Success At Wrestlemania: Is It Necessary?

[Mitch Henessey]

Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling show of the year, and many memorable moments and matches have happened on the grandest stage of them all:

Wrestlemania 3- Hogan Slams Andre The Gian In The Main Event- This was a spine chilling moment, and it occurred in front of a massive crowd. The atmosphere was incredible, and this moment still stands the test of time.

Wrestlemania 3- Ricky Steamboat VS Randy Savage(IC Championship)- Steamboat and Savage put on a classic here, and many people consider this to be the greatest match of all time.

Wrestlemania 10-Shawn Michaels VS Razor Ramon- This jaw dropping ladder match is considered to be groundbreaking. Shawn VS Razor at Wrestlemania 10 is one of the most memorable gimmick matches of all time.

Wrestlemania 10- Bret Hart VS Owen Hart- Owen and Bret engaged in a bitter brother vs brother feud, and they were able to have a classic match here.

Wrestelmania 12- Shawn Micahels VS Bret Hart- Micahels defeats The Hitman in overtime of the main event Iron Man match. HBK finally lived the boyhood dream by winning his first WWE Championship.

Wrestlemania 14- Shawn Michaels VS Stone Cold Steve Austin- Austin wins the WWF Championship from Shawn, and the era of Austin 3:16 began.

Wrestlemania 17- Stone Cold Steve Austin VS The Rock- These two had another great match in the main event at Wrestlemania, and we saw the infamous Austin heel turn here. Seeing Austin shake McMahon's hand was a shocking moment.

We always see great matches, and great goosebump moments at Wrestlemania, but how important are these matches and moments?

Sure, these superstars have had other memorable matches and moments throughout their careers that haven't occurred at Wrestlemania, but when these moments and matches occur at Wrestlemania, they always have a special feel to them. Wrestlemania is the big time, and if a wrestler can perform at their highest level on the grand stage, then we will remember them for years.

I also think success at Mania can be crucial to a wrestler's career. Every great WWE legend has had their memorable moments and matches at Wrestlemania. Delivering on the big stage can do wonders for a wrestler's career, because Mania is the place where legacies can be forged. The wrestling world is focused on Mania, and a great performance will be praised for years.

Randy Orton is one of WWE's biggest stars, but has he had his great moment or match at Wrestlemania? Sure, he was involved in one of WWE's biggest storylines ever a couple of years ago. He feuded with HHH heading into Wrestlemania 25, and he attacked The Game's real life wife and in-laws, but the match at Mania 25 will always be remembered as a disappointment.

What do you think? Does a wrestler need to be successful at Wrestlemania?

 

[wrestler36]

I guess it really depends on what your definition of 'success' is. If somebody is a solid midcard guy who's running for the IC or US title, then ultimately Wrestlemania moments aren't really necessary. But if someone wants to be the leader of the company and be considered a top draw and a moneymaker for the company, then headlining Wrestlemania should be a must. That means the company believes you to be able to draw money consistently

 

[JayMiine]

Shawn Michaels has lost MOST of his biggest matches at Mania. He actually has a losing record. He lost to Razor, Diesel, Austin, Angle, Cena, and Taker twice. Yet he stole the show with every one of them(except for Diesel) and is known as Mr. WrestleMania. I'd say you don't always have to win your matches to be successful.

 

[thesubverse]

JayMiine said it perfectly. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania is proof that wins and losses don't mean a damn thing in wrestling. If you can perform and make it memorable, that's all people will care about.

EDIT: for brevity and better grammar

 

[S.J. Maximus]

Yeah basically JayMiine summarized how it works but if your argument is that Randy Orton has never had a WrestleMania moment, he's had two:

WrestleMania 20 - he's the guy who RKO'ed and then pinned Foley to end the last match that the Rock as been a part of as of now. That was a pretty big moment for Evolution and gave Orton great momentum going into his Backlash battle with Foley for the IC title.

WrestleMania 24 - 92% of the WWE Universe was sure that Randy Orton would lose his WWE Championship in the triple threat match with Triple H and John Cena. At the time he was in the heat of a long reign that was good but was sure to end until no, Orton punts Triple H to oblivion and pins Cena to retain his title. Next night on RAW he ushered in his 'Age of Orton'

 

[Mac Attack]

You MUST be somewhat succesful at Wrestlemania to truly be considered a legend in the wrestling business. As the perplexity of the matter is more than a win and loss situation I am going to try and break it down into a few main points which summarizes how sucess at Wrestlemania is Important.

