411’s Countdown to WrestleMania 25: The 411mania of WrestleMania

Greetings, humanity! We’re well on the way with 411mania’s Countdown to Wrestlemania, and today we’re bringing you something completely different. Wrestlemania is a spectacle, wrestling’s SuperBowl, a yearly event that WWE aficionados the world over have come to anticipate and plan for. The wrestlers themselves have spoken, both kayfabe and not, about “Wrestlemania moments”, doing something at the big dance that defines their careers. As fans of WWE, we all have our own Wrestlemania moments and memories. We polled the staff and compiled the results, and now we offer to you The 411mania of WrestleMania! Note that this isn’t a Top 5 list or anything, just our personal feelings about the Granddaddy of Them All.

Hey Meehan…BANNER!

The WrestleMania experience just isn’t the same unless you’re watching it as it happens. Which was the first Mania you saw live on PPV? If you’re lucky enough to have been to one, which ones?

Aaron Hubbard: On TV? Wrestlemania XX.

The Original JP: In person? WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, MI. On PPV? WrestleMania 3.

MEEHAN: “Live” on television? WrestleMania III. “Live” in person? WrestleMania XX. But I think the fact that so many of us feel the need to distinguish between the two is a testament to just how impressive an in-road to creating new and lifelong fans that WrestleMania really has become. For many of us, seeing a WrestleMania on television as a child was all the invitation we needed to one day take part as a fan in live attendance at another show on down the road. Odds are good that anyone who’s ever attended a show live could tell you exactly where they were when they caught their first WrestleMania on television.

Robert S Leighty Jr: I watched WrestleMania III live as a 5 year old boy in my grandma’s living room. This year’s WrestleMania will be the first I attend live.

Campbell and his crocs: WrestleMania III, my uncle ordered it on PPV and my dad and I went over to his house and watched it. My only real memory from the show (I was only 4) was Duggan knocking Sheik with the 2X4 and Hogan beating Andre.

Andy Clark: On TV, WrestleMania XV. I remember being so excited heading into the show, and arguing with all my friends that The Rock should win in the main event despite the fact I knew he didn’t stand a chance. In person would be five years later at WrestleMania XX as my graduation present to myself.

Ryan Byers: Via the magic of pay per view, it was Wrestlemania X. I had been following wrestling for a few years at that point and was young enough that I didn’t have my own income with which to order PPV. However, my parents finally caught on to the fact that something like this might make a good gift for their son. I have yet to see a ‘Mania live, and I doubt I ever will. I like my wrestling but have a very hard time justifying spending several hundred (if not a thousand) dollars on one show in one shot, even if it is the biggest event of the year.

Bond. Julian Bond. Wrestlemania XIV with Stone Cold vs. Michaels (over friend’s house), Wrestlemania 23 in Detroit (attended live in my hometown); anything before Wrestlemania XIV I just saw on VHS!!

Jeff Small-Khali: The first Wrestlemania I’ve seen live was Wrestlemania 23, fourteen years after the first Wrestlemania I ordered on PPV (Wrestlemania 9). Good thing I was only a kid at that time because the awfulness of WM9 would have turned me off had I actually paid for the show. Regardless, at Wrestlemania 23, I started a pack with a few of my buddies to try to attend Wrestlemaina each year (no matter the city) and this marks the third consecutive year.

Dustin James: On television, it was Wrestlemania 6….the long awaited battle between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior brother! In person, I have only seen one Wrestlemania live and that was the greatness that was Wrestlemania 19 in Seattle.

Michael Bauer: Never saw one in person. First one I saw on TV was WrestleMania VII.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: Wrestlemania III – I was five and my parents got it for me on closed circuit. As a kid growing up in the 80’s I was naturally a Hulkamaniac and went nuts when he slammed Andre. Steamboat and Savage also turned me into a workrate freak. I vividly remember watching WM IV in a high school auditorium on a big screen where they charged like $10 bucks to go in.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: The first one I ever attended live was Wrestlemania X-7 at the Astrodome in Houston, TX 4/1/01. The show was headlined by Austin vs. The Rock. This will be the second Wrestlemania I’ve attended live in this decade. Houston being my hometown makes it all the better.

