WWE presents WrestleMania XXX this Sunday live from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans in what promises to be one of the biggest shows of all-time for the company. Over the years, WrestleMania has provided some of the best moments, stories and victories while there have also been some interesting behind-the-scenes myths, stories and urban legends surrounding the first 29 events. We'll delve into some of those stories today regarding the first 10 WrestleManias.
Note: some of the rumored stories that have been shared through the years may not be true while some are. There is no way of knowing if some of the events and stories actually happened at the marquee event, but most have been reported over the years through various sources including IMDB.
WrestleMania I: At the inaugural event in 1985, the WWE countered the success of NWA's Starrcade in 1983. According to many stories over the years, the NWA was livid at the WWE for running WrestleMania and wanted to sabotage it from within. While some of the stories seem crazy, there were rumors of the NWA he having plans to call in bomb threats as well as pay WWE employees to sabotage the event from the inside.
There were also stories that prior to the event starting, a group of Hell's Angels on Harley Davidson motorcycles got past security at Madison Square Garden through the loading dock in hopes to see the show despite the fact that it was sold out. According to the story, the WWE accommodated them and gave them chairs to watch the show.
WrestleMania 2: The main event at WrestleMania 2 saw Hulk Hogan retain his WWE Championship against King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage Match, but prior to that, it was supposed to be very different. Vince McMahon reportedly pitched an idea to have Hogan face Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka in the main event. The plan called for an elaborate heel turn for Snuka, but Hogan declined to face him and said that he "didn't want to wrestle that maniac" leading to the WWE changing the plans and Snuka leaving the WWE for three years.
WrestleMania III: Vince McMahon had put up a lot of his money in hopes that WrestleManias I, II and III would be a success and after WrestleMania III, he no longer had to gamble any of his money because it was such a success.
Hulk Hogan was legitimately nervous that Andre the Giant wasn't going to lay down for him and was reportedly very scared the Giant would pull a shoot on him and defeat him, but eventually all went according to plan. Andre reportedly drank 16 bottles of wine before the match.
King Kong Bundy bodyslammed Little Beaver at this event, leading to Beaver having legitimate back problems. Bundy always felt bad for injuring him and was reportedly worried that the slam eventually led to Beaver's death, but that would be impossible since Beaver died of emphysema.
Vince McMahon has claimed that he felt his father's spirit with him when he welcomed the crowd to WrestleMania III. Arethra Franklin sang the National Anthem at the event but was reportedly stuck in traffic moments before the show aired and sang the anthem without a sound check.
The WWE's claim of 93,193 people filing into the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. that night has often been disputed.
WrestleMania IV: According to many sources, the original plan for the WWE Championship tournament --which was won by the "Macho Man" Randy Savage -called for "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase winning it. Dibiase ended up losing to Savage in the finals. There are multiple theories for why this occurred. The first is that Savage and Hogan intervened and swayed Vince McMahon to change the plans while the second is that the Honky Tonk Man refused to lose his Intercontinental Championship to Savage, so McMahon gave him the WWE Championship here. The WWE eventually made the Million Dollar Championship for Dibiase.
"The Natural" Butch Reed quit the WWE shortly after this Pay-Per-View over the fact that a promised feud between him and Randy Savage didn't happen. Reed then joined the NWA and was vocally critical about the WWE's handling of African American wrestlers.
WrestleMania V: Bobby "The Brain" Heenan was vocally critical of the Ultimate Warrior and grew a hatred for him after this event. "Ravishing" Rick Rude defeated The Warrior to win the Intercontinental Championship, and Warrior was supposed to attack Heenan after the match. Warrior gave him a Gorilla Press Slam following the match, but failed to protect him. Heenan crashed hard on the mat and was nearly seriously injured.
WrestleMania VI: Diamond Dallas Page made a cameo appearance at this event, driving the pink Cadillac down to the ring with Rhythm 'N' Blues.
Jesse Ventura would quit the WWE shortly after this pay-per-view after he and Vince McMahon had some sort of financial dispute. Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon announced five of the first six WrestleManias side-by-side.
