuna also went 3-2 in five title matches.  He split four WWF Title matches, and was victorious in his one Tag Title match.  Remarkably, Yoko came out of the gate fast, as his first five WM matches all had gold on the line (two WWF Title matches each at WM9 and WM10, then the tag match at WM11 before finally wrestling a non-title match at WM12).
  • The Rock also wrestled for a title in each of his first five WrestleManias; he started off hot, winning two straight IC Title matches, but then lost in three consecutive WWF Title matches, for a 2-3 record with gold on the line.  The Rock's streak of exclusively wrestling for gold ended at WM18 against Hulk Hogan.
  • Chris Jericho fell just short of Yoko and the Rock's record-setting WM-career-starting streak when he faced Shawn Michaels with no gold on the line at WM19.  In three previous WM appearances, he wrestled four title matches: one for the Euro title (WM16), two for the IC belt (16 and 17), and one for the Undisputed Title (18).  Jericho was a tepid 2-2 in those matches.
  • Christian pulled a trick similar to Jericho's: in his first three WM appearances, Christian wrestled for the tag titles twice (WM16 and 17), and once apiece for the Hardcore and Euro titles (both at WM18).  That's also four WM-career-starting title matches in just three Manias, with a 2-2 record, just like Y2J.  
  • If Matt Hardy ever makes it back to WM, he'll have a shot at going for five title matches to start his WM career!  He started out pulling an 0-3 in three WWF Tag Title matches before successfully defending the Cruiserweight Title at WM19.  Matt wasn't booked at WM20 and is currently on the injured list heading into WM21, which means this streak will remain active  heading into next year...
  • Owen Hart was 2-1-1 in four title matches, going an undefeated 2-0-1 in three tag title matches, and losing his one shot at the Euro Title.
  • Billy Gunn's three tag title matches and one shot at the Hardcore Title get him a spot on this list.  He is 2-2 with gold on the line.
  • To date, no one else has participated in more than three title matches at WM.  But...  can you believe this?  Out of 270 total WM competitors, 142 of them have wrestled in a title match!  I guess you can blame things like recent trends towards things like Hardcore Battle Royals and multi-way title matches for the fact that 52.6 percent of all performers who've made it to WM have wrestled with gold on the line...  though many of the WWE's secondary titles have been phased out, this number might remain ludicrously high as the Fed still has duplicate titles due to the roster split. [In fact, a whopping 13 men and 1 woman were added to this list at least year's WM20, the result of 2 separate 4-team tag title matches, and a single 10-man CW Title match. Conversely, the highly condensed WM21 card means only two people will be added to this list next year: Batista, and Christy Hemme. In fact, only three out of 8 possible titles are even being defended at WM21: the two top belts and the women's title. Neither secondary belt and neither tag belt are being defended, nor is the CW title.]
    
    
• For your enjoyment and personal edification, I've put together a stripped down "Lite" version of my WM Records spreadsheet.  It's still over 300K, but it's at least manageable, now, and should still have most of the highlights that my expanded 800K version does.  If you've got MS Excel, and are interested in playing with and sorting the data in ways YOU'RE interested in, then just click here to download the file (doing a right click and a "Save As" may be best).  And hey, if you spot an inaccuracy, let me know...  I dig doing this stuff, but I'm not particularly well known for my attention to detail; data entry isn't the right job for me!
  
  
• In calculating the above stats, I worked with the following assumptions:
   
  • In-arena dark matches and Free For All match which aired on a PPV channel prior to a WM telecast DO count towards these numbers...  they are technically "part of the show," in my opinion.  However, effective with WM15, Sunday Night Heat or matches which air on another channel besides the PPV channel DO NOT COUNT.
  • Matches under alternate identities all count towards ONE win/loss record
  • Participating in a Battle Royal and failing to win DOES count as a loss; all situations in which the hardcore title was defended under battle royal or "24/7" rules were judged as losses for all who competed, except for the lone person who walked out of the event with the title, who gets a win. [This includes the show-spanning WM18 Hardcore Title 24/7 schmozz, which counts as one match with one winner -- Christian -- and a half-dozen losers.]
  • Effective with the Fourth Edition (2001), I'm no longer counting all matches in the WM4 WWF Title tourney as WWF Title matches...  that seemed to unfairly skewer some stats; so now, only the Savage/DiBiase final counts as a title match.  All stats/observations have been adjusted accordingly.