Lansdell: I have yet to see one in person, and since a trip to Phoenix doesn’t interest me I won’t be going next year. First one I ordered on PPV was WrestleMania IX, since I didn’t have PPV capability before then. Barbados was late to the party. And amazingly, I came back for more.

Everyone has a favourite WrestleMania, but the reasons for picking that Mania vary greatly. What’s your favourite, and why?

Aaron Hubbard: Wrestlemania XX, for many reasons. The epic main event and it’s aftermatch, Eddie vs. Angle, The Rock making fun of Hurricane and Rosey, Trish’s heel turn, Taker’s return, and YES, the Playboy Match (sue me I was 14).

The Original JP: WrestleMania 3 is still my favorite because no match can ever comparable to how big Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant was. Say what you will about workrate, but from an engaging point of view, there are very few matches that can suck me in just by the sames on the billboard alone.

MEEHAN: This honor would have to go to WrestleMania 24, simply because I had the thrill of seeing the show live in Orlando with my Dad and my brother. For the longest time I would have said “WrestleMania XX” (simply because it was my first time in live attendance at a PPV, and there really is nothing like seeing a WrestleMania at the event itself), but a number of outside circumstances have pretty much relegated that show to a far distant second (if that).

Robert S Leighty Jr: WrestleMania X-7 gets my vote as greatest WrestleMania ever, but WM III will always remain my favorite. It was the first one I watched live, and it feature my favorite match ever. It also took place in the most visually impressive setting I’ve ever seen for a wrestling show, and it featured the biggest match in the history of the business.

Campbell and his crocs: WrestleMania VIII. I don’t know if it was just the time period, my age at the time (9) or something else, but it just carried this great aura about it to me. Having to wait five whole days to see the tape of it seemed like eternity.

Andy Clark: WrestleMania X-Seven without a doubt. WrestleManias XX and 22 hold a special place in my heart because I was there live, but you can’t hold a candle to X-Seven. It’s probably been overhyped to the point of annoyance by now, but for my money this is the best wrestling show ever. Period.

Ryan Byers: I admit that some years have had better in-ring action overall and some have presented better storylines overall, but, for sheer nostalgia purposes, I still find myself going back to Wrestlemania X every time that I am asked this question.

Bond. Julian Bond. It has to be a tie between Wrestlemania XIX (19) and Wrestlemania 23. I loved WM 19 because of the awesome card which included the epic-at-the time Angle/Lesnar main event and one of my favorite matches of all time in Michaels/Jericho…also because I watched it in my friend’s cold ghetto-fied basement. And Wrestlemania 23 wasn’t one of my favorite cards, but instead was one of the best simply because it was the first live Wrestlemania event I’ve ever attended in my life and it truly does not compare at all to just watching it on TV. You simply had to be there to fully experience it.

Jeff Small-Khali: Who spells “favourite” with a “u”? Really? Anyway, my favorite Wrestlemania would have to be Wrestlemania 17. While I have liked a majority of them, Wrestlemania 17 is the only one I’ve watched more than three times on video. If that’s not longevity, I do not know what is. Editor’s note: Khali spells it with a u. They speak proper English in India.

Dustin James: The “right” answer would of course be Wrestlemania 17, but not here! My favorite Wrestlemania is Wrestlemania 19, mainly due to the fact that I was there live and had a blasty blast. The trip is forever sketched into my head and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Michael Bauer: WrestleMania XX. I was up in college, watching with a bunch of the crew and just hearing us explode for Chris Benoit’s Title win was more than enough.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: It was Wrestlemania XX because I was the biggest Benoit mark, and almost cried when he won, but history has led to me rethinking this. Now, I’d probably say WM X because of Owen/Bret, and the Ladder match.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: I mean while I think there are other great Wrestlemanias, at the time I thought Wrestlemania XX was the best of all time. It really just had that epic, big feel and all the matches seemed to generally end the right way, plus a ton of great, pure wrestling matches on the card. There was a little bit of everything. I was always severely entertained by the crowd’s reaction to Lesnar/Goldberg, even though the match itself was pretty dull and disappointing. Despite all that’s happened, still hard to argue a better more “on” and perfect WWE event than this one.

Lansdell: This was a tough one, because nostalgia makes a lot of the older Manias feel better than they were, especially the Hogan-led ones where a young Lansdell marked out for every Hulk Up. However, I think it’s a close-run thing between 24 (Punk’s win, Taker-Edge and of course Michaels-Flair being the best parts) and 2000 (Hardcore Battle Royal, Angle-Benoit-Jericho, and the ladder match).

