Well first off, I meant to click on Hulk Hogan for my vote, but I accidentally clicked on Austin
Is there anyway my vote can be changed?
Anyways, on to the subject at hand, who is Mr. Wrestlemania?
Very good question, and very good choices for us to choose between. I think about the only wrestlers that could be in the "Other" category and that a strong case could be made for are Randy Savage and the Rock. So, I will include them in my analysis of the choices.
Vince McMahon: He deserves to be on the list, not only for creating the event, but he's also been a part of every Wrestlemania onscreen as well, except the 1st one I think (well, he appeared backstage briefly). And from Wrestlemania XV on, he's been a major part of just about every Wrestlemania.
He was one of the focal points of Wrestlemania XV and 2000 by appearing in the main event in both matches. He had a classic match with Shane at X-7. I don't remember him playing a major part of X-8. He had another classic match with Hogan at XIX. He did a memorable speech at XX. He wasn't a part of 21 I don't remember. He had a classic match with Shawn Michaels at 22. He was part of the match at 23 that got the most mainstream hype with the hair vs. hair match with Donald Trump, Umaga, and Bobby Lashley. So he's played a major part of most of the last 10 wrestlemanias. Is he Mr. Wrestlemania though? No. Overall, he is, beings he created the event, but if we're talking from a wrestling perspective he didn't wrestle at enough of them to be considered "Mr. Wrestlemania."
Stone Cold Steve Austin: A strong case can be made for him. He's had legendary matches at Wrestlemania against Bret Hart (XIII, and IMO the greatest WM match ever), Shawn Michaels (XIV), and The Rock (XV, X-7, and XIX). He was the focal points of Wrestlemania XIV, XV, and X-7. He was the biggest star of the Attitude Era and was thus the headliner of 3 Wrestlemanias which took place arguably during the WWF's biggest peak ever in mainstream popularity. But is he "Mr. Wrestlemania?" No. Why? He didn't wrestle at enough Wrestlemanias to be considered the definitive Wrestemania superstar. He also wrestled somewhat forgotten matches against Savio Vega (XII) and Scott Hall (X-8), but his career in the WWE was just too brief to be considered the ultimate Wrestlemania star.
Shawn Michaels: A very strong case can be made here. He's headlined 5 Wrestlemanias (XI, XII, XIV, XX, and 23), he's had more classic matches than anyone at Wrestlemania. His matches against Razor Ramon (X), Bret Hart (XII), Stone Cold (XIV), Chris Jericho (XIX), Chris Benoit and Triple H (XX), Kurt Angle (21), and Ric Flair (24) are amongst the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history. And his matches against John Cena (23) and Vince McMahon (22) were also fantastic matches as well. His matches with Tito Santana (VIII), Tatanka (IX), and Diesel (XI) were also solid matches. And he had some exciting tag team matches at Wrestlemanias V, VI and VII. He's had plenty of memorable moments at Wrestlemanias, and he always has the best match at every Wrestlemania he's been a part of. Is he "Mr. Wrestlemania." He would be either my 2nd or 3rd choice. I think the one big reason I can think of to not consider him "Mr. Wrestlemania" was because he was never a big enough mainstream celebrity to be the reason to draw non-fans to the event. He enjoyed some brief notoriety in 1998, but it was mostly Mike Tyson and Stone Cold that got the world's attention. For 23, Vince McMahon and Donald Trump were the ones that drew non-fans to the event. He's probably the greatest Wrestlemania performer, but when it comes to being Mr. Wrestlemania, you need to be someone that was a big enough pop culture icon to draw non fans to the event, and Shawn Michaels doesn't quite fit that bill.
John Cena: Probably the least qualified candidate for this question. Not because he sucks or anything, because that's just not true. But because his Wrestlemania career has been too short to call him "Mr. Wrestlemania." He's headlined two Wrestlemanias (22 and 23), although he will probably headline this year's making it a third one. He's only had one WM match that I would consider to be in the "classic" category (against HBK at 23, and it barely makes that category). Sure, he's the WWE's biggest current star, but WM existed and became a phenomenon long before his career started. He deserves little, if any, credit for putting WM on the map. 5-10 years from now, then we'll see where he stands.
The Undertaker: He's right there in 3rd/4th with Stone Cold (yeah I'll put Shawn Michaels at #2). Undertaker has only headlined 2 Wrestlemanias (XIII and 24), but he's appeared at more Wrestlemanias than almost any other wrestler in WWE history to the best of my knowledge, and of course his legendary streak which has become a cornerstone of Wrestlemania. While he's wrestled quite a few duds at WM over the years (I feel mostly due to the poor opponents he was put with), but he's also had some classics against Kane (XIV, his match with him at XX was not very good), Triple H (X-7), Ric Flair (X-8), Randy Orton (21), Batista (23), and Edge (24). The Undertaker is a cornerstone of Wrestlemania and a strong candidate for "Mr. Wrestlemania." But is he? No. Why? For the same reason that I didn't give the title to Shawn Michaels. Because the Undertaker has never been a big enough mainstream celebrity to draw in non-fans. He's only headlined two Wrestlemanias, and both WM's he was not the main draw or factor that brought in non-fans.
