Posted in: Ripped To Shreds Ripped To Shreds #8: Who Is The Real Mr. Wrestlemania?
By Ripper
Feb 24, 2009 - 11:24:05 PM
Ripped To Shreds #8: Who Is The Real Mr. Wrestlemania?
Welcome to the eight edition of Ripped To Shreds.
Thank you all for the feedback to my last column about Tommy Dreamer. It is much appreciated.
Back in 2005, Shawn Michaels gave himself the nickname of “Mr. Wrestlemania”. With Wrestlemania right around the corner, one has to wonder, who is the one, true, deserving holder of that name?
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In World Wrestling Entertainment, countless sports entertainers have branded themselves with endlessnicknames and monikers, not unlike the participants in the world of professional boxing. In March of 2005, leading up to his greatly anticipated dream match with Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels bestowed upon himself yet another notch in his belt of illustrious names, nicknames, aliases, or whatever you want to call them. Like the fictional Apollo Creed dubbed himself “The Master Of Disaster”, and “The King Of Sting”, among other names, Shawn Michaels could be considered to be in a similar situation. He’s the Heart Break Kid. The Showstopper. The ICON, The Main Event, and a Living Legend. But in 2005, one more was added to Shawn’s already lengthy list: Mr. Wrestlemania.
This is a very prestigious title to be christened upon a sports entertainer, whether it be official or unofficial, or given to you by yourself or someone else. Just like Reggie Jackson earned himself the nickname “Mr. October” for his outstanding performances in Major League Baseball’s postseason, the mantle of “Mr. Wrestlemania” signifies that people associate you with Wrestlemania in an incredibly positive way.
Some people argued from the very start that Shawn did not deserve to boast that unofficial title. Some wrestling fans thought that HBK wasn’t worthy of being the true holder of that moniker. His win/loss record at the Shawcase Of The Immortals is not
exactly spectacular. He built for himself a record of six wins, and nine losses at the biggest granddaddy of them all. Six times he was victorious, and nine times he came out on the losing end.
The logic behind Michaels awarding himself this moniker is that he has constantly delivered spectacular performances at the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. He made his debut at this event at Wrestlemania 5, wrestling as one half of The Rockers, the wild, energetic, good hearted tag team that were true tag team specialists. It would not be until Wrestlemania 8 that Shawn would wrestle in his first singles match, but to be realistic, Shawn was just a footnote in Wrestlemania history up until Wrestlemania 10. At that milestone event at Madison Square Garden, Shawn Michaels performed in one of the greatest matches of all time: the first televised ladder match in World Wrestling Entertainment history. Ric Flair has said that HBK had that match with the ladder, and that Razor Ramon just happened to be in the vicinity at the time. At this point in time, Shawn had not yet reached the phenomenal level of wrestling that we have grown to know him for. None the less, he was still one of the very best in the business at the time, and his performance at this event has gone down in history as one of the greatest matches of all time at the event. Dave Meltzer even gave it a five star rating, the first American match he had done that for.
With his performance at Wrestlemania 11 being largely forgettable, his Iron Man Match at Wrestlemania 12 with Bret “The Hitman” Hart has gone down as what some call the greatest match in the history of the event. He achieved his boyhood dream of becoming WWE Champion that night, and the scene of Shawn staring down with awe at his newly won championship belt has become a scene replayed on WWE television from time to time to this very day. Truly a great moment in it’s own right.
I don’t need to go on and on about what Michaels has accomplished at this event. You know about his matches against Chris Jericho, Benoit, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Vince McMahon, John Cena, and Ric Flair. He couldn’t be found on the card for Wrestlemania 13 because he “lost his smile”. He didn’t wrestle that night because he didn’t want to do the job to Bret, and I think it’s pretty obvious that’s the reason he opted not to compete that night, especially considering his gutsy performance at Wrestlemania 14 the next year.
Never the less, Shawn is a very reasonable choice to be the true “Mr. Wrestlemania”, if your criteria is great matches. However, if you want to do it based purely on wins and losses, that would, as you probably guessed, go to The Undertaker. We all are aware about The Undertaker’s famous winning streak at the event. Not every single one of his wins was memorable, such as his disqualification victory over Giant Gonzalez, or when he defeated a past his prime King Kong Bundy. But there were others that truly were big achievements. He took on Big Daddy Cool Diesel and came on the victor, as he did in his first ever epic match up against his brother Kane, against “The Game” Triple H, Ric Flair, and others. No, his handicap match against Big Show and A-Train isn’t talked about today, nor is his win against Mark Henry. There are some matches I’m sure he wishes he could forget. Even his win over Sid was seen as a dud, as Wrestlemania 13 as a whole was forgettable, save for the classic Bret/Austin submission match.
Some might say that Taker lacked the star power needed to be the true icon of Wrestlemania history. If star power is what you’re looking for to find the true “Mr. Wrestlemania”, look no further than “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan. You don’t need to look very very strenuously, as he is the true Babe Ruth of sports entertainment. Hulk Hogan may very well have been a bigger star of the 1980’s than Mr. T was, as Hulk was even featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Not bad for someone whose matches were predetermined. Some people say that Hogan has done just as much to hurt professional wrestling as he’s done to help it. While I personally think that is a bold statement that is only partially true, you can’t deny that he was the roaring engine that drove WWE to unprecedented heights in the eighties.
Hogan may very well be credited with the success of the first Wrestlemania, as he could be with the next 7 Wrestlemanias after that. No one will ever forget the scene of Hulk Hogan struggling to body slam the five hundred pound Andre The Giant has been replayed over and over again, and may just be the pinnacle moment of WWE’s history. He faced King Kong Bundy (in his prime), Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, and Sid Justice in advertised main events. They were all big stars, but it’s very hard to argue that Hogan wasn’t a much bigger star than those he was matched up against.
When Hogan made his second run in WWE, he really shined brightly at Wrestlemanias 18 and 19, against The Rock and Vince McMahon, respectively. He gave performances that we remember to this day at an event that would not have existed to this day without him.
So, just who exactly is the true Mr. Wrestlemania? Randy Savage could get some mention, but really, it would kind of be like arguing that Scottie Pippen, the ultimate sidekick to Michael Jordan, was the greatest basketball player of all time. Bret Hart, who was a star of the event in his own right, made twelve consecutive appearances there, which is a record. (Undertaker holds the record for most appearances overall). Kurt Angle made big waves at the event in his own right, as has Chris Jericho, and other wrestlers.
But the title of Mr. Wrestlemania can belong to only one of three people: The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Hulk Hogan. Which one is the true holder of that title? It’s up to you, and what you consider to be the most important criteria for dubbing someone Mr. Wrestlemania.
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