At the other end of the spectrum is the Mania you wish you hadn’t seen, the one that could have been a 3-hour Raw. What was your least favourite Mania?

Aaron Hubbard: Wrestlemania IV, because it’s so LONG, and there’s almost nothing of quality there.

The Original JP: I know I’m going to get some hater-ade for this one, but I truly did not enjoy WrestleMania 14. Not only did I find the show slow and hard to watch, but the whole thing left a terrible taste in my mouth. A DQ ending and a title return at WrestleMania? Seriously? Randomly thrown together tag teams taking up a spot on the card, a workrate match with light heavyweights in a division they were set to abort before they began, and a mixed tag comedy match do not entertain me. I know a lot of people love this PPV because it is the turning point for the WWE, especially with Austin defeating Michaels for the title with Mike Tyson as the referee, but even Tyson’s swerve really didn’t excite me. I guess it doesn’t help that I am a huge WCW mark and this PPV is the defining moment of the Attitude Era, but the few timse I’ve watched this show it has never lived up to the hype.

MEEHAN: That’d be WrestleMania XI. Top to bottom, I’d argue that this was probably one of the weakest WrestleMania cards in history. Add in the fact that there were only like seven matches on the entire card (and two of them barely lasted upwards of five minutes apiece), and this show was pretty much a stinker. Say what you will about WrestleMania IX, but at least that broadcast had a bit of over-the-top pageantry going for it. WrestleMania XI? Just Lawrence Taylor.

Robert S Leighty Jr: As a kid I hated WrestleMania VI because Hulk Hogan lost to the Ultimate Warrior. I was 8 years old and when Warrior won, I run from my friends house to my house, dove under my covers, and cried myself to sleep. Years later I came to appreciate the fact that Hogan and Warrior tore the house down. Today, I would give the honor of least favorite to WrestleMania XI. I think it may be the only Mania in the DVD anthology set I bought a few years back that I have yet to watch.

Campbell and his crocs: WrestleMania IX. The toga theme was stupid and none of the matches were especially thrilling to me.

Andy Clark: I’ll limit this to ones I witnessed as they happened and not ones I’ve gone back and watched. I’d have to go with WrestleMania X8. While Rock-Hogan and Taker-Flair should be enough for it not to rest at the bottom of my list, the all around poor booking both leading into the show and on the show itself just really turns me off of this show. Plus I had to deal with a bunch of backstabbing fans turning on my boy The Rock for the second straight WrestleMania. WrestleMania 2000 would probably be next on the list, but I mark for the Hardcore Battle Royal so it’s safe.

Ryan Byers: It’s the cliched answer, but I still have to give it in order to answer honestly: Wrestlemania IX. It would be a bad pay per view regardless of the circumstances under which it was held, and the fact that it had such a prestigious name tacked on to it only made matters worse.

Bond. Julian Bond.Easily to me hands down, Wrestlemania XV in 99′. Besides the barely redeeming factor in the main event of Stone Cold vs. The Rock, the whole card was an absolute mess (especially the Boss Man/Taker cage match). So bad that I invited half a dozen friends over my house to watch in high school and we all ended up playing 007 GoldenEye (James Bond) on my Nintendo 64 most of the time cause it was truly lame and boring for the most part (minus the main event, Pete Rose, and the whole DX double-betrayal storline). Most disappointing PPV EVER.

Jeff Small-Khali: Wrestlemania 18. Coming off of a great show the previous year, I was hoping for the best with WM18. However, between a meaningless undercard and an underwhelming main event, the show was pretty bad. Granted both Flair/Taker and Rock/Hogan were good matches but not enough to make up for this turd.

Dustin James: Yes, I’m the guy who still hates on Wrestlemania 9. This show was just horrendous from top to bottom. Jim Ross wearing a toga? The Giant Gonzalez? Hulk Hogan winning the title AGAIN? Yep, sounds pretty Wrestlecraptacular.

Michael Bauer: Wrestlemania XV. Horrible show, worst Hell in a Cell ever.