Sucess at Wrestlemania can be described as how memorable is a Superstar at wreestlemania. All main eventer right now except for the younger stars (Miz included) have had some type of feud that has built up their match at Wrestlemania. You do not need to win the match as long as the crowd remembers who was in it. By doing this you have enshrined yourself in the glory of Wrestlemania and you have given a lasting imprint to the WWE Universe.

Secondly, sucess is important at Wrestlemania because it boosts the overall stardom of a Superstar. Wrestlemania is the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Superbowl of the WWE and having a good performance at Mania boosts up the overall star power of a Superstar. This star pwer can be used to give pushes to the youth or make a Superstar seem more dominant then they already are.

Wrestlemania wins>Title Reigns. If you doubt this statement take the Undertaker for example. He has been around in the WWE for over 20 years and he has less World Title Reigns than the likes of Cena who has been around for about 6 years. However he is still consdiered the best in the business because of Wrestlemania. If you do well at Mania you are almost for sure a Superstar that the WWE Universe connects to.

 

[KingBuddha]

No you don't have to have success. Look at Jeff Hardy.. he is 0-5 at WM... and he stole the show by putting his body on line in every single one... and made the match that he was in. And he has multiple title reins.

 

[Pro Wrestling is FAKE]

You MUST be somewhat succesful at Wrestlemania to truly be considered a legend in the wrestling business. As the perplexity of the matter is more than a win and loss situation I am going to try and break it down into a few main points which summarizes how sucess at Wrestlemania is Important.

Sucess at Wrestlemania can be described as how memorable is a Superstar at wreestlemania. All main eventer right now except for the younger stars (Miz included) have had some type of feud that has built up their match at Wrestlemania. You do not need to win the match as long as the crowd remembers who was in it. By doing this you have enshrined yourself in the glory of Wrestlemania and you have given a lasting imprint to the WWE Universe.

Secondly, sucess is important at Wrestlemania because it boosts the overall stardom of a Superstar. Wrestlemania is the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Superbowl of the WWE and having a good performance at Mania boosts up the overall star power of a Superstar. This star pwer can be used to give pushes to the youth or make a Superstar seem more dominant then they already are.

Wrestlemania wins>Title Reigns. If you doubt this statement take the Undertaker for example. He has been around in the WWE for over 20 years and he has less World Title Reigns than the likes of Cena who has been around for about 6 years. However he is still consdiered the best in the business because of Wrestlemania. If you do well at Mania you are almost for sure a Superstar that the WWE Universe connects to.

Not at all my dear friend.. Not necessarily.. Let me quote a few examples to prove my point..

Mr Perfect 1-3, Bubba Dudley 0-4, DVon Dudley 0-4, Ric Flair 1-4, Jeff Hardy 0-5, Andre The Giant 2-3-1, Kurt Angle 3-4, The Rock 4-4, Chris Benoit 3-5, Jake Roberts 3-4-1, Tito Santana 1-7, Triple H 7-7, Shawn Michaels 6-9-2, Kane 6-7, Chris Jericho 4-6, John Bradshaw Layfield 3-7, The Big Show 2-8

Now barring Dudleys and Hardy [that too probably] all these people are sure shot future Hall of Famers or they already are..

So to say that success is important at Wm isn't necessary.. As Shawn would say it's about STOPPING THE SHOW!!

 

[Mac Attack]

No you don't have to have success. Look at Jeff Hardy.. he is 0-5 at WM... and he stole the show by putting his body on line in every single one... and made the match that he was in. And he has multiple title reins.

Sorry this actually made me laugh. Let's look at Jeff Hardy firstly would you call him a sucess at right now. Not really. He might just be the most hated wrestler in all Wrestling businesses right now. So the correlation between sucess at Mania might actually have something do with actual sucess. I am glad you used him as an example because clearly he is a truly sucessful. Now I understand that he is a Mania spot monkey but his overall career is not a sucess. Is this directly because he lost at Mania every single year, not necessarily but for the sake of this thread it does.