Vince McMahon had originally planned to book Hulk Hogan vs. Zeus as the main event, however it was eventually changed to the famous Ultimate Challenge pitting Hogan against The Ultimate Warrior for the WWE and Intercontinental Championships.
WrestleMania VII: This was originally supposed to take place outdoors at Olympic Stadium, but was eventually moved to the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The real reason for this was because of slow ticket sales, but Vince McMahon said he was worried about the safety of Sgt. Slaughter due to the Iraqi Sympathizer he was playing during this time. McMahon said he was worried a sniper might take him out or of any kind of terrorism actions due to it being at the height of the Persian Gulf War.
The Nasty Boys defeated The Hart Foundation for the WWE Tag Team Championships at this event and partied with Willie Nelson (who sang the National Anthem) all night, giving him one of the titles as a souvenir.
WrestleMania VIII: The original main event for this show was set to be Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair in a dream match for the WWE Championship, however the card was switched to Hogan vs. Sid Justice and Flair vs. Randy Savage for the WWE Championship. Reasons for this range from word of Hogan's departure causing a change of plans to Hogan and Flair having terrible matches at house shows leading up to the event.
The ending to the Hogan vs. Sid Justice match didn't go as planned as Papa Shango was supposed to interfere and attack Hogan after he hit his leg drop finisher, however he missed his cue leading to Sid improvising and kicking out of the leg drop, which no one was supposed to do.
Flair bled during his match against the Macho Man and Bret Hart also drew blood during his match with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Championship. This was highly taboo at the time and WWE had strict rules against wrestlers doing it. Hart was able to convince management he got busted open on accident while Flair was caught blading on camera and was fined several thousands of dollars.
Shawn Michaels was supposed to face former partner Marty Jannetty at this event, but Jannetty was released by the WWE due to alcohol and drug problems before the event so Michaels took on Tito Santana instead.
Jake "The Snake" quit the WWE after losing to The Undertaker at this event because he was denied a position on the WWE's writing staff.
WrestleMania IX: Hulk Hogan originally agreed to win the WWE Championship from Yokozuna and then lose it back to Bret Hart at SummerSlam in 1993 but then eventually refused. The WWE then had Yokozuna beat Hogan at the 1993 King of the Ring and Bret Hart had to wait until WrestleMania X to earn the title back.
Hogan had a legitimate black eye coming into the event, and there was a lot of speculation to how he got the injury. The kayfabe reason was that I.R.S. and Ted Dibiase hired people to attack Hogan, while Hogan said that it was a jet ski accident that caused the damage. There was a story that Macho Man punched Hogan in the face for sleeping with Elizabeth, but the most widely accepted story is the jet ski theory. Hogan and Beefcake took on Money Inc. as replacements for The Nasty Boys, who were originally supposed to face them.
Matt Bourne, who played Doink the Clown said he was supposed to originally feud with Hulk Hogan going into the event but Hogan refused to work with him. The British Bulldog also refused to feud with him and was fired.
WrestleMania X: Bret Hart and Owen Hart stole the show in the opening match, but they originally tried to put on a match akin to Macho Man vs. Ricky Steamboat from WrestleMania III. The practice matches at house shows weren't going over well and the two turned to their father for advice just hours before the show, eventually delivering one of the best opening matches ever.
There were rumors that Shawn Michaels was going to leave the WWE to go to WCW after the show but that he changed his mind after he heard Hulk Hogan had signed with WCW. Michaels would go on to have one of the best WWE careers of all-time.
There has also been speculation that Lex Luger was supposed to defeat Yokozuna for the WWE Championship and then go on to lose to Bret Hart in the main event but he blabbed the details of his win to a New York news reporter and the WWE had to change plans, having Luger lose to Yokozuna and then Bret beat Yokozuna to close the show.
The first ten WrestleManias were filled with crazy stories, join us tomorrow when we look at behind-the-scenes stories and urban legends from WrestleManias XI-XX.
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