Lansdell: I’m expecting this will be a split between 9 and 11, but for me it’s 2. There is not a single match on this mess of a card (from three venues!) that I ever want to see again.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: WM 15 – Others were worse, but the Russo-feeling of this show with its bizarre title matches and heel/face turns made me very annoyed.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: Wrestlemania IV. I’ve never watched this show the whole way through. I think its important simply because it did sort of lay the groundwork for an epic world title feud between Hogan and Savage, even though Hogan sort of stole the spotlight on Savage’s big moment. As big of an icon as Hogan is, people seem to forget how hated Hogan generally was in the late 90’s, early 00’s. IV should’ve been Savage’s time to have the big moment, and Hogan messed it up. Just as he would screw Sting over years later.

Despite cards that appear lacklustre on the face of it, WrestleMania normally manages to deliver at least one classic match. What are you looking forward to the most this year?

Aaron Hubbard: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker by a long shot, it will probably be a classic.

The Original JP: Calling up JT during one of the most pivotal, amazing, and historic moments and letting him know that he is a complete macaroon for giving up his ticket.

MEEHAN: It’s probably cliche to say “The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels,” but I’m going to go ahead and pick that one anyhow. Wrestling fans have waited the better part of a decade to see HBK go one-on-one with The Dead Man, and longtime fans (and Bret Hart sympathizers) will recall that the real-life bad blood between these two men goes back more than a dozen years (or so the story goes). Shawn’s always been my favorite wrestler, but as we near what could well be the twilight of the man’s career, it seems kind of fitting to see “Mr. WrestleMania” be called once and for all to account for his past sins at the hands of The Phenom on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Robert S Leighty Jr: Making the long trip to Houston and being there live for the entire weekend. If I was just watching at home it would be Taker vs Michaels and Jericho vs Austin (should it happen), but since I will be there in Houston, I am just looking forward to the plane landing safely in Houston on April 3rd, 2009.

Campbell and his crocs: Right now, Money In The Bank, and I want to see if WWE has the grapefruits to put Michaels over ‘Taker.

Andy Clark: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker is the easy answer. I’m counting on that match to really make or break the show because there isn’t a lot to get excited about right now. However I think I’ll go in a different direction from my colleagues. I’m most excited about the ECW Title Match. I’m assuming it is Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne which if that is the case should be pretty awesome. Even if its not I’m still interested to see what exactly they do put on.

Ryan Byers: It has to be the Undertaker/Shawn Michaels match. Everything else feels like we’ve seen it too many times before for it to be truly special . . . and that is especially true of the two championship matches. At least Michaels and UT haven’t had a high profile singles bout against each other for over ten years now.

Bond. Julian Bond. The card this year is definitely one of the most promising ones I’ve seen in a good while, particularly for a Wrestlemania. The two World Title bouts both look great with the new spin on old rivalries. Money In The Bank has some interesting participants this year and actually doesn’t have a clear-cut favorite to win this time around. But my vote is for, what I guess, the most anticipated match on the card in the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels face-off. Both of them are my favorite grapplers of all time and even though I’ve seen them fight before in the past, they both stepped their game to different levels in the last few years and should easily steal the show.

Jeff Small-Khali: Who will win Vickie Guerrero’s heart? That or witnessing the Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker match. Tough call.

Dustin James: Well, it WAS the Chris Jericho vs. WWE legend match….before they actually revealed Jericho’s opponent. Now? I’m probably looking forward to the “Money in the Bank” match the most. It seems the MitB match is usually a highlight of any Wrestlemania. Plus it has Shelton Benjamin in the match and he is STILL greatness!

Michael Bauer: Seeing Shawn Michaels end the Undertaker’s winning streak. At least, I hope so.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: Shawn and Taker having a match for the ages.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: Orton vs. HHH. At this point I don’t think Orton has a chance in hell of winning. But ever since Orton’s program with Cena, he’s consistently been one of my most favorite workers in the WWE. And since returning in late 2008 from his injury, I feel he’s gotten only better. He’s entered a whole other level above and beyond what he’s ever reached before. Now, Orton has finally become that main event star he was being groomed as in 2005 but didn’t quite reach.

Lansdell: Two matches I really want to see: Hardy-Hardy and the tag title match. Both have enormous potential to be the sleeper match of the night, especially with the Extreme Rules stipulation in the Hardys match. The Colons and Mizorrison have been putting on good matches over the past few weeks, and the chance to go all out at Mania should put the icing on that cake.