Bret Hart: A very strong case can be made for Bret Hart. He wrestled every Wrestlemania from 2 to XIII, which I believe is still the longest streak of consecutive appearances at Wrestlemania of anyone ever. He headlined three Wrestlemanias. Two of them as World Champion, and the other where he went in as the challenger and won. He's had quite a few classics against Roddy Piper (VIII), Owen Hart (X), Shawn Michaels (XII), and the greatest WM of all-time, against Steve Austin (XIII). But was he "Mr. Wrestlemania?" I'll have to say no. For one, he didn't have as many classic WM matches as Shawn Michaels did (but if Bret had stayed with the WWF, that might not be the case). He also wasn't a main event star for Wrestlemanias long enough to be "Mr. Wrestlemania." And he wasn't a big enough mainstream star to draw in non-fans.
Triple H: Triple H would be my last choice besides John Cena for this title. Triple H has been at a lot of WM's. He's headlined 5 Wrestlemanias (2000, X-8, XX, 21, and 22). He's had some classic WM matches against The Undertaker (X-7) and Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels (XX). And he's had solid to very good matches against Owen Hart (XIV), The Rock, Big Show, and Mick Foley (2000), Chris Jericho (X-8), John Cena (22), and John Cena again and Randy Orton (24) (his match at WM 21 against Batista while memorable was a bad match IMO). There's no doubt that he's been a focal point at WM in this decade. But is he "Mr. Wrestlemania?" No. He hasn't had enough "greatest" matches at WM IMO. And he's never been a big enough mainstream star to bring in non-fans.
The Rock: He'll be one of my two selections for the "Other" category. The Rock was a huge star from 98-2003. He headlined 3 Wrestlemanias (XV, 2000, and X-7). He's had classic matches against Steve Austin (XV, X-7, and XIX) and Hulk Hogan (X-8). And he had solid matches against Ken Shamrock (XIV) and Triple H, The Big Show, and Mick Foley (2000). Was he "Mr. Wrestlemania?" Nope. Definitely a big enough mainstream celebrity to showcase Wrestlemania to the world. But he just wasn't around long enough, and didn't really put WM on the map. He was only around for 6 WM's, and only 5 of them worthwhile. His career was just too brief to be considered "Mr. Wrestlemania."
Randy Savage: Here's my other choice for the "Other" category. Savage was a mainstay of Wrestlemania for the first 10 WM's (only missing the 1st one, as he wasn't with the WWF yet at that point, and he commentated at Wrestlemania IX). He headlined 3 WM's (IV, V, and VIII) and he stole the show at two other WM's (III and VII). He had classic matches with Ricky Steamboat (III), Ted Dibiase (IV), Hulk Hogan (V), the Ultimate Warrior (VI), and Ric Flair (VIII), and had solid or memorable matches with George "The Animal" Steele (II), Greg Valentine (IV), Dusty Rhodes (VI), and Crush (X). Randy Savage was undoubtedly the greatest performer of the first era of Wrestlemania (Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart picked up where he left off). He was also a big enough mainstream star to draw in non-fans and headlined WM's during the WWF's biggest boom period. But was he "Mr. Wrestlemania?" No. Why? He didn't appear at enough WM's in the overall history of Wrestlemania, and he wasn't the one that put WM on the map.
So who is Mr. Wrestlemania? It's Hulk Hogan, hands down.
No other wrestler is more associated with Wrestlemania than Hulk Hogan. He was the one that put it on the map. He headlined 8 of the first 9 Wrestlemanias, whether he was in the championship match or not. Wrestlemania was centered around Hulk Hogan, and we have Wrestlemania and the spectacle of it all thanks to Hulk Hogan. Yeah, there's the debate on whether Roddy Piper deserves credit for helping to draw in the crowd for Wrestlemania I and sure he did. But that's really not the point and is irrelevant. Wrestlemania wasn't instantly put on the map thanks to Wrestlemania I alone. Wrestlemania III I think solidified Wrestlemania as an event, and who was the major part of that? Hulk Hogan. Hogan headlined Wrestlemanias I, II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX, and he was a major part of the main event for Wrestlemania IV. In those years he had classic matches against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (I), Andre the Giant (III), Randy Savage (V), the Ultimate Warrior (VI), and Sgt. Slaughter (VII). He missed the majority of the next 10 Wrestlemanias, but his legacy as "Mr. Wrestlemania" was pretty much already set. Then he came back in 2002 and added two more classic matches to his legacy at Wrestlemania. Against the Rock at X-8, and Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania XIX.
Hulk Hogan has all the ingredients to be considered "Mr. Wrestlemania." He's had classic matches. He's headlined more Wrestlemanias than any other wrestler. He did more than any other wrestler to draw in non-fans and solidify Wrestlemania not only as the "Superbowl of Professional Wrestling," but also as a cultural event. Hulk Hogan is Wrestlemania. It's as simple as that.
Now if I can just get my vote changed to Hulk Hogan :/
