The road to WrestleMania 31 continues for the WWE and throughout the years the biggest event on the WWE calendar has provided memories that will last a lifetime, shaped careers and has been a showcase for the greatest matches in the history of the company.
Countdown to WrestleMania 31: 3 Best Moments From WrestleMania IV
Over the next month, Sports World News will delve into each of the previous 30 WrestleMania events and re-live the best moments in each edition of the landmark "Show of Shows."
With the first five WrestleManias being successful, the WWE kicked off the 1990s with the first international edition of the show from the SkyDome in Toronto as The Ultimate Challenge took place.
Countdown to WrestleMania 31: 3 Best Moments From WrestleMania V
A record 67,678 fans packed the SkyDome to watch two of the most popular Superstars in the history of professional wrestling -- The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan -- go face-to-face in the main event on April 1, 1990.
Here are our three best moments from WWE WrestleMania VI:
3) Perfect No More: Mr. Perfect had a record to match his name as he was unbeaten heading into WrestleMania VI.
Perfect emerged on the WWE scene in late 1988 and was very successful from the start, compiling an undefeated streak heading into his clash with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake in Toronto.
Beefcake handed Perfect his first televised loss at WrestleMania VI to end the streak, but Perfect would bounce back quickly, winning a tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship later that month.
2) A Face Turn for Andre: Andre The Giant turned heel in 1987 and aligned himself with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's stable through 1990, but when he sensed his career winding down, he once again wanted to be a babyface.
Andre entered WrestleMania VI as a Tag Team Champion alongside his partner Haku under the tutelage of Heenan. Andre and Haku, known as The Colossal Connection, defended their gold against Ax and Smash of Demolition at the event.
Andre was never legally tagged into the match and after Haku accidentally hit him with a crescent kick to tie him into the ropes and was hit with the Demolition Decapitation to lose the gold, the blame was placed on Andre.
Heenan got in the hulking giant's face and slapped him, which led to Andre slapping Heenan around and thwarting off Haku before leaving the arena to a chorus of cheers, ending his over three-year run as a heel.
This proved to be Andre's final televised match of his career and it was a very memorable turn while it also marked the third and final time Demolition won the Tag Team Championships.
1) The Ultimate Challenge: The reason everyone entered the building that day in Toronto was to see the Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior meet the WWE Champion Hulk Hogan for the first time ever in a title-for-title match in the main event.
The WWE first tested the reaction to these two colliding at the 1990 Royal Rumble when they crossed paths to a chorus of cheers.
This led to the WWE making the match official for WrestleMania, marking the first time in the history of the "Show of Shows" that two popular babyfaces headlined the main event.
The crowd was split and the match was arguably the best match The Warrior ever had while it was a top tier match in Hogan's career as well.
The over 22-minute long clash was a back-and-forth encounter that had the crowd at the edge of their seats throughout it. In the end, The Ultimate Warrior stood tall after Hogan missed his patented leg drop and Warrior hit him with a splash.
This marked the first time Hogan ever lost at WrestleMania and the first time the Intercontinental Championship and WWE Championship were held by the same person simultaneously.
The Ultimate Challenge was a classic encounter and one of the best matches in WrestleMania history.
Looking Ahead: On Tuesday, we'll focus on WrestleMania VII in 1991. After Hogan's first loss at WrestleMania, the WWE would return to the basic face vs. heel storyline heading into WrestleMania VII, which would see the "Show of Shows" return to the United States with a patriotic theme in the midst of the Gulf War in 1991.
Rank-O-Mania: As we go through each year, we will rank each WrestleMania as it comes along. WrestleMania VI and WrestleMania III have always been neck-and-neck, but the nostalgia of Warrior vs. Hogan surpasses the main event of Andre vs. Hogan in quality, thus WrestleMania VI is the best edition of the "Show of Shows" up to this point.
1) WrestleMania VI
2) WrestleMania III
3) WrestleMania V
4) WrestleMania IV
5) WrestleMania I
6) WrestleMania 2
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