What’s your first memory of WrestleMania?

Aaron Hubbard: Earliest memory would be my brother buying one of those old Hulkamania videos, and watching Andre vs. Hogan, and seeing the slam when I was about 4. THAT was insane.

The Original JP: I remember WrestleMania 1 quite well. My dad was a big wrestling fan, so it watching that show on tape was one of the nice things we got to do together. In particular, The $15,000 body slam challenge. That one just sticks in my head!

MEEHAN: Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III, without a doubt. I was barely four years old at the time, but I’m pretty sure it was that exact moment when I knew I’d been hooked as a fan for life.

Robert S Leighty Jr: I watched WrestleMania III in my grandma’s house as a 5 year old boy, and I became the 1st person ever allowed to eat in her living room. I watced the entire show waiting for Hogan vs Andre, and when the match started I ran out of the room and hid in the kitchen because I was afraid what would happen to my hero, Hulk Hogan. I remember sitting at the kitchen table and using the spaghetti noodle box as a cast and pretending I was “Cowboy” Boy Orton. My step-dad came in and told me that Hulk Hogan had won the match, so I busted ass back into the living room and caught the replay of Hogan slamming Andre and getting the pin off the big leg.

Campbell and his crocs: WrestleMania II actually. My family got their first VCR in ’86 and used to rent movies frequently, and the video store was well stocked in Coliseum Videos, and I could get a wrestling video so long as I behaved. And I picked that one quite a bit for some reason.

Andy Clark: I stated before that WrestleMania XV was my first WrestleMania. At the time I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to see it, but I just hoped that my parents would give in and order the show despite them not being overly enthused with me liking wrestling (which they did). At the time we had a PPV preview station that ran commercials for all the upcoming events and I remember watching the preview station all night for the WrestleMania commercial, mostly consisting of highlights from the previous year’s show. “Pete Rose! Pete Rose! Pete Rose just got tombstoned!”

Ryan Byers:Owen Hart pinning Bret Hart in the opening match of Wrestlemania X. I had a horrible sense of fashion as a child and became a big Owen Hart fan during the days of High Energy because I thought those massive, neon pants RULED. If that didn’t make me a weird enough kid, I also had this habit of picking favorite wrestlers who were faces and not turning on them when they became heels. Thus, I was still solidly in Owen’s corner when his feud with Bret came around, and I was ecstatic to see him pin his brother, as even then I was able to recognize it as being the biggest win of his WWF career to that point.

Bond. Julian Bond. My earliest memory of watching Mania is with Hogan vs. Savage at Wrestlemania V. My uncle (who’s mentally handicapped) had lived at a nursing home when I was a kid and him and his friends were the biggest wrestling fans I’ve ever seen. So I just remember them watching a tape of Wrestlemania V and me witness the “Battle of the Mega Powers”, which seemed surreal to me at the time…and pretty hilarious with the whole “You stole my girl Elizabeth!!!” storyline.

Jeff Small-Khali: How perverted is this – the thonged models that accompanied the Narcissist Lex Luger at Wrestlemania 9. As a eight year old kid, I loved it. In fact, I still love it to this day. Editor’s note: Hands up everyone who’s surprised.

Dustin James: Warrior vs. Hogan. It was THE match back in 1990. It was a great way to build a feud between two top babyfaces. The fact that the WWE was able to get the world excited about two babyfaces facing each other back in the days where kayfabe ran rampant still blows my mind.

Michael Bauer: WrestleMania VI. I started watching wrestling just because of Warrior vs. Hogan.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: Andre getting slammed by Hogan. That’s the most vivid early memory, but honestly everything from that show, starting with the Can-Ams beating Muraco and Orton. Editor’s note: Everyone who thought that was Randy Orton and had to do a double-take, go to the back of the class.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: I remember Ultimate Warrior/Rick Rude in 1989 at 5. I remember being pretty ticked off about Rude winning because of Heenan.

Lansdell: Despite not having PPV capability, I used to rent all the shows from the bootleg video store down the road from my mother’s office. I remember going to the store the day after Mania 5 and asking about it, but they didn’t have it copied yet. I went back 4 times that day and three the next before finally getting it. “The tape came in for ye, laddie!” said the lady in the store, who had a Scottish accent. She thought it was the cutest thing ever. My mother just sighed and pulled out her wallet. I watched the event 4 times that day. I know I’d seen others before, but this one memory is the first vivid one I have.

We’ve asked about your favourite WrestleMania, but what’s your favourite Mania match? Will it come from your favourite show?

Aaron Hubbard: Batista vs. Undertaker, from Wrestlemania 23. The reason is that in the group of family and friends, we had one guy who was POSITIVE that Batista was going to win. The rest of us loudly disagreed, and because of this, we hung on EVERY move. There are better matches, but the atmosphere at my house for this was unlike anything else.

The Original JP: From a memory perspective, it is going to be Hogan/Andrea at WrestleMania 3 for all the reasons I stated above. No match has ever felt as big and as important before or since in my mind. From a workrate/spot-fest perspective, though, I’m going to go with Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 24 just because of things Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison were able to pull off in that match.

MEEHAN: Shawn Michaels versus Ric Flair (Career Threatening Match, WM 24), bar none. While I wasn’t one of “those fans” who shed a tear for The Nature Boy at last year’s big show, I do remember leaving the Citrus Bowl that night with the unmistakable impression that I had actually been a witness to something much greater than any one particular wrestling match or pay-per-view. “I’m sorry. I love you.” WHAM! It was surreal, it was sad, and it was awesome.

Robert S Leighty Jr: WrestleMania III: IC Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat. This is my favorite Mania match of all time, and my favorite match ever.

Campbell and his crocs: My favorite is actually Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James. The only time that I can recall that the Women’s Division put out a kick ass match.

Andy Clark: The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania X-Seven. Why? Check this bad boy out for why. Great match, great atmosphere, great storytelling. My favorite match period, WrestleMania or no.

Ryan Byers:It’s the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels Iron Man match from Wrestlemania XII. As with the “Favorite Wrestlemania” question, this is a situation in which I can go back and watch other classic ‘Mania matches and recognize them as being better matches from a purely technical standpoint. However, the combination of technical merit and nostalgia shoots Hart/Michaels to the top. The bout came at the peak of my childhood wrestling fandom, and I watched it before I had a ton of videotape access with which to catch up on wrestling’s history. As a result, it was the best match that I had seen at the time and the only time that I had seen two men wrestle for an hour, which means that it will always hold a special place in my memories.

Bond. Julian Bond.Easily my favorite is the 2003 bout between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, way before their infamous feud this past year. In my years of growing up watching, I honestly never had a “dream match” that I was hoping to happen one day. But when I saw that two of my favorite wrestlers of all time were finally going to get in the ring with one another, the idea of it blew my mind. It had a good storyline (despite not even really touching the one done much better last year), nice build-up and a picture-perfect match to boot.

Jeff Small-Khali: The triple threat main event at Wrestlemania XX. Normally, there’s little doubt to the winner of most main events at Wrestlemania due to the Vince wanting to send the viewers home happy. Leading up to WMXX, I wanted to believe that Chris Benoit would win the World Championship. However, I did not believe it until Triple H tapped out.

Dustin James: I have to go with the three-way title fight between HHH, HBK and Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania XX. I remember watching that match and for some reason I was cheering HARD for Benoit. Seriously, it was like watching my favorite NFL or NBA team compete for the championship. I was glad to see Benoit win especially by making HHH tap! Great moment.

Michael Bauer: I have to go with Benoit vs. HHH vs. Michaels from WrestleMania XX. There are other great matches, no question about it. But just going back to why I loved WrestleMania XX, this was the moment that made it my favorite ever seen.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: Benoit’s title win was it for awhile, but after the murders I’ll resort back to previous fave: Austin vs. Bret at WM XIII because it was the match that changed the company and the industry forever, making Austin a mega-star and Vince millions. Also, the bladejob and just flat out awesomeness of it.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. This was like the most perfect, 20 minute wrestling clinic match ever. Owen had a great heel character going on, and the feud with Bret was perfect. Seeing it come to the Mania match and Owen beating Bret clean was amazing. And what came afterward was even better. Jeff vs. Matt is definitely evocative of this match right now, and I hope they can have something at least half as good.

Lansdell: I have never had an easy time answering this question, because there’s Benoit-Angle-Jericho, Benoit-Angle, Angle-Michaels and Michaels-Jericho. See a common thread there? I guess if I had to pick one it would be Benoit-Angle-Jericho.

Like the SuperBowl, WrestleMania is an event that goes beyond regular fans and brings in casual viewers. Each group of viewers will tend to have traditions for the event. What’s yours?

Aaron Hubbard: Usually, me and my older brothers and a couple of friends will get together and watch the show. Pizzas, chips, and soda are a must, but other than that, no real traditions.

The Original JP: Well, considering this is my third year in a row and I’m already in for next year in Arizona, my tradition is going! And I seem to go with the 411mania crew. So watch for your favorite D-list internet celebrities at this year’s and every year’s festivities!

MEEHAN: As a kid, we used to invite other kids and their dads over to watch the PPVs as one big group. But as we’ve all grown older and moved away from home, it’s become something of a trick to “get the band back together” for a yearly viewing party. Regardless, I still enjoy keeping at least *some* of the tradition from my childhood whenever possible. As such, I’ve had the opportunity to see two separate WrestleMania shows (with my family) in person — once in Madison Square Garden (WM 20), and once again last year in Orlando (WM 24). My father is a fellow lifelong wrestling fan, and I love watching the show with him (or calling him immediately afterwards) whenever I have the chance.

Robert S Leighty Jr: For the most part I just watch it at home. Some years I will have some friends come over, but generally it’s just me, and I have no problem with that. The only tradition is that I’ll start watching the previous Manias the week before the current Mania.

Campbell and his crocs: We have my sister-in-law and my buddies over, and watch the show with Pizza, Wings, and Soda.

Andy Clark: Provided I’m not at the show with my Dad I normally just chill at home, again usually with my Dad. My Mom or girflriend might join us, usually interested in the main event and Money in the Bank Match respectively. I actually tend to prefer watching it alone because the chatter of people not as interested in the show as I am can be highly annoying, particularly for WrestleMania.

Ryan Byers:To be frank, I do not order Wrestlemania most years. Again, I have to point out that I am cheap. Quite cheap. I will generally wait to hear reviews of the show and then see how I feel about borrowing a tape from somebody, ordering the replay, or buying/renting the DVD. On top of that, none of the people who I hang out with in my real, non internet life a wrestling fans. As a result, when I do order the show, it’s usually me sitting on my couch alone with a boatload of Chinese food. It’s a pretty pathetic looking scene, actually. Editor’s note: That’s OK Byers, we’re all a little pathetic here.

Bond. Julian Bond.I honestly don’t have just ONE tradition as to who I hang out with or where I’m at for watching the big event. But the constant thing I make sure to do is to have a good time watching it with some good food (pizza, chips, buffalo wild wings, everything I usually get for Super Bowl plus 1) and good people (family, friends, or even total strangers at a bar).

Jeff Small-Khali: As a kid/teen, I would get together a group of friends and watch the show. Now, I attend the show live, bitches!

Dustin James:I’m a pretty simple Wrestlemania viewer. I honestly don’t have any friends who like wrestling outside of the Internet and 411, so when I view a WWE PPV I’m usually sitting in the comfort of my own home….with my blinds shut of course. I don’t want my neighbors to know I just paid $50 to watch a WWE event.

Michael Bauer: There is no rhyme or reason to anything that I do. In college, we all gathered at Nick’s Place and ate all the pizza we wanted. Nowadays, it depends if the guys want to order it or not.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: Get together with friends. One of us calls house, we chip in $10 bucks each order some pizza, drink some beer and enjoy. Then we spend 4 hours bitching and complaining and screaming “OH”

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris: The past few years, my buddies and I would go and watch it at Wings ‘N More at this nice shopping center in Houston, TX. Last year it worked out for me to go home and do that. This year, we are all attending the event live at Reliant.

Lansdell: It’s always here, it’s always accompanied by nachos, wings and mozza sticks, and there are always at least 5 people who can’t show up. Never the same people each year though. This year we even started a “Who won’t show” pool.

WrestleMania has always been about more than just the matches. Celebrities, the culmination of huge angles, the trotting-out of the year’s Hall of Fame class in recent years…what’s your favourite non-match memory of WrestleMania?

Aaron Hubbard: Savage & Liz reuniting. Editor’s note: A man of few words…

The Original JP: Although this may not count since it’s not a skit or special attraction, but nothing compared to the almost deeply religious feeling I got from being in a building full 80,000 wrestling fans all clambering, cheering, and screaming for the same thing. It’s not a WrestleMania moment, but it is non-match thing that has a deep place in my heart. I’m not a spiritual guy and I don’t find solace in large groups of people all doing the same thing. But for that moment I understood how people can get swept away in the emotion and experience of the crowd, and I was perfectly fine going along for the ride. Editor’s Note: It counts, JP. And we’re all jealous.

MEEHAN: The Counting Crows once sang that “The price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings.” For reasons completely unrelated to in-the-ring activities, I can’t help but find myself agreeing with that statement in earnest, as a wide array of events completely unrelated to on-show-happenings have managed to cast a rather substantial pall on some of my fondest WrestleMania memories of yesteryear. For this reason, I guess it’s fitting that my single fondest WrestleMania memory would also happen to be my first — Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III. In a childhood of simpler times where onscreen titans were larger-than-life superheroes born to life, I guess Hogan vs. Andre has always served as a thrilling benchmark of childlike nostalgia and “anything can happen” escapism.

Robert S Leighty Jr: My favorite WrestleMania memory and my favorite non match memory is wrestling history is the Randy Savage/Liz reunion at WrestleMania VII. Nothing can ever top that memory, and it still brings a huge smile to my face nearly twenty years later.

Campbell and his crocs: I always got a kick of Steve Allen singing in the shower with the Bolshevicks at WM6.

Andy Clark: Not sure if this counts because it is match related, but playing ringleader for the small amount of John Cena fans at WrestleMania 22. Fighting that battle was so much fun and being able to gloat over all the disappointed haters was absolutely priceless. Running into Dragon Gate’s Blood Generation and Do Fixer stables in the hallway after the show was pretty cool too.

Ryan Byers: There may be a bit of a recency bias at play here, but my immediate reaction to this question is the post-match interaction between Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair after Flair’s retirement on last year’s show. When I first saw him as a kid, Flair immediately became a god in my eyes, and I had followed his career intently virtually every day since. As a result, I do not know what in wrestling could have been more dramatic than the moment that all came to an end.

Bond. Julian Bond. It was definitely Mr. McMahon getting his head shaved bald in Detroit at Wrestlemania 23. I knew the outcome of the match and knew that Vince was going to get scalped, but actually seeing it live in person with 80,000 screaming fans (just thinking about the amount makes me dizzy) was insane. It was even funnier seeing Stone Cold give a stunner to Donald Trump of all people right after the festivities. Good times, great memories.

Jeff Small-Khali: I’d say witnessing Ric Flair’s retirement match. Here’s hoping I can still say this in five years.

Dustin James:Hulk Hogan doing the clean J-O-B to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6. Oh wait, it says “non-match”. Does watching Benoit and Guerrero close out Wrestlemania XX as champions count? If so, then that’s it right there.

Michael Bauer: I’ll answer this two ways. My favorite from an overall perspective is Benoit and Eddie embracing as champions at WrestleMania XX. My favorite from a pure humor perspective happened right before Booker T faced Boogeyman as he and Sharmell walked down the famed “Hall of Freaks”.

Dan “The Man” Torkel: Savage and Liz reuniting after his loss to Warrior. On a personal level, while at a friend’s to watch WM 21, the ppv did not order right away and we missed half the opener (Rey/Eddie). My buddy called the cable company threatening to sue because he said he was ordering it for his son’s birthday party. The cable company not only got us the event but refunded our money. My friend, in case you were wondering, is single and child-less.

Jeffrey “The Vile One” Harris:Probably the whole aftermath of Warrior vs. Savage at Wrestlemania VII.

Lansdell: I don’t want to go with pure humour, so I’ll leave out the gang dance in the back with Slaughter, IRS, Fink, the ladies, Cryme Time…I guess it would have to be listening to the intros and commentary for the Gimmick Battle Royal (partly due to nostalgia and partly due to “I wish Monsoon was here”) coming a close second to Guerrero and Benoit. Watching Eddie’s genuine tears of joy as they embraced in a shower of ticker tape brought tears to the eyes.

Well that’s it folks. I hope you enjoyed this insight into what WrestleMania means to 411mania. The show is 10 days away and we have every one of those days covered with WrestleMania-themed columns. Keep it locked right here. Stay Cool, Rock Hard.

Lansdellicious – Out.